In order to try to prevent injuries we need to firstly find out how, when and where injuries occur before any strategies can be implemented to reduce their incidence. Unfortunately recording of injuries in Gaelic Games on a large scale had not occurred up until the last 5 years or so but already some consistent and interesting conclusions can be made that can help change how a team prepares in order to reduce the number of injuries to a squad. This data while only recorded at county level can easily be made relevant to a club scenario also.

So without going through the full details of any findings, here is some food for thought.
A lot of club teams have spent money on furnishing rooms in their club houses with gym equipment. Here, testosterone junkies can transform their bodies filling the jersey more with, bench presses, shoulder weights and the old favourite, the bicep curl. However statistics show that shoulder/chest injuries make up only 8-10% of squad injuries in a year yet players persist on strengthening this part of their anatomy while spending less time on areas more commonly injured. Groin, thigh and knee injuries make up in the region of 50% of injuries. A more balanced ratio of upper limb and lower limb strength training should be implemented.

Coincidently, the most commonly injured area is the thigh which encompasses the quadriceps and hamstring muscles. Talking about hamstring injuries would warrant a whole article on it’s own! The hamstrings are responsible for the control of two major joints (most muscle groups only control 1 joint) the knee and the hip. Therefore any prevention strategies for hamstring injuries must address how both these joints move in the overall chain of events that are involved in an action such as running.

In terms of an overall squad, 17-19% of injuries occur to midfield players, 30-35% occur to forwards and 40-45% occurs to defenders. Given that a squad is made up of fewer midfielders than forwards or defenders, these statistics suggest that midfielders are more commonly injured and hence could be afforded less time carrying out contact related drills in training. These figures can also help a manager decide the make-up of his squad in terms of how many defenders he may choose in comparison to forwards given that defenders are more likely to get injured.

On the subject of contact drills, the number of contact to non-contact (e.g. sprinting, turning, kicking) injuries is overall relatively even. Where these figures differ is when we consider match time compared to training time. During a game, approx 60% of injuries are caused by contact. In training, this figure is reduced to approx 45%. However if a manager/trainer feels this figure is high during training, he/she may decide to reduce the number of contact related drills.

Of course, all statistics should only be used as guidelines and should not be taken out of context. Given the nature of our games, injuries will be ever-present. In order to reduce injuries we need accurately recorded data to analyse for prevention strategies to be composed. We must do this without losing any core values in team preparation. However I hope I have given you some food for thought in the realisation that injuries follow trends and trainers can influence their incidence-either positively or negatively!

Note: the above statistics are based on data recorded from men’s football injuries only.

By Mick McGurn – writing exclusively for Gaelic Star

Armagh’s physical conditioning coach considers the need for a specific approach to getting players fit to play.

With a lot of team now in their pre-season (preparation) phase, one of the questions frequently asked by coaches and trainers is, ‘are we training to suit the demands of the game?’

The buzz words doing the rounds in sport at the minute are ‘sport specific’, and even more intricate the term ‘position specific’.

If we are to adhere to these ideas, and train according to these theories, then we need to analyse what happens in our game.
Gaelic football is a contact/collision sport (measured by G forces), with high intermittent bouts of speed (measured in km/h), skill, strength and stamina (measured in metres by distance covered per game).
Reciprocally there are also spells during the game where a player may be inactive and do no more than talk nicely to his opposite number.
So basically we run hard, we tackle hard, we catch and pass and ultimately we shoot. Simple, but is it really? Or is it a sport made complicated by coaches and trainers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike worked in sport specific sessions with the Irish Rugby Team.

With the introduction of GPS into gaelic games over the last few seasons we are finding out more and more about the physical needs required of players to perform at the highest level.
Teams who play a high octane, fast paced, intense brand of football, such as Kildare, Tyrone and Cork cover the greatest distance over the course of a game.

On average, the following distances are covered in a senior county championship game;
Full Backs – 7,000- 7,500 metres
Half Backs – 8,500-9,500 metres
Midfield – 9,000-10,000 metres
Half Forwards – 8,000-9,000 metres
Full Forwards – 6,000-7,000 metres

Admittedly these figures are at the higher end of the scale, and a lot will depend on the philosophy and game plan employed by coaches and managers.

As coaches we are forced to consider the question – ‘does our training mimic these distances (are we sport and position specific) and secondly does it need to?’

I’ll answer the second question for you. No we don’t need to cover the above distances, because at a closer inspection, a lot of the ground covered in the course of a game is at low intensity, ie walking and slow jogging (the Americans refer to this as garbage yardage!). If we attempted to cover up to 10,000 metres at every training session we would have more players in the physio room with overuse, and hence long term injuries (LTI’s), and no players able to play.

A study by Macintyre et al (2005) indicates that Gaelic footballers are required to have very high speed endurance levels. He found that 43% of match play in Gaelic football was spent in high intensity activity, adding further support to the importance of a high anaerobic capacity for these athletes. Strudwick et al (2002) felt that more emphasis should be placed on explosive strength and speed development when physically preparing Gaelic footballers.

This is reinforced when we re-visit the distances covered in a senior inter county championship match. Although figures of 7,000 – 10,000 metres covered per game may seem impressive, in reality only 2,500 – 4,500 metres are of any real quality. This should automatically indicate that this is a more appropriate training volume to cover in our preparation.

This is supported by Strudwick et al (2002), who stated that Gaelic football “places varying demands on the aerobic system with intermittent emphasis on anaerobic metabolism”.

Players from Kildare play a fast paced high octane game and as a result cover more ground.

As I mentioned earlier, Gaelic football is also a contact/collision sport. During the 2000/2001 season when I first started using GPS with St Helens Rugby League Club, we were fortunate enough to win the Challenge Cup Final, Super League Grand Final, and The World Club Championship.
I discovered that the amount of G force in a tackle for most of our players would amount to 12.5-13.5 G’s. It is only when we started replicating that intensity and amount of force in our training schedule, that we increased our success whilst playing.

In Gaelic football the G force in most of our tackles can amount from anything from 7 right up to 11.5 G’s, which is very impressive for amateur athletes. It would therefore make sense to incorporate short small bouts of this intensity into our training plan.
It is an excellent idea for a team to play high intensity matches as part of their training, as demonstrated by Tyrone. By doing this they have covered this important aspect of the training plan (job done!)

The final aspect of training I will address is speed in Gaelic football. Some of our top Gaelic Footballers can reach top speeds of 28-33 km/h. This again is a very impressive figure when you consider that the world’s top sprinters are recording 36-38 km/h.
If you break down the speed component during an actual game, it predominantly consists of short 0-5 – 0-10 metre sprints. Roughly around 60-70% of top end speed during the game will encompass these distances. The other 30-40% of top end speed covers the 10-25, and 25+ metres distances. Again common sense should indicate that we should be working on short, sharp, explosive sprints.

Usain Bolt wears the colours of Kerry. If only he could toe tap!

A lot of footballers speed requirements may take place in training matches.
When I worked with the Irish Rugby Team, I analysed our backs during set play session.
I discovered they covered 10-12 sprints in the course of their session at full speed. Through liaising with the coach and requesting that they received full recovery in between their reps I ensured that my speed session was covered within a sport specific rugby session (ball in hand, full pace with evasion and acceleration). It was also position specific.
So rather than risk overloading your players with too much speed and hence injury, it may be advisable to see what the players actually do in practice matches and small sided games. If you feel their speed requirements are covered in these sessions, then it’s two for the price of one.

References

McIntyre, M.C. A comparison of the physiological profiles of elite Gaelic footballers, hurlers, and soccer players. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2005, 39:437-439.

Strudwick, A., Reilly, T. and Doran, D. Anthropometric and fitness profiles of elite players in two football codes. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2002, 42(2):239-242.

The funny season.

"Im tellin ya Liam, he's gettin an extension to the house, a car, and they are throwing in a few barrels of diesel too"

No county matches, no championship, no training; just club games and brawl investigations.

In October, November and December the GAA goes through a period of introspection so thank god for the managerial merry-go-round, at least we’re guaranteed a laugh.

Up and down the country there has been resignations, recriminations and finger-pointing all played out in the full glare of the media.

And with players flexing their muscles and clubs all wanting a say, I’m amazed that anybody would put themselves forward as a county manager.

They put themselves through ‘sham’ processes, are interviewed by panels of 25 and then when they get the job, the public really stick the boot in.

We love to gossip in Ireland. We love to know what our neighbour is doing and we love it even better if there is a wee bit of scandal in the air.

In the last two months I have been given chapter and verse on the alleged deals agreed by a number of county managers.

As the weeks have gone by the amounts have risen and the perks have grown beyond all recognition, and to be perfectly honest I’ve had enough of it.

Now I want to be clear about this. I am not on first name terms with any senior county manager, I have not been party to any processes involved in appointments and I do not know what contracts have been agreed between managers and various county boards.

To be honest I don’t really care if a county manager is getting paid or not – what really frustrates me is that the whole process is done behind closed doors and the result is that rumours and innuendo fill the gaps which reflects badly on the Association and leaves the reputations of the people involved in tatters.

I want the GAA to set out rules and regulations about how these appointments should be conducted and more importantly I would suggest that county boards are open and transparent about who has been approached, interviewed and appointed.

However, I would go even further than that by insisting that managers become paid employees of county boards.

As a paid employee, they would be expected to take on development, coaching and public relations duties as directed by the county board.

The salary level could be set by Croke Park and standard across the country. A manager in Wicklow could earn just as much as a manager in Armagh but no-one could earn more than the stipulated amount.

I understand that the whole ‘payment’ issue may be a step too far for GAA die-hards who want to stay true to the amateur/volunteer ethos but county boards and provincial councils already employ numerous development officers and coaching staff.

They are out there in the community, spreading the GAA gospel, raising standards and increasing interest in the games.

Surely it makes sense that a county board and the wider GAA family gets to make the best use of the skills and profile that a manager enjoys but in an open, transparent and accountable way.

Many committed county managers already give up time to visit schools, speak at events and help out at coaching clinics. Think of the people they could inspire and influence if they were doing that every day.

I don’t believe that by taking these steps the amateur ethos of our games would be eroded, in fact, it may actually have a positive impact.

A young hurler from Belfast beside the "City Fish"

Paul Kelly spoke to Jim Murry on the Belfast Development plan for Antrim and the the two Down Clubs in Belfast , Bredagh and Carryduff.

IT’S convenient to see Antrim’s success this year as something of a fluke, a one-off that won’t be repeated again. For those used to the status-quo, it will be comforting to think that things will return to normal next year with Armagh and Tyrone contesting the Ulster Final.

To be honest, people in Antrim would probably be quite happy for the rest of us to think that way, because while we’re feeling content with our lot, they are making sure that 2009 is the launchpad for success and not and end in itself.

They may not have a cabinet load of trophies to show for it, but without going overboard, it has been a fine season for Antrim GAA.

The hurlers flattered to deceive but in football, both the ladies and the men’s, the Saffrons took a huge step forward.

For those people at the coalface, the glory days of the summer have only added to the belief that they are on the right track, that the strategies, structures and development plans are having the desired impact.

In 2006, Antrim launched a five-year strategic plan for the county that tried to address many of the issues that were holding back the Association in the County.

One of the recommendations made at the time was that a separate strategy be drawn up for the urban/Belfast area.

Earlier this year that document – ‘A Plan for the GAA across Ireland’s Second City 2009-2014’ was released and endorsed by the county board and Ulster Council.

GAA President Christy Cooney and President of Ulster GAA Tom Daly with, from left, Dr. John McSparran, Chairman of Antrim GAA, Jim Murray, Belfast Steering Strategy Chairman, and Chairman of Down GAA Kevin Bell at the launch of the New Belfast GAA Urban Strategy. Belfast

Finally, Antrim has a strategy for bringing county and city together and making the most of the resources at their disposal.

The days of Antrim GAA being a laughing stock, pilloried for their inability to get organised appear to be in the past and if they get it right, the Saffrons really could become the GAA powerhouse they always promised to be.

Jim McMurray chaired the working group that produced the Belfast Strategic Plan and is now vice-chairman of the implementation committee set-up to deliver the recommendations produced in the report.

He believes that this is a great time to be involved with Antrim GAA and is convinced that the Association has to strike now while the ‘iron is hot’.

“In the past, two reports by Patsy O’Hara and John Gough identified many of the same issues that we picked up on in the Belfast Strategic plan,” said Jim.

“Unfortunately, and for whatever reason, they weren’t driven through but we are 100 per cent determined that this report doesn’t get put on top of those other two fantastic pieces of work gathering dust.”

It’s very difficult to cover all the issues identified in the Belfast plan but Jim picked out a couple that he felt were particularly important in terms of improving the scope of the GAA in Belfast – facilities and the club/school links.

“The Council have an obligation to provide facilities proportionate to other sports,” said Jim.

Antrim and Down kids of Belfast

“We don’t want to take anything away from other sports. We don’t want to say ‘soccer have this amount of pitches and we only have this so give us some of theirs’. They need all the facilities they have and good luck to them.

“What we are saying is that we have a massive population playing our games. The councils are saying that they want to get people doing sport and taking exercise. So what we are saying is that we have the infrastructure to deliver on that, but we can only do if they give us the facilities.

“We have to take this on and lobby Belfast City Council for facilities.

“For example, look at the Ballymurphy area. Thousands of homes have been built but there is no green space.

“So what we are saying to representatives is let’s meet to talk about green space and shared space. If we have to share a gaelic pitch and a soccer pitch well so be it. The key point is that there is a green space available to play on.”

Improving links between clubs and schools is also another area that Jim is determined to see work.

“One of the things that was picked up on in the strategic plan was that 60 per cent of P7s were not playing our games or not affiliated to a club,” added Jim.

“What we are doing, in conjunction with the Co Antrim development officer, is saying to different clubs there’s a school, go and see if you can make a difference in it?

“Speak to the decision makers in the school and tell them what the GAA has to offer and how that fits in with the curriculum. If we find that a club isn’t making the right efforts, we will quickly find another club to go in and give it a go.”

And he concluded; “There already are an awful lot of young people playing our games. The hurling structures are there and the football structures are there. It’s up to us to drive the thing forward.

“I am very hopeful for the future of Antrim GAA. We have a full-time secretary and full-time officers. We have the facilities and now, we also have the will to do it.”

Longford Slashers team

Paul Kelly gets the low-down on Longford Slashers. 

This is how things get done at Gaelic Star. Out of the blue the big boss sends me an email – ‘I was just reading something about a club called Longford Slashers – what a great name! – You’re doing a piece about them for the next edition.’

Simple enough you may think, except I’ve never heard of Longford Slashers. In fact, I don’t think I have ever been to Longford. I may have driven through it a couple of times. All I’ll say is, thank god for the internet.

 Longford Slashers is indeed a wonderful name for a club, but thankfully there is much more to it than an exotic moniker.

However, firstly (and mainly to satisfy the whims of the boss) we will deal with the whole ‘Slasher’ issue.

It’s widely accepted (according to the internet) that the ‘Slasher’ reference relates to a Cavan man, Myles O’Reilly, who died on the Bridge of Finea while defending against the English and Scottish forces under General Monroe on the 5th August 1646.

On August 3rd 1913 a memorial to the memory of Myles O’Reilly was unveiled in the Co Westmeath section of the village of Finea.
The main inscription on the memorial (a Celtic cross) reads as follows: – “The Slasher had with him 100 horse while the enemy was 1,000 strong. They fought them the whole day long till his followers were nearly all slain.

“Finally he was encountered by a gigantic Scotchman who trust the point of his sword through the Slasher’s cheek. The latter closed his jaw on the blade and held it as if in an iron vice while he slew his antagonist cutting him through steel helmet down to his chin with one blow, both falling together. At that moment reinforcements arrived from Granard and the Bridge was saved.” *

There is some historical debate about whether O’Reilly actually died at Finea but his legend has lived on. The term Slasher – ‘man of valour’ – has not always had positive connotations in Longford but in more recent times, the term has been embraced.

Now that the history lesson is over it should be noted that the Longford Slashers club is very much alive and well.

The club was formed in 1954 when two clubs, Longford Wanderers and Whiterock Slashers amalgamated. The club ground, Michael Fay Park, is located on the outskirts of Longford town in an area called Farneyhoogan.

It is much, much more than simply a pitch and clubhouse.

Unusually, the development of the clubhouse and complex has been the responsibility of a company, ‘Longford Slashers Ltd’, for almost 30 years.

Pat Chapman, who fills three roles with the club as secretary, President and company secretary explained the reasoning behind the radical decision to set up a company to manage the club’s facilities.

“When we set out in 1979/80 to develop our club grounds we found that the responsibility on the shoulders of a few people, particularly as we needed loans to do the development, was going to be enormous,” said Pat.

“We took some legal advice and formed a limited company which eased the burden on the individuals involved within the club.

Dermot Brady in action for the Slashers

“At the time it was a revolutionary approach. No-one else had attempted it.

“The company runs the clubhouse and facilities which ensures that there is money for further development and any funds generated can be allocated into the club and teams.”

As a result, Longford Slashers have a modern, up-to-date sporting facility that is used by the entire community.

There are a number of playing surfaces, including an all-weather pitch and floodlighting while the clubhouse contains a bar, function room, meeting rooms, squash courts and several dressing rooms.

The club grounds also host the Backstage Theatre and Centre for the Arts. In 1995, the club and the theatre group came together to build a state-of-the-art facility which has proved to be a great success and is acknowledged as being a great asset to the town.

More recently, in 2005, a gael scoil was built within the club grounds and now 190 pupils attend on a daily basis.

“The theatre kind of epitomizes what we are all about,” added Pat.

“Our club members have always been involved in the sporting, charitable, cultural and political life of the town and this is yet another example of our contribution to the betterment of the town we love so well.

“On the field we aren’t doing so well. We haven’t won a championship in the last decade and we haven’t won a minor title for many years (the club lost County Finals in 2006 and 2008).

“We are struggling football wise but we have plenty of people playing.”

The Slashers have embraced the entire GAA sporting family with hurling, camogie and ladies teams all competing in the club’s blue and white colours.

The underage levels are busy and successful and hopes are high that in the not to distant future, the Slashers might add to their 13 Senior County titles.

Kinesio tape

Our Physio experts at Newry Clinic look at the pro’s and con’s of Kinesio taping for players. WHEN you see a player on the field with bright white boots and hair bleached just as white, you ask yourself, is this person mentally stable or not?  Similarly when you see a player with strips of bright blue or pink tape strategically placed up and down the leg, you ask yourself if this is some sort of new fashion statement or has this player just come from a charity waxing event where they couldn’t get the last strip of wax off!

A new development in the field of sports physiotherapy has seen Kinesio Taping become more prevalent in our games.  Kinesio Tape is a form of taping where you may see a single strip of tape placed along the line of a muscle, eg. hamstring, in an attempt to alleviate pain or discomfort in that area. 

The designers of this tape have decided to manufacture it in bright colours such as blue or pink (there is a flesh coloured option also which, for some reason is rarely used. 

Apparently the colour variations are for therapeutic reasons but it certainly has been a great marketing tool as it draws great attention to the tape.  Lance Armstrong described his experience of Kinesio Tape as being ‘so wrapped up that we’d look like dolls!’

Kinesio Taping is relatively new in Gaelic games but it has been around for over 25 years.  The tape itself is not exactly revolutionary.  It is sticky and elastic.  The manufacturers claim the secret is in the application of the tape.  Stretched tape is placed in the desired area of skin so that when the tape recoils from its stretched position, it lifts the skin.  The Theory is that this allows improved flow of blood and lymph fluid, hence improved muscle function.  Using certain techniques, the tape can also be used to relax overactive muscle or facilitate contraction of weak, under active muscles.

How the tape is sometimes used

Like I said before, in the world of physiotherapy, none of these theories are completely new treatment options for the therapist.  

Any therapist with good taping skills already uses techniques for relaxation or facilitation of muscle activity, restriction of joint movement and blood/lymph drainage. 

The founders of this particular technique seem to be basing their sales pitch on the fact that it allows an athlete continued participation in his/her chosen sports. 

This, Kinesio say, is because of the ability of their tape to conform with the skin even in sweaty conditions and hence maintain the function of the tape throughout that particular event.

 The big question the physiotherapist must ask themselves is, if a player requires taping to protect an injury then, are they fit enough to be playing in the first place?

In my opinion, in high intensity sport, the muscle forces produced are too strong to be influenced by any tape.  Taping for restriction of movement of a joint is acceptable as long as enough mobility is maintained to allow the joint to function properly. 

If a player has a strain of a muscle or tendon then tape is not going to be sufficient to allow that player to play pain-free.

 I am not totally against Kineso theories in taping but I think that they will be more beneficially used in rehabilitation of a problem rather than allowing someone to continue to play.  Taping an injury to play means that the injury is still present or the player has no confidence in an old injury or possibly, both of the above.

 Kinesio tape was used widely during the last Olympic Games but in athletics the movements are much more uni-directional and avoid the element of physical contact.

 Aside from using Kinesio Taping in the rehabilitation phase of an injury, I think the benefits which come from allowing someone to play are more psychological than physiological.

Clubs are on the search for their manager Messiah

Eglish captain and TG4 presenter Conall Martin, casts his eye over the club managerial merry-go-round.“SUMMER comes around each year, we go there and they come here, some jet off to Frijiliana but I always go to Lisdoonvarna” There is something in the lines of that Christy Moore song that reminds me of the magical merry-go-round that is the managerial circus now taking grip of club committees and players the length and breadth of the country.

Every club currently on the trawl for fresh fish is probably using the same set of criteria by which to find their new ‘managerial messiah’.

He must be;

(A) Experienced – ideally at a level above which the current club is operating, either with a club (just ok) or school (which means he is a teacher. Some of the committee never liked the school master because he made them sit in the bottom corner and read Fuzz Buzz, although he has his advantages, he has more time available than other professions, he may on the other hand treat the fellas’ like schoolboys and that would never do, but on the plus side he would have his own balls and cones!).

Should a club give a new fresh faced manager a go at it, well then, they run the risk of being called a progressive committee willing to try something new!

(B) Successful – He must have had some level of success in his past managerial career. Any form of success is a bonus in this category.

(C) Enthusiasm – Every club dreams of a man who can become their very own ‘Director of Football’. The committee might even plug for a man who can write progressive training policies for youth teams, who might put in place training programmes for youth managers.

It would be great if the ‘new man’ could be there every night half an hour in advance of the players.

(D) Economical –  Ideally the new man must not require remuneration for his post but if he asks for a cash payment or indeed expenses, well then, it leaves the committee in the advantageous position of getting rid of him should be in fact turn out the be, well, let’s not beat about the bush, CRAP!

(E) Be like Ryanair – ideally he should come with no baggage but if he does he will pay for it! Don’t worry Dear Mr New Manager, you might not pay for it up front but like Michael O’Leary you will be got in the long grass.

My own club is currently on the trawl for a ‘new’ manager and will have no doubt put in place a set of criteria for the candidate.

Getting a new manager appointed is almost as difficult as trying to become a ‘Made Man’.

The successful candidate not only has to fulfill the criteria outlined above but he also had to satisfy the different brotherhoods of the family – the players (limited say – they are only foot soldiers), committee (captains, think of Jackie Aprillia in the Sopranos) and last but not least the real committee (in most GAA clubs a Mafioso committee exists who wield almighty power and are the real decision makers).

When Fat Tony has rubber stamped the ‘Made Man’ he will be brought to the boiler room, given a picture of Peter the Great (which will be burnt in his hand) and have his finger pricked with the pin of a commemorative Ulster 125 badge!

The real fact of the matter is that within most counties and provinces there exists a small crew of managers who go round and round on the merry go round.

To me a real manager would develop structures in the club, develop coaching policies, and put in place training programmes to help develop underage coaches as well as coaching and managing the senior team.

How many of us can honestly say that the people who have been brought in and often paid to manage clubs have actually done this?

If we as GAA people are happy to pay ‘professionals’ to act as managers then why do we not insist that they sign ‘contracts of employment’, just like anybody taking up any other form of employment.

At least then, everybody would know where they stood. If a man is getting paid £200 plus a week for taking a club, well then make him work 40 plus hours a week.

People will say that this is breaking all the rules on amateurism, but it’s not really if you consider the fact that all county boards and provincial councils pay coaches. They call them ‘Gaelic Games development coaches’, they work full time hours and they are professional.

Any club employing a manager should, by way of an employment contract, get their ‘Games Development Manager’ to be at the club from 2pm to 10pm daily. 

This will allow him ample time to perform the duties that should be carried out by a real senior manager.

One of my favourite management crises came from Coalisland Fianna who last year could not find an appropriate person within the club to take on the job of club manger. Having in the past made external ‘appointments’ a decision had been taken not to employ any outside person to look after the fortunes of the club.

No-one wanted the job, they were stuck and with that they turned to one of their injured senior players to take over the management of the team.

At the time I believed that ex Tyrone player and good friend Richard Thornton was to say the least ‘clean mad in the head’. 

As it turned out, it was an extraordinary act of courage on his part to take on managing a set of players that he had played in a County Final with only two years previously.

It was a bold decision by the club to stand by their decision not to take someone in from outside the club and maybe it should demonstrate to the rest of us that instead of looking to the Golden circle of men that sit on the managerial merry go round, clubs should be willing to take a punt on young, new and enthusiastic managers, people who have played the game at a time when it has developed more significantly than any time in living history.

As the saying goes ‘Is doiligh an óige a shárú!’ (it’s hard to beat the youth)!

By the way this article should be in no terms misconstrued as a plea for a job!

All for the Cameras?

By Paul Kelly- Exclusive For Gaelic Star. AND SO finally, the soap-opera that has been Tadhg Kennelly’s brief return to the Kerry colours has ended. So many column inches devoted to one man, it has been quite simply ridiculous. The 28-year-old from Listowel effectively managed to ambush the 2009 season. He came home, played for Kerry, won a National League medal, cleaned out Nicholas Murphy, won an All-Ireland medal and an All-Star, launched a book and then went into hiding before returning to a professional contract Down Under.

That’s a lot to pack into 12 months.

Normally people take a ‘year out’ and head for the warmth of Australia but Tadhg did it the other way round. If you were the cynical sort, you could argue that his ‘year out’ was actually a carefully constructed plan to make him even more marketable.

To be honest, it had all been going so well for him until that unfortunate incident with the ‘autobiography’.

Here was a man walking out on a lucrative deal with the Sydney Swans to return home and fulfill his long held ambition of emulating his late father Tim and older brother Noel by winning an All-Ireland medal with the Kingdom.

It was fairytale stuff, perfect material for a Hollywood movie. He returned to the family home, lived over the family run pub, and took up a coaching role with the Kerry county board.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had he not managed to reacquaint himself with the round ball but to his credit, he did get up to speed and earned the admiration of his fellow players and the management team.

Injuries to the likes of Kieran Donaghy and Seamus Scanlon helped his cause when it came to making it onto the Championship panel but, given his chance against Dublin in the quarter-final, he made the most of it and nailed down his starting berth for the semi-final and the final.

The media, well, the southern media, were obviously entranced by Kennelly’s romantic decision to follow his ‘heart’ and turn his back on professional sport (The fact that he was able to walk out on the Swans and straight into a post in Kerry never really seemed to come into the equation).

They lauded him. In the year of the 125 Anniversary celebrations here was a professional sportsman drawn back by the particular lure of the GAA.

It was all nonsense of course. There was nothing ‘amateur’ about Kennelly’s return. He is a successful professional sportsman, playing and winning is what he gets paid to do.

His ‘tackle’ on Murphy was a cynical act, a moment of pure professionalism equal to the rash of diving that currently pervades the English Premiership.

Did anyone really believe him when he claimed in the aftermath of Kerry’s victory that he was prepared to commit his future to the green and gold? The whole thing always had the hint of a holiday romance but had he quietly headed off into the sunset, it would all have been washed clean over time.

That was before the book and the subsequent revelations, whether true or false, that his ‘tackle’ on Murphy was premeditated.

Every book needs a ‘hook’ to sell it, just look at the media whirlwind caused by former tennis great Andre Agassi’s admission that he lied about testing positive for crystal meth during his playing days.

That’s not done accidentally. It’s all about creating talking points, causing a stir, generating attention and the bottom line is it’s all about sales.

So all the excuses, apologies and chest beating that followed from Kennelly only served to generate a month of free publicity ahead of the launch. Even the ‘will he’, ‘won’t he’ return to Australia story was played out in the full glare of the media.

If he really had been mortified and horrified by the whole incident he could easily have disowned the book and disassociated himself from the publication but instead, he’s opted to head back ‘Down Under’, not to hide from it, but to promote it.

Clearly Tadhg’s done what he had to do in Ireland. He’s had his 15 minutes of fame, it’s mission accomplished and now he’s off to conquer another market.

29 August 2009; A dejected Dervla McMaster, Derry, after the game. TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Junior Championship Semi-Final, Antrim v Derry, Wolfe Tones GAA Club, Kildress, Co. Tyrone.

Louise Glass argues that re-grading in ladies football has had a negative effect It was very hard for anyone involved with Derry Ladies football to stomach this year’s All-Ireland Junior Final. Having gone so close in the 2008 final only to have their dreams shattered by London, Derry’s management and players hoped to be back in Croke Park again at the end of September for a second bite of the cherry. 
However, the county didn’t get that chance, didn’t even get close, losing out to Antrim at the semi-final stage.

They then watched the Saffrons make light work of Limerick in the final, winning a national title at the first attempt, while never having won a provincial title.
Antrim had been knocking on Derry’s door for a while before they finally broke it down in August.

The Saffrons used Derry as their benchmark. Antrim narrowed the gap every time the teams met until they eventually found the winning formula.

In contrast, Derry did not really have that benchmark. They were at the top, or as close to it as was possible, of the junior grade, and while their target was to become an intermediate team and to compete at an intermediate level, they still had to finish their business at junior level first.

That business remains unfinished, but Antrim meanwhile, have leapfrogged Derry and will face the likes of Fermanagh, Roscommon, Cavan and Donegal next season.
That sort of competition can only help the development of ladies football in Antrim both at a county and club level.
As a matter of fact, Belfast club St Paul’s, who play in the province’s Intermediate Club Championship made it to this year’s Ulster Club final, and they only have one county player – Mairead Cooper.

And at underage level, Antrim won the Ulster Minor B, the Ulster U16 B and the Ulster U14 B championships this year. St Genevives became the first school from Belfast to win a provincial schools’ title – the Ulster U16 C – making it the whole way to the All-Ireland Final only to lose out at the very last hurdle.
The development of the game in Antrim is taking off, and unfortunately Derry is lagging far behind. That does not bode well for the county team in years to come.

Derry registered teams in the provincial U14 B, U16 B and Minor B competitions. In two of those competitions, they did not field teams, and in the rest of the games they played, they did not win any.

Derry has always struggled to field teams at underage level. Even the success of the county team over these past two years and the efforts made to build a strong team spirit has not filtered down to the younger players who are the future of the county.
Playing against the best is the only way to learn and develop.

The Derry Ladies County Board’s decision to re-grade the majority of its clubs to junior level this year has further stifled the development of the game in the county.

The re-grading of all clubs in Derry, apart from one, was passed by the Ladies Gaelic Association at a central council level, and at the time, there were no objections, or not enough to prevent it to go ahead.

The result has been to create an imbalance in the county. 
The majority of players are still going to play with their club regardless of what level it is at, because all they want to do is play football.

Some clubs are too strong for junior level, while those who are more suited to junior football don’t have the opportunity to represent their county in an Ulster Championship because they play in a Junior B championship in the county.

The only way players and clubs can excel is if they play against teams of a similar level and ability and aspire to improve. That’s why there are junior, intermediate and senior grades

If Derry as a county want to compete for next year’s Junior All-Ireland and then the Intermediate the year after that, the preparation needs to be right and the only way to progress, is to get it right at grassroots level and that means getting the correct club structure in place.

It’s the hard games that bring a team together. You don’t learn anything from going out and playing teams that are of a lower level and beating them out of sight.

This also has a knock-on effect of demoralizing players and clubs who know they are out of their depth.

Antrim’s ladies team spent 2008 building. They went right back to the start. They only won one game last season, and that turned out to be a meaningless one against Offaly in the All-Ireland Junior Qualifiers series.

By September 2009, although not winning a provincial title, they won the one that mattered, and it’s them and not Derry who are looking at the next level.