Aw lads come on the young lad is good enough to play for Ireland why would he not choose soccer and perhaps a life of being a soccer super star... FYI Cavan have decided to copy the meath format on club minor football this year they feel it will be a big improvement on what went on in the past in Cavan. That is a league in the early part of the year and championship later on when county team is beaten. Monaghan do something similar but not with not as many championship games as meath.....

noelpconnon (Cavan) - Posts: 219 - 08/03/2014 09:26:38    1556437

Glenny as usual is right.
This is how it should be;
Coach A appointed to u-14 and left with u-14 for 2 to 3 years as long as he is doing the right things. Coaches to be Given a programme to follow and he should hand over that squad to Coach B again appointed for 2 to 3 years at u-15 level who would take this squad on another designed programme and the converer belt should hand over the squad to Coach C to further develop this players all onto a "Meath Style of playing".

This would cut out the rubbish that has been going on when players not up to the standard are tagged along because they are from "the right club" normally the coaches or some of his selectors or because Daddy is involved.

The system of clubs nominating lads as coaches is out dated the right people need to be cherry picked for these important positions

Oh yeah... brackets are for hanging stuff on. Too many brackets are a sign of confusion........

glenny (Meath) - Posts: 1119 - 08/03/2014 12:08:48    1556492

Glenny- I agree with your comments and would add that at present the only guys getting their place on a Meath senior squad are guys who have gone thru the underage process (running around cones and all other sorts of other objects!), resulting in a situation where there are guys on the senior team and panel who are nowhere near inter-county standard.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 08/03/2014 13:09:32    1556510

Just had a look at the new Meath GAA website. Very impressed with it, especially the RESULTS section. This is a step forward for Meath gaa. Just one thing I noticed in the underage section is some of the hammering some of the teams are getting !!! What way are these divisions graded, and is the present grading system working ?? Are they geographic ??

royaljackeen (Meath) - Posts: 37 - 17/03/2014 09:01:38    1560679

A possible idea to help the underage structure is to divide he country up into 4 e.g. north, south, east and west. say have a manager from each of these areas. and one man overlooking the four of them. Let two areas train together and mix up which area trains with who as to get the lads more familiar with each other. ther can be matches etween themselves like north v south etc. if playing challenges they can pick from each section of meath or bring two sections for one day and the different section for the next day. more than anything its getting more young lads to be playing and training with possibly better lads and they would be receiving better training too. it may cost a bit more money but it could be well worth it in the long run.

butterfly (Meath) - Posts: 112 - 17/03/2014 16:21:44    1560916

glenny it must be amazing to have all the inside track details on how the current Co B are thinking . I recently heard from a guy who prattled the exact same details back from a meeting he had with a Dev team selection committee .Wouldn't it be amazing, if not even very coincidental if the Co Board selection Co . didn't have the exact same plan for our underage structures as you have just wheeled out .Now it is a general forum and any one is allowed to speak ( type) their opinions . However wouldn't it be very disconcerting if a certain committee had a representative in the current forums , promoting such an idea to the general populace, ensuring the seed is planted , with the pseudo assumption that it is best practise. Nothing like been on the inside to get the inside track is there. The system your promoting is an untried model . Give me examples where this system has worked consistently. Also getting back to coaching .... Where does it say that good X County footballers automatically make good Coaches /Managers, unfortunately there appears to be a mind-set at present that holds this hypothesis to be true within the County . The same hymn sheet is the coaching awards that you so blatantly disregard. As a X County Coaching & Games Manager from North Meath stated in the press many years ago . There are a lot of Cowboy coaches out there, the only way to ensure we have the best coaches is to ensure they complete at least the recognised relevant training. Where has that ideology gone

Chaisleain_Abu (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 18/03/2014 09:25:00    1561282

Sorry glenny , you may believe your always right but in grammar terms , you must stand corrected , brackets are not a sign of confusion , as it appears you are trying to make other readers believe, but a way of adding explanatory notes for some people who may not have understood the full message, or who do not have all the details.

for example ,

Banty ( McEnaney ) managed the team ( Meath), into Div 3 of the National Football League during his 2010 -2012 reign in charge .

I hope grammar 101 has been educational enough for you ......glenny ,though I doubt it sorry about your confusion

Chaisleain_Abu (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 18/03/2014 15:00:50    1561565

Royaljackeen etc etc you are obviously connected to Cilles or you wouldnt be so obsessed with a certain player. Someone as talented as him (and he is good)will obviously chose a professional career and more luck to him. What are Meath CB supposed to do- pay him?

onthebench (None) - Posts: 35 - 19/03/2014 12:00:33    1561989

This is my first post as its such an important subject.Im out of the county quite a while now but have been involved with a juvenile team in a neighbouring county for a number of years.In a recent conversation with a pal of mine who's son plays for a prominent Meath club in one of the biggest towns in the county,he told me they are struggling for numbers at his age group.There are 5 national schools and 1 secondary school in the town but the GAA club has no presence in any schools.This is a crazy situation.There are 2 soccer clubs in the town with 2 teams in every age gruop and a rugby club with coaching in the schools who are doing very well so it's not that the kids aren't there.I find it mind boggling that the club has no Games Promotion Officer(GPO) to coach either during or after school hours, but they do have an outside coach for their 1st team.Look across the border at Dublin.Almost every club,big or small, has a GPO presence in the local schools actively recruiting kids to play in the local clubs.If the Co Board are serious about juvenile structures in the county a similar scheme has to be put in place asap.I'm told that there are no GPO's in the county and if this is case Meath football will never recover to the top table.It's a long term plan but look at the counties who have embraced it and they are thriving.Its time to stop living in the past and spend the money on youth and the rest will look after itself

runnerin (Meath) - Posts: 202 - 19/03/2014 13:16:13    1562034

runnerin

I agree,and I think you should send an e-mail to the county board chairman expressing these views(seriously),I sent him an e-mail before and he replied..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 19/03/2014 15:44:11    1562098

runnerin- I agree with you 100%

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 19/03/2014 15:52:14    1562101

ziggy
I've no problem emailing the Chairman but if we really want underage structures changed the pressure on Co Board must come from the clubs.Everyone on this forum should lobby their club to put pressure on the Co Board to reform the way we approach recruitment of young players.The GPO system is tried and tested and is very succesful at getting players in to local clubs to enjoy Gaelic games regardless of their ability.A knock on effect of this is the wider the net the bigger and better the catch.Obviously there is a cost involved in employing coaches but the sports council/leinster council cover half of this.Also smaller/neighbouring clubs can share a GPO to help further lessen the burden.If we are serious about improving juvenile standards in the county we must embrace change and move forward with the times as others have or we'll fall further behind.By the way ziggy was the response to your email positive and can we expect improvments soon.

runnerin (Meath) - Posts: 202 - 19/03/2014 17:06:34    1562133

It was last year and the response was long,I remember him writing about work to be done on Dunganny etc(before the wider public knew),it is hard to remember everything,but it was a decent post..
I agree with what you are saying there,but in the mean-time maybe you could sent him a small e-mail,(regarding what you are saying) and see what he says? Get back to us? Could be interesting..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 19/03/2014 19:01:55    1562193

Just remembered..

He told me how Sean Boylan was doing a lot of work,and helping with under-age,plus a number of high-profile ex-players..Pity I deleted the damn thing!

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 19/03/2014 19:03:11    1562195

Yeah ok it wont hurt to send an email.I'll keep you posted on his response but clubs should also raise it at board level.

runnerin (Meath) - Posts: 202 - 19/03/2014 19:34:37    1562220

I think clubs should do it for sure!

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 19/03/2014 19:43:24    1562225

Onthebench, I'm not a cillesman but both my kids play for colmcilles, its a very young club where everybody is made feel very welcome. Because of this I travel around the county supporting their under age teams. And as an outsider I don't think CB are doing enough to keep these players playing gaa. Although this year it has improved with new fixture list and up to date website..

As to obsessing about a certain player, I think I said he was a hugh loss to cilles, meath and the gaa in general.. And I asked the question was there any other players of this quality lost to other sports. He is also a extremely talented soccer player and I wish him the best of luck and hope soccer career works out for him..

Runnerin, the GPO system is a brilliant idea and is a hugh success in Dublin. My 'club' in dublin (onthebench) have a GPO and it has being a hugh sucess. As far as I know the club pay 1/2 his wages and Dublin CB pay the other half. I know some smaller clubs share GPOs and only have to pay a 1/4 of the wages each.. But surely Meath CB know that this is the system used in Dublin and also know it works...

royaljackeen (Meath) - Posts: 37 - 20/03/2014 10:56:41    1562392

Yeah you are right clubs pay half.The Sports Council used to be involved but maybe that has reverted back to the Co Boards but the question is can we afford NOT to do it.I think rather than spending money on overrated outside senior coaches the money could be chanelled into this.I'm sure there is enough knowledge and know how in each club to train and coach adults from within.Maybe a pilot scheme in the bigger population areas to start with where competition from other sports is greatest id the way to go.All i know is the GPO system work and gone are the days when kids just show up at the club gates.We have to go and actively recruit them

runnerin (Meath) - Posts: 202 - 20/03/2014 13:57:27    1562513

I was onto the Co Board Chairman and in fairness I got a prompt amd extensive reply.He assuured me that they are serious about juvenile development and that they have extensive coaching and games development programmes in place and have a committee monitoring player participation levels throughout the county.This year theres an extra emphasis on liasing with schools in the county.All this sounds encouraging but I'd be slightly sceptical if the schools issue is sustainable in the future if it's not done on a permanent basis.In saying that it's good to hear that there are programmes in place to develop young players at Co Board level but whether its enough I'm not sure.

runnerin (Meath) - Posts: 202 - 21/03/2014 12:54:38    1563000

runnerin

That was a swift reponse to be fair! Like you say sounds very good,hopefully what he says will be put into practice :)

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 21/03/2014 13:03:17    1563004