U14, a bit too young for it.
The parents are half encouraging their antics too. My father or mother would have told me to cop on if I was going on like that at their age.
Itâs all about participation and enjoyment now. In the old days they would be culled from panels at age 12.
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Mr transdev has spoken.
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Iâve just realised thereâs no game at 2PM today 
Ah jesus i see way worse than ever happened in the past. Treatys issues are real and the mollie coddling is off the charts. There are club trials and fitness testing at 14s in big clubs, players being abused left right and centre.
Treat cannot theo a few fucks as he wonât have a team by 16. Kids have so many options you have to be a part time psychologist these days and play the long game.
But apparently i insulted (and these were the exact words used ) âa whole parishâ last year when i said to an Adult Senior team that i needed to âknock the middle class out of themâ. Fucking adults got offended by that, and it was clearly in a football context. That was my own parish. People make the choice to get offended so quickly these days. Cos it is a choice, to be offended. Now all my words were used by lazy unmotivated players (a small few as usual) who wanted to cover up their own performances and lack of application. Now the point is, that is still my mistake. My 4 years away meant i read the players slightly wrongly. As stupid as getting offended is, i gave them that out. I was not fully aware of who i was coaching. And that was my mistake. You have to be on top of that shit. It was a harsh lesson. I could make excuses about years of shit coaching and preperation finally coming to a head, and thats true, but i still gave the bluffers an out. And in a smallish club you need the bluffers. If its not you plamasing them it must be a âgood copâ. I have no problem being the asshole distant Head Coach if you have a joker with you, that seperation works well. However i did not have that. Got to play whats in front of ya.
Treaty is unlikely to have that at u14 either, so he has to plamas for a good while yet. If its worth it and they are handy, by the time they are 16/17 parents have less oatience for them and are quite happy for coaches to start disciplining them. The kids themselves change too and many messers can change and can surprise you. Unless they are being bullies or disrespectful all you can do is plamas. Depending on the parent you might have a word with them, but you have to be sure they are receptive.
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Superb post and sums it up exactly. I get very frustrated lately and most of the frustration is for the young lads themselves as I know they have the talent but are being let down by a lack of drive. I couldnât give a fuck if we lose every game this year as long as the lads are playing to their potential.
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Jaysus lads did ye ever take a step back to think how ridiculous it is that ye take these things so seriously. Itâs only a game for fellas to pass a few hours during the week and have a bit of craic. Itâd be different if it intercounty and there was something at stake but getting frustrated because you canât insult a bunch of 14 year olds and tell them to fuck off is a bit much.
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Ya thats it. I wish every coach had that approach. Its an approach you see with progressive clubs. Nemo are the best example. Couldnât give a fiddlers about winning till Minor. Fun and skill and enjoyment. But they produce guys who even playing Junior B know how to play the game. Their game management skills and football skills are 2nd to none.
A friend of mine is with a team that lost a County 14 final recently. He was delighted as he said himself, âit annoyed them so much to lose, weâll keep them till at least 16â.
I think it is about participation. I heard a stat last year about St. Michaels 5 in a row U14 County winning sides, there are 4 still playing football. Now another few play hurling, but even if its 10 all up, thats some drain of talent. Being co.petitive and develooing kids and keeping them healthy is the name of the game for me. Fine ar adult the commitment is huge so you want performance and hopefully results, but that has trickled down to underage now to a crazy level.
Thats an overly symistic view on it fagan.
id be seething if someone said they were going to knock the upper middle class out of me
bizarre thing to say
great post
treaty and kev coming across as oddballs.
even at intercounty level it shouldnât be taken too seriously
Itâs only a hobby after all.
Very modest of you to slum it with us upper middle class types.
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yep, Im a man of the people
Youâre a soft cunt as well so
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an upper middle class soft cunt
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If you are involved with coaching young lads you have a duty of sorts to help them reach their potential whatever that might be. The odd bollocking can work wonders for a young lad especially nowadays where everybody is telling them they are a beautiful snowflake.
Winning an under age medal can do a lot for somebodyâs sense of self. On an Internet discussion forum it makes out the wheat from the chaff.
Should be fun and enjoyable but one of the best things to develop self esteem is to work hard.
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Of course for things like speed there is only so much you can do about improving it and you might still be slower than a lad who doesnât give a fuck but with things like striking a ball, first touch, catching a ball in hurling for example I think practice is the difference between the top players and the rest not natural ability
Is there any empirical evidence for the long term benefits of a bollicking dished out by a frustrated old gimp with no training in child psychology?
leave it to the professionals mate- some gimp like yourself training a bogball team trying to be a life coach is bile inducing.