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.