Playing for Louth at underage is mainly about experience

MAYBE it’s only a personal thing but when discussion arises over the age of a player, a reference point is usually the year in which they played minor football. Be it at club or county level.

There will always be a few who play above their grade and can cause a bit of confusion. In one such case, former St Patrick’s prodigy Dáire Lafferty played for Louth in the Leinster MFC back in 2013 – but he has not yet turned 27.

The Ravensdale-native’s tale is a curious one. He scored a goal against Dublin in Drogheda to help send the game to extra-time but despite being eligible for each of the following two seasons, after facing Wexford in a subsequent qualifier, he never featured competitively for Louth again.

All of this information is fresh in mind because Dáire and your writer are both of the 1997 vintage and played together with the development squads, including in the 2013 Gerry Reilly Cup.

Most years, there will be one or two lads who will feature for their counties in the championship and be eligible to do so the following season as well. But the current Louth U17 squad is exceptional in that almost half of its members will go again in 2025.

Of the 24 players used in last summer’s Gerry Reilly defeat by Meath, only 12 remain and just five were in from the start against Westmeath last week.

There are varying reasons for such a turnover. Some lads may have lost form, others could have fallen short of the necessary standard, fellas will likely have opted out as well and then a new management can require different things off individuals.

WELFARE

In all cases, the hope is that the welfare and feelings of those culled were kept in mind all through the process and that they weren’t in mental discomfort during the build-up and aftermath of the round one triumph.

When part of a development squad over a few years, your mind can start to stray ahead and dreams form. Several lads my age have gone on to play senior football for Louth – including Paul Mathews, Matthew Corcoran, Niall Sharkey, Fergal Sheekey, Tadhg McEnaney, Dáire McConnon, Ciarán Downey, Fergal Donohoe, Kevin Carr and Aaron O’Brien – but that was never the aspiration for yours truly.

Winning a provincial minor title and playing in Croke Park was a propelling factor for me. And given the aforementioned talent, it was hardly out of the question. It’s the hope that kills you, though. Ultimately, failing to make the cut was a crushing blow and took a long, long time to get over. The void that is left is substantial.

While no world beater, I performed quite well in the Gerry Reilly and that was enough to lead to a call-up, along with a few others, to the U17 squad ahead of their Damien Reid Cup matches with Meath. Declan Byrne, who is now an U20 selector with Fergal Reel, was training the team, although it was acknowledged that the new minor management would be taking the helm quite quickly.

Anyhow, the Reid games went ahead and between training and the match, confidence was high and there was an inner feeling of optimism that I could be a part of the minor squad a year out of my age.

Something beyond my wildest expectations. It had been a busy year. U16, U18 and U21 involvement with Roche, regional competition, schools’ football and the grandest honour, playing for

Louth on a weekly basis.

Word filtered through that the minors had a challenge match against Antrim on the horizon but it wasn’t until a classmate at school – who made the squad – mentioned if I’d “got the text” in the locker room one evening that I found out when it was on. That off the cuff remark also made it pretty clear that I wasn’t in the new management’s plans but not one of them let either me or my father know.

As someone who has struggled with anxiety and depression since the beginning of his teenage cycle, that set in motion one of the darkest periods I can recall. I’d say for about two months after that, I didn’t play or train with much regularity. Absolutely empty. School work, personal relationships and home life suffered. Obviously, not being selected would have been difficult to take, but the lack of compassion or encouragement stung most.

REJECTED

A call to go in with Roche’s firstteam was rejected and I ended up playing in goals for the first few rounds of the minor league. Disinterested to a point where my fitness was only regained when the ground hardened.

The following year was worse, though, because that was when many of the peers I’d grown up with were no longer teammates. The same management were in place but two of them didn’t even know my name and the third pretended not to.

While I’d be the first to admit not being where I needed to be physically, it was once again a case of being taken along to one training session/game and then being knocked off the contact register. End of the world, part two. Treated as a number as opposed to a human being or a vulnerable teenager. I’m sure there are others who felt the same but it happening in consecutive years was absolutely horrible.

It got worse. That team was quality-ridden and defeated a well-fancied Kildare team in the first round of Leinster. Friends involved tipped around the subject in my company – because they knew how much I was hurting – but knowing the team’s ability and then seeing them producing it on the stage I’d dreamed of were different matters entirely.

Meath pipped them by a point the next day and they were out. Had the current group stage format been in then, I fully believe they would have won the Leinster title.

Of course, in any success story, there will have been those who have fallen away along the journey. It is inevitable – the key is in showing them respect and not discarding them like Jokers from a deck of cards.

Therefore, it was encouraging to hear minor manager Johnny Clerkin speaking so candidly following the success against Westmeath, referring to the squad “as a family”.

Because when all is said and done, few will recall the results. It will be all about the experience – be it good or bad.

OBVIOUSLY, NOT BEING SELECTED WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT TO TAKE, BUT THE LACK OF COMPASSION OR ENCOURAGEMENT STUNG MOST