U 21 Grade...the future

Prop Joe

Was thinking today and would it be a good idea to scrap the U21 grade at club level.

The U21 grade is a brill competition at inter county level and is important for player development but at club level it just seems to put more pressure on young players with burn out.

Would it make more sense to scrap the U21 competitions at club level and incorporate them players into reserve senior leagues which i imagine alot of them would be playing anyway.

I think a major factor in this would be moving Minor level to u-19 though

Thoughts?

Does this exist in every county?.

I can't say I ever heard of this in Galway.

I know my own club, Fr.Griffins just has Minor/Junior and some lads playing both.

Maybe it varies by county, similar to how uncompetitive games are played for kids U12?.

Or maybe we have U21 here in either code and I never noticed :pac:

premierstone

U21 definitely played in Galway , I have been at a few hurling matches over the years in Galway.

premierstone

premierstone wrote: »

U21 definitely played in Galway , I have been at a few hurling matches over the years in Galway.

I was talking about football when mentioning my own club.

We don't have an U21 team anyway.

Most clubs wouldn't be able to field Minor/Junior-Senior and U21 so I'd imagine passing up on it is a regular occurrence.

It's probably more important at County level than Minor.

If lads are performing at U21, chances are they'll replicate it at Senior.
Minors can grow a lot between those development years or some might have matured earlier and look better than they are at that period.


Not really important at club, lads of 17/18 can play Junior A or B until they mature and less strain on resources/numbers.

Syferus

U21 club is played in the depths of winter here. Sorting out when the Sigerson is played would have far more benefits.

Bullseye500

You can't scrap u21 club level it's massive for the young lads as it's their biggest competition after minor trying to break into the senior team.

As regards reserve leagues a lot of clubs would have a B team anyway which would be similar enough.

nice_guy80

I think U21 is a crucial age group for clubs and counties.

A lot of players fall off between 18 - 21 during college years.
Having a team there keeps them playing with the club, when they might not get on the adult teams.

I think it is also important to get this age group of players together away from the field and college - ie non playing events.

Crash Bang Wall

Syferus wrote: »

U21 club is played in the depths of winter here. Sorting out when the Sigerson is played would have far more benefits.

Same in Cavan. One year they had the first round in April/May, and then left it. Finals have often been at the end of Nov, start of Dec.

Its a good competition, but the GAA need to organise fixtures better, both at intercounty and club level

Prop Joe

Yeah just taking a guy from our own club,He will play this year

Minor
U-21
Reserve
Senior
Minor Divisional team
U 21 Divisional team
School team

And this is just football,Don't know how a dual lad could sustain it.

I would safely say that all of our u21's will be playing reserve so it's not like they would be not getting football

yop

Prop Joe wrote: »

Yeah just taking a guy from our own club,He will play this year

Minor
U-21
Reserve
Senior
Minor Divisional team
U 21 Divisional team
School team

And this is just football,Don't know how a dual lad could sustain it.

I would safely say that all of our u21's will be playing reserve so it's not like they would be not getting football

Up to managers to also monitor the players and burn out, I know it happens here though I have seen it take parent intervention to put a stop to U16's playing minor or minors playing U21.
The U21 as stated if scrapped could lose a lot of lads, its an important period for young lads who fall in between the minor and junior/intermediate/senior ranks for their clubs and it could see them move away from the game if the training and games for U21 is abolished.

Prop Joe

yop wrote: »

Up to managers to also monitor the players and burn out, I know it happens here though I have seen it take parent intervention to put a stop to U16's playing minor or minors playing U21.
The U21 as stated if scrapped could lose a lot of lads, its an important period for young lads who fall in between the minor and junior/intermediate/senior ranks for their clubs and it could see them move away from the game if the training and games for U21 is abolished.

Not arguing with you here,You raise many valid points but say for instance minor was increased to u -19,You would have lads playing an extra year at minor before stepping up to reserve senior football which most would be playing at the age of 20 anyway or am i way wide of the mark.

yop

Prop Joe wrote: »

Not arguing with you here,You raise many valid points but say for instance minor was increased to u -19,You would have lads playing an extra year at minor before stepping up to reserve senior football which most would be playing at the age of 20 anyway or am i way wide of the mark.

No you are right and I THINK I heard something like that muted here in Mayo. You have college football in there also so I read some where that the lads are playing or training 9 times per week around the ages of 19/20 with all the commitments. And thats for football only, if they are a dual player, if they play rugby or soccer then its hard to gauge how many times more.

I remember and I am sure it was the same for many, playing a primary school final match around 4pm and then heading off to play a county semi final with my club around 6 or 7pm.
Even at a more senior level we played a college game during the day and then home for a club game in the evening.

Its probably no wonder I am ruined with injuries now.

Bullseye500

In the middle of the summer I think players in the u-21 definitely suffer from burnout.The amount of competitions on at this time of the year is ridiculous for the lads whereas from January-May they hardly play a match unless involved with seniors.

mufc1993

Still an important competition I feel. Just not cared about enough, well in Mayo anyways, since games are all over the place due to the county team's progression!

BnB

I think under 21 (hurling) is run well here in Clare.

It is a straight old fashioned knock out championship. Starts around St Patricks day and is usually finished before the end of April.

Players themselves generally take it very seriously and put in a good bit of work for it. I think it's a great way of getting young lads out training early in the year and in good shape for the season.

Pete_Cavan

Not sure what it is like in other counties but in Cavan a lot of clubs (and not just small ones) amalgamate for U21 level. The result is teams are quite strong and are usually made up of lads who are established or on the fringes of their clubs first team. It does nothing for player retention because the lads playing U21 get plenty of football anyway. Nobody is going to hang around a team training all year in the hope of getting a couple of U21 games at the end of the year. Probably better off without it tbh.

The U21 competition is played at the end of the end of the year as players are needed for senior/junior B the rest of the year. If anything U21 probably puts young lads off playing football because they are expected to travel home from college when they could be in Dublin/Galway/wherever enjoying themselves. Lads should have the winter off considering they usually have gym programmes to do and will be back on the pitch training in early January anyway. Lads that age deserve a break and recognising this would probably make them more willing to stick with the game.