THE FAI ANNOUNCED this week a short, interim season from August to December this year for the new National U17 League, with every club expected to play a minimum of twelve matches.
The next U19 League will follow suit. This decision will allow next year’s U17 and U19 seasons to begin in March, aligning all of the national league competitions into a Summer League.
It makes sense for League of Ireland clubs though there will be reservations as cash flow associated with running three nationally-competing teams simultaneously will be difficult, particularly for First Division clubs.
However, this will be offset by better quality pitches, reliability and regularity of schedules. Also, bright evenings allow the opportunity for additional training session while cutting costs in the provision of floodlit facilities.
It’s a very welcome advance for player welfare as it removes year-round competition for promising young players, where we risk burn-out. Take Limerick FC’s Val Feeney who has been playing year round, without a break, since Aug 2011 when he was just 15 — alternating between U19 and senior squads for Athlone Town before he joined Limerick FC.
There are some concerns, including the requirement for clubs and league to work around the examination calendars of junior and leaving certificate students, as well as college exams. We will all need to show commitment to education of young players off the pitch as we put forward initiatives to educate elite payers on the pitch.
It’s a question that will also face the wider football community soon. The recently announced Player Development pathway has committed to aligning all schoolboy football to a summer season.
This is the biggest stumbling block to the summer switch and it doesn’t seriously affect the U17 and U19 National Leagues, as players in these divisions are already on an Elite path in their chosen sport.
Beneath this age level, right across schoolboy football, the reservation is the same. “We’re going head-to-head with the GAA”. I’ve heard it from a number of schoolboy clubs and associations already. They fear competing with the GAA will wipe them out. This simply isn’t true but it’s a valid concern.
Each year I would hear coaches lament the lack of competition for elite players after the Kennedy Cup, when coaches of the country’s elite 13-year-olds would resign themselves to losing players to other codes.
The planned FAI pathway will bridge this gap with both U15 and U13 National leagues in the development plan for the game, but that doesn’t help the grassroots.
There are clubs who will need to improve their organisations and standards to deliver a standard of coaching and engagement to retain the players they have. Of course, what is often forgotten is that the concern is shared in GAA circles.
We’re just coming to the end of the first of two short periods each year where the sports overlap. Going head-to-head with football over a period where exams, family holidays and school holidays already remove much of the structure around the average child’s life will concern GAA grassroots.
Both GAA and football clubs will be trying to attract coaches and sponsorship over concurrent seasons. That will cause further headaches. GAA and football clubs will have to learn to cooperate or both will lose out on players long before any decision on elite paths is made.
I coach football to kids at U8 and U9 level as well as coaching GAA, specifically hurling to U6s. I’m lucky that in my small town there is a huge overlap between coaches for both codes and we all work to ensure the kids come first.
Of course over the summer the level of commitment asked of volunteer coaches will increase dramatically and that is a concern that we will have to face shortly. The funny thing is that the real winner in schoolboy sport following the switch to summer football is likely to be rugby.
The decision to move to summer football allows rugby an unchallenged run over the winter months and school year. No competition for training, coupled with a desire for parents to see their children engage in sporting activity over a period where dark evenings shove them towards the TV and a more sedentary lifestyle will be a huge factor.
But everyone in the country has notice of the plans. Instead of rowing against it, it’s time to start planning to ensure it’s a success.
Follow John on Twitter @johngosullivan
An off season of 2 to 3 months is plenty for kids so if this were to coincide with November, December and January (when unplayable pitches and Christmas mess with the fixture schedule) and pre season in February it could work.
I wouldn’t worry about players leaving in their droves for rugby as a result, provided the off season is kept relatively short. Rugby club infrastructure currently isn’t there to take advantage even if they did. School exams, the disjointed summer schedule of families and the head to head with the GAA calendar are the big problems to worry about.
Out of curiosity what ‘infrastructure’ do you think rugby clubs are lacking? Last time I checked the vast majority in Leinster anyway had ample pitches, coaches, floodlights, dressing room’s, showers. May not have a fancy Lotto funded indoor sports hall but we get by without.
The number of clubs and their location. If 100 school kids in Tallaght or Mayfield wanted to play rugby because there was no schoolboy soccer during the winter, where would they go?
Rugby clubs generally have great facilities but there are 10 times as many soccer clubs in the state.
Rugby Clubs are never that far away from you in big cities.
Mayfield is only a stones throw from nearest club and as far as I know Tallaght also have a club.
The main reason there are 100 times more soccer than rugby is most soccer clubs don’t have their own pitches. They usually use a faculty owned by the council. Therefore clubs can set up with no huge overhead.
Rugby clubs cost a lot to set up and run. Between club houses, club bar and having 3~4 pitches.
Rugby is not as elitist as it once was. It very accessible and open to everyone of age and gender.
There are 10 times, not 100 times, more soccer clubs. Likewise there are approximately the same number of GAA clubs in Cork alone as there are rugby clubs on the island of Ireland. I think you’re missing the point about the club infrastructure and its penetration geographically in relation to the point made in the article.
Take the converse case in the D4 area – if all, or a significant number of, the juvenile sections of Lansdowne, Wanderers, Bective, Wesley, Railway Union and Old Belvedere all wanted to join a soccer club than Ringsend Rovers and Pats CY would certainly struggle to facilitate this large influx of numbers (as would Clan na Gael on the GAA side).
I wasn’t making any point about the elitism of rugby which is a matter of opinion but rather was making a statement of fact regarding the physical infrastructure i.e. comparable number of clubs and consequently pitches, coaches etc.
About time. I used to have some amount of weekends with no matches and training due to pitches being unplayable.
There would be no football in the summer when most of us would be down the field with a ball anyway with school out and good weather.
Rugby is elitist and is in no position to compete with football and GAA in most parts of Dublin and Cork.
Had a skim through the player development plan and think it is the perfect document to kick-start the process needed to change the game here for better. Here’s hoping that all stakeholders are willing to implement it.
Ireland is a small country with a limited amount of people. The kids and teenagers play way to many sports instead of choosing 1 or 2 to specialise in. New Zealand is a good example. They have a similar population and focus on a minimal amount of team sports.
Moving soccer to a different season might force them to choose 1 or 2 sports and not to burn out at a young age from playing too many too often.
Awful decision by the Fai and all to save few quid on all weather facilities
Rugby won’t be the winner I;m afraid. Maybe I will incur the wrath of a lot here when I say that I have seen first hand how the now practically 11 month GAA youth season is driving a lot off young lads daft. I won’t go any deeper or I will be accused of bias but I am speaking from personal experience here.
Is the Emerging Talent Programme going to run in winter to continue accommodating elite player coaching?
Enjoyed reading the development plan, but having spoken to several clubs, and members of the DDSL, SDFL and NDSL over the past season, it seems they are not in favour of summer football at all, so what happens then? Also, why is it that not one schoolboy club was included in new U17 League of Ireland? in the press statement issued by the FAI they said:
“Following receipt of expressions of interest, the U17 National League working group has been engaged in a detailed assessment phase during recent months. The working group reviewed aspects such as facilities, coaching qualifications, and in particular player pathway, with an emphasis on structures linking to senior football. The working group also took geographical location and strategic development of the game nationally into account when making its decisions.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but where is the player pathway from schoolboy to U17 football in UCD? I know they mean player pathway from U17 upwards, but this means the best schoolboy clubs are going to be fleeced of players once they finish at U16 level. There are several other clubs that have been included that have no schoolboy setup, and it means they will have to recruit from clubs who have spent years moulding these players. And €500 for a player who has been with a club since the age of 12 is ridiculous to say the least. Several of the established schoolboy clubs now have U17,U18 and U19 teams and senior teams. Many of the leagues have also said they will continue to run leagues at this age group, so there will be a huge tug-of-war in the next few weeks.
Indeed, what will happen this summer when the U17 League of Ireland teams need to recruit players for the start of the short season in August? Are they only going to take players who can play at that age for the season which will run until November? If so they the best U16 players who remain with their schoolboy clubs will need to leave them in the new year to begin training with new LOI teams for the start of the U17 season in March. I know several schoolboy clubs who felt they were simply not listened to during the process, and feel they will be decimated by this move.
The emerging talent programme, which was mentioned in both the development plan and the U17 press release, is important, and centres of excellence around the country working with players in the off season is an excellent idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see even more young players, especially the very top ones. being signed up to pre-contracts by clubs in England before they turn 16, which has been increasing over the last two years.
The centres of excellence/ youth academies structure aligned with the LOI clubs for national competition is surely a positive for elite player development. Hard to disagree with the mantra of the best playing with the best against the best on a national basis. The LOI will also benefit I would hope.
It’s hard to feel sorry for the handful of the big Dublin schoolboy clubs getting ‘fleeced’ as that’s exactly what they do to smaller locality based schoolboy clubs to develop the elite players for export to England.