Review of squads for football would be useful exercise

HAVING COVERED a number of under-age finals over the weekend, one would welcome a review of the county development squads. As these squads stand at the moment, one would be inclined to believe that they have become elitist, with only players brought in whom those responsible believe have a future at inter-county level.

The squads should be for the betterment of young players, promoting coaching among those from weaker clubs but with real potential, but the elitist claim is quite rampant.

One would welcome a review of how the development squads are brought together, and who is responsible for the inclusion of players, since at the games which I covered last weekend there was no person present with a responsibility for football to run the rule over players participating in these games.

Surely this is the remit of the county Coaching Officer who, if unavailable, should delegate a responsible person to attend such finals.

It would send out a very positive message to such clubs as Réalt na Mara, St. Patrick’s, St. Joseph’s and Crossabeg-Ballymurn who participated in shield finals over the weekend.

To their credit, they served up some excellent football for the Under-13 grade, with the players benefiting from the club coaching which must be of high quality. They displayed all the skills of the game, thereby leading to some outstanding individual displays.

I would have no doubt that a number of players from each club would automatically be included in development squads, should they be playing with any of the elite football clubs. This begs the question: should the whole development squad system be revisited and a more detailed system put into place?

My thinking, having seen those games, is that many young players are being lost to the inter-county set-up in future years. Wexford needs a new model, particularly when one takes into consideration where football is at the moment. The Minor football team failed miserably which asks serious questions of the system currently in place.

When a county is struggling, one always has to have a look at the system in place. When players operating with such skill and quality as I witnessed over the weekend fail to come under the microscope of the footballing system, they have little chance of access to any level of development.

What it means is that it’s not possible to cover an entire county with just a single development squad. Perhaps now is the time to bite the bullet, particularly where football is concerned, and create development squads on a District basis.

Each District should have qualified coaches and former inter-county players at the helm, with a coaching programme in place, at the end of which the Districts play-off on a round robin basis, before settling on a development squad for various tournaments.

This would present those players from weaker clubs with an ideal opportunity to showcase their skill and put themselves forward. I have no doubt that from the four clubs mentioned they have players who could only improve from further coaching in a quality environment, as many showcased their talents to such an extent that there’s no doubt they can progress through the development squad system.

G.A.A. President, John Horan, opted to use his first address to Congress to announce plans for a review of under-age county development squad practices, as he believed that ‘starting too early’ was creating elitism, as having a detrimental impact on young players who end up being cast aside after a few years.

Horan believed that some people are getting carried away with their own self-importance. In some instances, they are under unnecessary pressure and are being deemed a failure before they have even graduated from Minor.

That leads me to believe that should Wexford divide the county into four Districts, more players would be given an opportunity in their own environment, coached to the highest quality, and given game time with a District round-robin event, before a county squad is put in place. This would replace the model where a group of people get together and call in just 25 to 30 players, while at the same time saying goodbye to the remaining talent in the county.

The majority of those brought in are from the elite clubs. It’s key to get the right people looking after the squad system for the good of the young players.