Castlemaine have to make

TCASTLEMAINE United is a very progressive rural club that has been making a habit of winning silverware in recent seasons.

The players come from the catchment area of Castlemaine, Milltown, Keel and Ballyfinnane. They have been punching above their weight in recent years and have moved up a few divisions in the Kerry District League.

There is very keen competition for players in this district with Mainebank and Killorglin two nearby clubs. However, Castlemaine have withstood the test of time and after 31 years on the road they are still as strong as ever.

They won a league title last season and now sit at the top of Division 1B and in with a great chance of back-to-back league wins. While the club have been moving up and down divisions over the past two decades they are moving in the right direction over the past few years and of course would love to go all the way up to Premier A.

They have doing their best to improve their underage structure and are planning to have Under-17 and Youth teams competing in the county competitions next season.

Castlemaine have a great backroom team who are working diligently behind the scenes to move the club in the right direction and cater for the needs of everyone who are interested in playing the game. – Mike Rice

HE PRO of the club is Dara O’Connor and he is doing an excellent job keeping the club in the public domain and has been very good to me for the past few years getting in all the results scorers and match reports on Sunday evenings whether the team win or lose and always gives a fair and balanced assessment of the game.

He says he is delighted that the club is going so well and decorating their mantelpiece more regularly with silverware in recent years has added to the attractiveness of the club from a players point of view..

“I’ve been PRO for eight years since the young age of 17 and have played soccer at Under 15, 16, 17 and Youths under the tutelage of fantastic club servants David Clifford, Seán Brosnan and Timmy O’Connor who trained all those sides as well as playing Senior ‘A’ and ‘B’ as I still do.

“I started playing at 13 so for the past 12 years I’ve represented the club in an official capacity both on and off the pitch.

“I have also been involved in a coaching capacity at Under 17 and Youths level for four seasons alongside some inspirational aids including Kieran Flynn, Kevin Giles, David O’Neil and John James Griffin amongst others who gave me the belief to explore the game from a different perspective and it had its ups and downs but it’s definitely something I’m interested in going forward due to my love for the game.

“Before that I was a bit too young so my involvement was from a fanatical young fans perspective, but I have great memories of following Castlemaine United in the 2000s when my eldest brother Timmy was a talented striker playing alongside some of the greats the club.

“My other brother Jono was also playing underage those days so I used travel on the bus, the odd time and that’s really where it all started for me. In those times they were mixing it with the best and holding their own and some of the bigger clubs today plied their trade in divisions below Castlemaine then as loyalty was a big thing to your club in those days which aren’t that long ago, transfers were minimal and it was nearly frowned upon and you could nearly always know your squad from one season to the next at any age grade so togetherness and team spirit were big factors outside of the ability they had as a group as they all knew each other and that was important for team unity.

“Nowadays you could play against or with a player this season and next season they have moved to another club and this happens way too often these days for varying reasons, which is a pity.

Whilst I acknowledge some will say players moving can be down to the mismanagement of them at club level and that players have always had to right to play with whatever club they wish to.

However it still is a small bit of a bug-bearer of mine as its at amateur level we play the game at here in Kerry.

“It’s far from the Airtricity League or Premier League standard and I think switching clubs should only be allowed if a player has a legitimate reason for no longer playing with the club he started out with and that criteria should be set out in the rules accordingly.

“Sometimes it feels like its quantity over quality also when it comes to how many clubs or how many leagues we have in Kerry and I personally feel we need to get rid of the culture of clubs popping up for a season here and there and gone again the following year as it doesn’t benefit the league in any way and often hurts long standing clubs in both rural and urban areas who lose key players as a consequence.

“I accept there will be those that disagree with my views but they are what they are.

“I’d also like to give mention to John O’Regan [Secretary, KDL] who does a tremendous job every season in what is an almost impossible role trying to make fixtures and accommodate teams as much as possible.

“We were probably on track to have five of the six divisions at senior completed in record time this season with the exception of Premier A where National Competitions take up a lot of time at the start of the season until COVID-19 hit so that’s a credit to him, Tommy Naughton, Kieran O’Regan [the fixture makers] and all the KDL executive committee who have turned Mounthawk Park into a top class facility over the years and do so much to promote the game we all love.

“It’s easy for us as players, we only have to play games and train, but the work that goes into organising those games and maintaining the facilities often goes unnoticed.

“We might not be at those same heights as the old days as a club currently competition wise, but I think we are moving in the right direction this year and last year and if hopefully the season gets a chance to conclude in the coming months as there isn’t many league games left then we have put ourselves in a position going into our final three games to potentially get