our U12s have an awful habit of kicking the ball even if someone is 2 yards away, this little scuttery kick of a ball that invariably they lose possession on. So I dont mind seeing the team working a good possession and keeping the ball and getting into scoring positions. The thing is the balance of knowing when to kick and when to handpass, and at this age they are only figuring it out. Id much rather our lads keep possession through handpassing than someone lumping it 30 yards with a kick that goes to no one.
1 Like
youll have to get up a bit earlier than that.
Did he SIUUUUUUUU after?
Some coaches would tell you Clifford doesnt kick a ball properly.
Let them just fucking kick.
Throwing it up when kicking it and dropping it with two hands are the two key mistakes.
Nobody ever taught any of us how to kick years ago. Probably as it was kind of survival of the fittest and if you couldn’t do it properly you just were shite, didn’t get a game and then gave up. Far more inclusive now but it means most coaches struggle to explain the mechanics of something we never actually thought about.
Roll it off the shelf as Pat Critchley would say
Ray Boyne is not everyones cup of tea but his taste in music and ability to get the beat of his montages just right is incredible.
Anyone’s?
He fairly nailed that one
Returning to this lads… when ye say clubs have A B C D teams do ye mean in the one year group? ie the 2008s say or would they be a mix of two years the 08s and 09s
Keeping year groups together or mixing two years to stream them is the big sticking point in our club.
For eg the 2013s and 2012s are both u14. Do you leave them as two separate teams as theyve trained and played the whole way up.seperarely or put the best of the 2013s with the 2012s? Issue then is when you move to u16 you mix with a different year group.
Its all 1 year groups in Dublin. Competitions at every year u8 up to u16. Smaller clubs will oftem mix 2 years though
And would excellent u14s ever ‘play up’ at u15 say? In a big club where the numbers were there
Sometimes for Feile which is essentially championship. I actually think the lack of ‘playing up’ hampers the development of our stronger players in Dublin. I know it would happen a lot more outside Dublin. A strong u14 will often have things his own way at his own age group. Playing up an age orvtwo can be good for their development
3 Likes
Overall it’s not better though as leads to huge levels of dropout when the middling lads get shunted off their own team for better younger lads.
Yeah. This is why it doesn’t happen in a lot of clubs. However at what stage should a club start picking their best players regardless of age? Participation is important but so is success.
Minor was traditionally when youd get u16s playing up. I played for a big town club growing up and it wouldn’t even be considered before that.
I hurled wing back for Faythe Harriers in an U12 county final at the age of 8 (eight). Not to be confused with the time I scored all the points for Faythe Harriers 3 years later in another U12 county final. I was an exceptional case, & an exceptional talent though.
1 Like
That burned you out too early though. You were gone by u16.
1 Like
U14 is generally the accepted age for the start of competitive competition in Kilkenny.
Everything up to and including U12 is pointed towards participation. U14 is where it moves to be more about winning. Including the idea of young players playing above their immediate age grade.
Clubs that are big enough to have B teams will still have an element of participation focus especially early in the season for u14 and even U16 but even B Teams flip into competitive mode when you get to knockout portions of competitions.
With the move back to even numbers finally, I’d be very worried the GAA look to make U12 go games. I think it can be competitive but that clubs are encouraged/forced à la Feile to rotate players. But it does need to be competitive. All other sports are competitive much earlier, leaving it til U14 to move out or Go Games is much too late.