Underage gaa

Tinkerbell4484

Just looking for a little advice.
Son plays u12's Gaelic, he's a fairly good player,it's his 1st year at u12.
He trains once. Week,at training his coach will bring 11 or 12 players (same lads every week) and does his drills ect with them,the rest will be told to go and shoot points with a mentor,he also trains this 11 another night,same 11 players will be brought to every match,then a mixture of the rest or the players as subs.
Out if the 11 he has u10 players who also get playing ahead of the u12 players.
My son is currently very upset that not only was he told about training tonight but he's yet again not asked to play on the match Monday where u10 players are.
I've said this to the chairman of the club but nothing has been said at all. I'm wondering can I contact county board or anyone else?

The Lost Sheep

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Just looking for a little advice.
Son plays u12's Gaelic, he's a fairly good player,it's his 1st year at u12.
He trains once. Week,at training his coach will bring 11 or 12 players (same lads every week) and does his drills ect with them,the rest will be told to go and shoot points with a mentor,he also trains this 11 another night,same 11 players will be brought to every match,then a mixture of the rest or the players as subs.
Out if the 11 he has u10 players who also get playing ahead of the u12 players.
My son is currently very upset that not only was he told about training tonight but he's yet again not asked to play on the match Monday where u10 players are.
I've said this to the chairman of the club but nothing has been said at all. I'm wondering can I contact county board or anyone else?

That is very poor from the coach. No coach should play favourites and primarily do drills with same players each week and have the rest just doing shooting practice. That way when you get to older age groups the team will suffer and each individual player will not develop as much as they should.
Playing under 10 players ahead of under 12 is also poor form from the coach and he should be questioned on that.
Contact the club chairman again and do so in writing. Contact the county board if nothing done and see if county development officers will go observe these trainings and give advice etc on what is best for all kids to enjoy themselves as best they can as that's the most important thing at that age group

Jogathon

Volunteer. Help with setting up drills for all. It sounds like the coach can't handle the numbers at training. So giving a hand is the best way to ensure your son is trained correctly.

With regards to the u10's playing in front of the u 12's, that is unusual, and I would question if it was the club's policy. However, one he hits his teenage years it will be competitive matches all the time, with the best players earning their place. This is why you need to volunteer and ensure your son (and others) are getting the best start in their skills and technical training.

Tinkerbell4484

Jogathon wrote: »

Volunteer. Help with setting up drills for all. It sounds like the coach can't handle the numbers at training. So giving a hand is the best way to ensure your son is trained correctly.

There is 1 head coach and 5 assistant coaches/mentors. The head coach brings 4 if his assistants to help him with the 11 players and leaves 1 assistant practicing points with the other 15 or so kids.
My husband has offered his services but he was not wanted.

Thanks will put it in writing to chairman and then to county board

fatherted1969

Disgraceful carry on if this is correct. Coach picking his favourites at this age group doesn't bode well for the more competitive years ahead. If numbers are that good coach should be able to put out second team and play that team in lower division. Games keeps kids playing at that age not non stop training

DunedinOg

This is astonishing if true. I'm always a little cautious when I read these types of things as you are only getting one side of the story but if this is even partly true then the club is making a complete mess of their underage.

On the basis that your posts are a fair reflection of things then there are multiple issues here -

1. The coach is using 5 coaches to deal with 11 kids (himself + 4 assistants) or a 2:1 ratio of players to coaches while one coach deals with the other 15 for a ratio of 15:1. This is a bizarre use of coaching resources and means the majority of kids are not getting the attention they need.

2. The head coach has refused additional help from this posters husband. Most clubs can't get enough people to help out yet this guy is turning volunteers away from the club.

3. He is breaking just about every Go Game rule, which encourages 100% participation, and he isn't even encouraging 15 players to keep playing. Does he think he's coaching a soccer team?

4. His behaviour is actively harming his club so how this is being allowed is beyond me. Are there other parents who share your concerns?


I'd approach other parents to see if a group of you can go to the club with your concerns as a single parent doing so may come across as 'my little Johnny isn't playing enough' type of thing. Get solid facts together so you have a proper, defined argument tout to the club committee, though I would speak to the coach first so as you're not going over his head first.

Tinkerbell4484

Other parents are aware of what he is doing.last year he was coaching u10 (he follows his sons coaching age so he can continue to coach his son) and 2 parents took their kids out of the club due to the way he was treating their kids. Unfortunately though no other parents are willing to speak up.
I understand that you are sceptical as to what I have written,but I can assure you it's all truth.

rockbeast

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Other parents are aware of what he is doing.last year he was coaching u10 (he follows his sons coaching age so he can continue to coach his son) and 2 parents took their kids out of the club due to the way he was treating their kids. Unfortunately though no other parents are willing to speak up.
I understand that you are sceptical as to what I have written,but I can assure you it's all truth.

:mad:

I'd always hoped clubs would stop allowing this. Some things never change.

Jogathon

Firstly, I commend your husband on offering to help. It's so difficult to get volunteers to help out with teams.

Secondly, there is a proper and official route that you must take when you have a concern about your child in a club. You must contact the child welfare officer first and express your concerns. This doesn't have to be written down and will remain completely confidential. The cwo will (should) observe the training sessions and make recommendations to the club board on how to address this issue. It could be that the trainer is sent on a child welfare course, and a training course suitable for go games. The club has to support the trainer in improving first which I'm sure you can understand.

After this, if the problem hasn't resolved itself, the best way that you can change trainers is in the Agm. This is the public forum for all issues like this. Be careful though, I've seen parents with very legitimate worries sound like emotional lunatics so ensure that you are calm and speak in a measured and reasonable tone with your concerns!

I have one question too. You mentioned that your son wasn't contacted about a training session. Does this guy contact your son directly, or through your phone? Directly is obviously not allowed as he is underage.

rockbeast

Jogathon wrote: »

Firstly, I commend your husband on offering to help. It's so difficult to get volunteers to help out with teams.

After this, if the problem hasn't resolved itself, the best way that you can change trainers is in the Agm.

All fair points, Jogathon but it's never that simple.

I'm sure the trainer is the type that collects the raffle ticket money and won't be moved - a club bureaucrat!

I'd go with keeping age groups to themselves rather than try and remove him.

Tinkerbell4484

We are contacted about trainings and matches by text. As its u12 there is no go games it's league fixtures so last Monday the summer league started. We got a text about that match,and about training on Tuesday night.
My husband was at a junior match last night and seen the 11 players training. When he asked why our son wasn't told about this training he was told it was because he just wasn't.
The 11 that he is training and bringing to games are his best players, he takes no interest in training the other kids that might need a bit more help.

rockbeast

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

We are contacted about trainings and matches by text. As its u12 there is no go games it's league fixtures so last Monday the summer league started. We got a text about that match,and about training on Tuesday night.
My husband was at a junior match last night and seen the 11 players training. When he asked why our son wasn't told about this training he was told it was because he just wasn't.
The 11 that he is training and bringing to games are his best players, he takes no interest in training the other kids that might need a bit more help.

????:mad:

nice_guy80

Contact underage chairman about this behaviour.
Seems like there is a manager who's only interested in a few good players and winning games.

If it continues, seek another club.

DunedinOg

Jogathan makes some good points but I would approach this differently. First off, this needs to be sorted now, not at next year's AGM and you'd never know what response you'd get in that forum.

The first thing I'd do is approach the coach to discuss this with him. Keep very calm, regardless of what he says, and impress upon him the fact he has responsibilities to all the kids in his squad, not just those he deems to be the best. I find it bizarre that he is favouring 11 players as U12 is 15 a side in my county and even if it's 11 a side in yours the team surely needs a few subs? If you get nowhere with this I'd contact the clubs child welfare officer as Jogathan suggests but I'd also do the following -

I'd contact a number of parents to see what their opinions are, if it's as bad as you're saying then some of the parents of the 11 favoured kids could be just as disappointed with what's going on. The parents of the 15 kids being overlooked will surely share your frustration so I would document what is happening to a few of players so you have hard facts. Things you could track would b how much game time players outside the 11 get, what type of things the non 11 are doing in training, how many U10's are getting game time.

Coaches should understand that underage football is about the kids and not winning at the expense of the majority of kids. I'm astonished that any club would allow this happen so you'll be doing your son, other kids and your club a huge favour by addressing this.

I'm heavily involved in underage coaching in my club and at committee level and I would be furious if any coach at my club behaved like this guy, I'm furious just hearing about it in your club!!

The GAA is doing huge work to move clubs away from this type of thing so if you're not getting satisfaction from your club you can go the county board through the county CDA. I'd also check what the transfer rules in your county are and would take your son out of the club if things don't change quickly. I hope you know this is not a common attitude to underage coaching and you shouldn't put up with it.

nice_guy80

DunedinOg wrote: »

Jogathan makes some good points but I would approach this differently. First off, this needs to be sorted now, not at next year's AGM and you'd never know what response you'd get in that forum.

The first thing I'd do is approach the coach to discuss this with him. Keep very calm, regardless of what he says, and impress upon him the fact he has responsibilities to all the kids in his squad, not just those he deems to be the best. I find it bizarre that he is favouring 11 players as U12 is 15 a side in my county and even if it's 11 a side in yours the team surely needs a few subs? If you get nowhere with this I'd contact the clubs child welfare officer as Jogathan suggests but I'd also do the following -

I'd contact a number of parents to see what their opinions are, if it's as bad as you're saying then some of the parents of the 11 favoured kids could be just as disappointed with what's going on. The parents of the 15 kids being overlooked will surely share your frustration so I would document what is happening to a few of players so you have hard facts. Things you could track would b how much game time players outside the 11 get, what type of things the non 11 are doing in training, how many U10's are getting game time.

Coaches should understand that underage football is about the kids and not winning at the expense of the majority of kids. I'm astonished that any club would allow this happen so you'll be doing your son, other kids and your club a huge favour by addressing this.

I'm heavily involved in underage coaching in my club and at committee level and I would be furious if any coach at my club behaved like this guy, I'm furious just hearing about it in your club!!

The GAA is doing huge work to move clubs away from this type of thing so if you're not getting satisfaction from your club you can go the county board through the county CDA. I'd also check what the transfer rules in your county are and would take your son out of the club if things don't change quickly. I hope you know this is not a common attitude to underage coaching and you shouldn't put up with it.

never mind talking to other parents, that will just stir more trouble.
discuss it with the coach, if you get nowhere go up the chain of officialdom to the underage chairperson.
if that fails the next thing is the main club chairperson

rockbeast

nice_guy80 wrote: »

never mind talking to other parents, that will just stir more trouble.
discuss it with the coach, if you get nowhere go up the chain of officialdom to the underage chairperson.
if that fails the next thing is the main club chairperson

Honestly, I don't think she or her husband should go anywhere near a committee or the chairman with complaints about favouritism.

Guarantee you that the manager is well in there.

He'll just say, sorry TinkerBell, that a 10 year old is better than her 12 year old and more deserving of a place.

Their best bet is to push for/insist on separation of all age streams and full training for all.

Now I don't know if she has other kids playing for the club or if they're from a small town but if approached incorrectly this is the kind of BS that'll cause damage in everyday life...

Sorry if I sound negative, especially to you TB, but try your best to do things amicably and if not, new club or new sport.

DunedinOg

nice_guy80 wrote: »

never mind talking to other parents, that will just stir more trouble.
discuss it with the coach, if you get nowhere go up the chain of officialdom to the underage chairperson.
if that fails the next thing is the main club chairperson

Of course they should talk to other parents, it doesn't have to be a big deal just a chat with other parents at training other over the phone with ones they're friendly with. By doing so they will tick two boxes, one they can see if others have the same issues, and if not, maybe they aren't viewing the situation correctly. If others do have the same issue they will have a stronger hand approaching the coach and, if necessary, the coach. A single parent complaining might appear as an overzealous parent who thinks their kid is the best thing since slice bread. However, if a number of parents complain then the club would at least have to take notice.

Again, if the club have any sensible people involved then a coach who is ignoring 60% of his squad will be a cause of concern to them. It appears this guy is going to go up through the ranks with this squad so if he is as bad as being painted then he will do untold damage to the club membership.

With 6 coaches for one squad and 25+ players I doubt this is a small village team.

db

I have had similar experiences with underage GAA and also the opposite. It comes down to the manager and he will not change. He is most likely an ex-player and this club is his life. Does he also have a "win at all costs" attitude in matches? You can see this in all sports but I find GAA the worst, especially when there are matches against a neighbouring parish.

I have also come across the other type of coach that makes sure that everyone is involved, if there are too many for one team they will have two teams and train them all together.

This manager will not change his attitude and he will not listen to anyone who tries to tell him differently although it is unlikely there is anyone on the club who will want to get involved in this. I have heard some of the more progressive coaches in the GAA talk about how they are trying to change the attitude of coaches like this but I think it will take another 10 years to get rid of the last of the dinosaurs. It's unlikely that you will be able to change to another GAA club so it might be best to look at the local soccer and rugby clubs to see if they are any better.

rockbeast

DunedinOg wrote: »

With 6 coaches for one squad and 25+ players I doubt this is a small village team.

Well I read this...

The head coach brings 4 if his assistants to help him with the 11 players and leaves 1 assistant practicing points with the other 15 or so kids.

...and took it to mean the U10s have coach and 4 assistants and U12s are an afterthought...

Why doesn't he stick with the 10s and let one or two of those "assistants" focus on the 12s?

DunedinOg

I don't think he is coaching the U10's at all but he does use the better ones for games, or at least that's my understanding of things.

rockbeast

db wrote: »

I have had similar experiences with underage GAA and also the opposite. It comes down to the manager and he will not change. He is most likely an ex-player and this club is his life. Does he also have a "win at all costs" attitude in matches? You can see this in all sports but I find GAA the worst, especially when there are matches against a neighbouring parish.

I have also come across the other type of coach that makes sure that everyone is involved, if there are too many for one team they will have two teams and train them all together.

This manager will not change his attitude and he will not listen to anyone who tries to tell him differently although it is unlikely there is anyone on the club who will want to get involved in this. I have heard some of the more progressive coaches in the GAA talk about how they are trying to change the attitude of coaches like this but I think it will take another 10 years to get rid of the last of the dinosaurs. It's unlikely that you will be able to change to another GAA club so it might be best to look at the local soccer and rugby clubs to see if they are any better.

Ah, c'mon, I'd like that post but you can change club easily at that age or keep the manager away from the U12s in a different way...

Too early to be conceding yet:)

rockbeast

DunedinOg wrote: »

I don't think he is coaching the U10's at all but he does use the better ones for games, or at least that's my understanding of things.

Here's what I read:

at training his coach will bring 11 or 12 players (same lads every week

Where does he bring them from? Reads like the 10s to me...

Now it could be a school club crossover, is what I've just thought, but either way it stinks that kids aren't getting training or games when that's all they want

Anyway, I hope it all works out

DunedinOg

Agree, whatever the nuts and bolts of it are, every kid in the club should get treated equally and all coaches should have the goal of generating a love for the game in every kid. This guy seems to be developing kids who'll have a life long hatred for the GAA.

If the club are unwilling to address this then I'd consider bringing them to another club.

Tinkerbell4484

Sorry should be clearer. He only coaches u12.there are 32 boys
There are another group of u10 who have their own coaches and mentors. U12 coach brings the good u10 players to play with his u12 team. There are 20 odd u10's
I have boys playing u8,u10 and u12

DunedinOg

Are the U8 & 10's ok? Is it just this guy who is the issue?

jackboy

This carry on is still common in the gaa. Small town, small minded people get involved in underage coaching to get attention and 'respect'. I have seen this for years. Very hard to deal with without changing clubs.

rockbeast

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Sorry should be clearer. He only coaches u12.there are 32 boys
There are another group of u10 who have their own coaches and mentors. U12 coach brings the good u10 players to play with his u12 team. There are 20 odd u10's
I have boys playing u8,u10 and u12

Thanks, Tinkerbell:)

Your best bet is to find a way to insist/encourage that age groups are kept separate.

The coach shouldn't be doing that - he's a coach, so start coaching, not bringing in other players:mad:

This kind of thing/sh!te made me stop playing club football - that's why I'm advising you to be diplomatic about it even though you're in the right...

Hope it all works out.:)

beggars_bush

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Sorry should be clearer. He only coaches u12.there are 32 boys
There are another group of u10 who have their own coaches and mentors. U12 coach brings the good u10 players to play with his u12 team. There are 20 odd u10's
I have boys playing u8,u10 and u12

It's a club issue then.
Club policy should be to give the lads at that age a game. The u10s have their own games!
That's the way we try to do it.

rockbeast

beggars_bush wrote: »

It's a club issue then.
Club policy should be to give the lads at that age a game. The u10s have their own games!
That's the way we try to do it.

Minimum 25 mins for any kid that turns up and togs out IMO...

rockbeast

Again, sorry TB, but I'll try and lighten the mood here.

We've all had managers like this but as someone ^^^ said, they're dinosaurs and dying off`...

beggars_bush

rockbeast wrote: »

Minimum 25 mins for any kid that turns up and togs out IMO...

That's the way we do it.
And the kids turn up to training and games and the parents are usually happy.
We don't do too bad either

Santa Cruz

This activity is why there is such a loss of players as teams enter the teenage years. You start off with loads at nursery, kids who dont want not be there fall away, then the competitive games start and kids are left sitting on sideline because manager wants "best" players only, secondary school starts and you lose more, Junior Cert more gone. The kid who was good at 12 might be caught up at 18 by a late developer.
I would advise having a word with the manager first and then if this continues raise with the chairman. If they dont change leave them to it.

rockbeast

Santa Cruz wrote: »

This activity is why there is such a loss of players as teams enter the teenage years. You start off with loads at nursery, kids who dont want not be there fall away, then the competitive games start and kids are left sitting on sideline because manager wants "best" players only, secondary school starts and you lose more, Junior Cert more gone. The kid who was good at 12 might be caught up at 18 by a late developer.
I would advise having a word with the manager first and then if this continues raise with the chairman. If they dont change leave them to it.

Every time.

The future county star at U10s never makes it.

The awkward, stick him at corner forward, U10 will be the best player in the club by U17s...if he gets to play...

beggars_bush

rockbeast wrote: »

Every time.

The future county star at U10s never makes it.

The awkward, stick him at corner forward, U10 will be the best player in the club by U17s...if he gets to play...

And the child who was a star at under 12/14 can't cope when all the other lads have caught up physically and skillwise and so they stop playing, in many cases.
That is why you need to hold onto all players

keep going

We recently attended croke park to participate in the u 12 go blitzs.clubs are invited up from all over the country and it is a fantastic opportunity for them to play in croke park and we had a ball.but we also met first hand the type of coaches described here, one team dispite being too strong for everyone continued to hammer in goal after goal and actually kept the score which no other team was doing .but the real killer was that they only used one sub despite having a full compliment so denied these youngsters the opportunity of a lifetime. You could see it in their faces this bunch was their dream ticket and they werent going to waste time with the" useless" fellas

nice_guy80

keep going wrote: »

We recently attended croke park to participate in the u 12 go blitzs.clubs are invited up from all over the country and it is a fantastic opportunity for them to play in croke park and we had a ball.but we also met first hand the type of coaches described here, one team dispite being too strong for everyone continued to hammer in goal after goal and actually kept the score which no other team was doing .but the real killer was that they only used one sub despite having a full compliment so denied these youngsters the opportunity of a lifetime. You could see it in their faces this bunch was their dream ticket and they werent going to waste time with the" useless" fellas

that club will be nowhere by minor - guaranteed

keep giving your lads time on the field.

Orizio

If neither the chairman or the coach care and neither will accept your help at training, move him from the club.

Suppose you don't want to name the club. Can you tell me if its a Cork club?

fatherted1969

Everyone has to buy into the all kid's get a game policy parents included. I guarantee the parents of those 11 kids are very happy with the current situation where their little superstar are playing all the games.

If there's that many kids available then there's enough for two teams. Play the oldest as the first team and grade the second into a lower division, can't believe a club can be so short sighted to be honest.


I'd only love that "dilemma"

keep going

One key thing is discuss it with the other parents that have kids that are not being looked after and see how they feel because if you act on your own your are very easy to dismiss and isolate

drogdub

Jogathon wrote: »

Firstly, I commend your husband on offering to help. It's so difficult to get volunteers to help out with teams.

Secondly, there is a proper and official route that you must take when you have a concern about your child in a club. You must contact the child welfare officer first and express your concerns. This doesn't have to be written down and will remain completely confidential. The cwo will (should) observe the training sessions and make recommendations to the club board on how to address this issue. It could be that the trainer is sent on a child welfare course, and a training course suitable for go games. The club has to support the trainer in improving first which I'm sure you can understand.

As an U8 coach I have done the child welfare course, which is compulsory and your child's coach should have it done too. Above is exactly what you should do. That is the procedure as set down Croke Park.

If the cwo doesn't address the issue maybe go to the county cwo. The whole ethos of the Go Games is to stop that crap, your child's ability is irrelevant. Maybe both the coach and club chairman needs to be reminded of this.

Tinkerbell4484

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I have phoned the chairman and I have asked for a quick meeting with the coach. He doesn't think it will happen so i will be sending ds to training on Tuesday evening and ill see how things go then.
It's not in cork,but another county beginning with C further north!

krazyklown

I can well believe this sort of thing is still happening - the obsession with 'winning'; dismissal of seemingly untalented players; a team evolving around the supposedly 'elite' two or three players and a growing distance in abilities within the group. The unfortunate thing is that sometimes this does lead to a team being successful, which reinforces the policy in the mindset of the coaches and sadly the club in general, that this is the way to go. It deeply saddens me that someone can be so harsh with children and closeminded to the possibility that a genuine talent sometimes does not emerge until they are in their teens. Even if a player does not ever become a talent, who's to say that they wont become a great coach or administrator within the club - creating disaffection at age 10 completely undermines the possibility of any of that happening and breeds resentment towards the GAA as being elitist etc.
I sympathise with the OP - its a very difficult situation to be in - complain and you become a whinger or appear bitter that your child is not as 'good' as the others. Pull your child out and send them to a different club will paint a target on their back (socially, it may be difficult for your child as i am sure they have some friends on the team).
I dont have children, but i know my nephew struggles a bit, and as he is from the wrong end of the parish he doesnt get much attention. I never ask him if he plays, wins or scores (questions i dreaded being asked when i came home as a youngster) - i focus on his skillset like "how is your kick passing - can you kick with your left?" - i try to create the challenge within himself to improve and not focus on whether he is in the team or not. When he does get to play, i make a point of telling him of all the good things he did; i deflect attention away from the fact he doesnt get much ball, by pointing out how he made a great run or was always available to help a teammate. I dont want him to develop a victim complex; i want him to continue to focus on 'doing the right thing' in the belief that in time he will continue to improve and eventually he will have earned his place by sheer persistance and determination, which are life skills that will stand to him in every other facet of his life.
Most importantly though - there is no reason why he cannot enjoy the training - your child may not be all that bothered about not being in the first eleven and has at this stage probably bonded with the other guys - there is no reason why they cannot enjoy their training - in all likelihood, the other group with their four coaches are probably sick of listening to being told what to do or being criticised, so your child may actually be in a better environment to learn to enjoy sport.

h2005

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

We are contacted about trainings and matches by text. As its u12 there is no go games it's league fixtures so last Monday the summer league started. We got a text about that match,and about training on Tuesday night.
My husband was at a junior match last night and seen the 11 players training. When he asked why our son wasn't told about this training he was told it was because he just wasn't.
The 11 that he is training and bringing to games are his best players, he takes no interest in training the other kids that might need a bit more help.

I'd be contacting the child welfare officer, the chairman and the parents of the other children who weren't notified. I can't see any club being ok with this.

DunedinOg

I don't understand how the club chairman can tell you it's unlikely a meeting between you and the coach can be arranged, he should be able to insist on it so I'm leaning towards you taking your sons to another club. From the sounds of it this is a club with an awful attitude to underage football.

h2005

keep going wrote: »

We recently attended croke park to participate in the u 12 go blitzs.clubs are invited up from all over the country and it is a fantastic opportunity for them to play in croke park and we had a ball.but we also met first hand the type of coaches described here, one team dispite being too strong for everyone continued to hammer in goal after goal and actually kept the score which no other team was doing .but the real killer was that they only used one sub despite having a full compliment so denied these youngsters the opportunity of a lifetime. You could see it in their faces this bunch was their dream ticket and they werent going to waste time with the" useless" fellas

That's pretty disgusting.

db

rockbeast wrote: »

Ah, c'mon, I'd like that post but you can change club easily at that age or keep the manager away from the U12s in a different way...

Too early to be conceding yet:)

It may be easy to change club in a city but if you live in a village where the parish, the club and the school are linked it isn't possible to change club. This is where these attitudes will be most apparent and it can be particularly difficult for a child to break into the "first team" if the family is from outside the area.

I have seen the same in a soccer club where the kids were split by ability at <8 and the A team given all the coaching resources. Of course the teams were called the Blue team, Red team etc and the club tried to insist the selection was random but it was obvious this was not the case, the top team even trained separately so this is not just a GAA problem.

When my eldest son was playing <12 hurling, in one game no subs were brought on so he didn't get a game. When we questioned this with the coach we were told that the other lads were getting demoralised because the had lost the last few games and needed to win. They still lost but a good few of the subs that didn't play gave up over the next few months. They are now struggling to put a team together at <16. My younger son is now at <12 and even though he isn't going to be the next Henry Shefflin he always gets a game . As a result he is enthusiastic, trains hard and practices at home and is improving.

It's great to see the responses of the coaches that have replied on this mail and eventually it will get across all clubs and all coaches but as I say above I think it will be a few more years before the old attitudes are gone completely.

DoctaDee

I've been involved with underage football for a number of years now as a coach and more recently sitting at the top table of our club.

Different aspects of the underage game have been a constant irritant, such as favourtism and over zealous parents etc but externally - what I've found to be the greatest unfairness to my lads in particular is the overbearing need to win at all costs in other clubs.

We're a small club, we had to merge 2 age levels into a single team to ensure that the game continues. A lot of the bigger clubs are fielding 2-3 teams in our age category. The DCB in fairness have tried to schedule games for in or around the same throw in time across all divisions, but we had occasion a few weeks ago during the midweek games, that the higher divisions had no matches.

So we arrive to an away match to be met with what was basically the starting 15 from their first team. The reason I'd know is that there were a lot of familiar faces from the Dublin Development squad trials and they also hadn't played in the reverse fixture in our place (which we'd won by 3 points).

Well the massacre duly ensued, our lads were dispirited of course - but what really struck me and felt sorry for the 9 odd replacements they had on the line. These were more than likely the players from their 2nd team who had been parked in favour of the 1st teamers.

Well I had a "frank exchange of views" with their coach as he came over to us after the match to give a condescending talk to our lads, and strangely he didn't argue about the fact that it was their 1st team, his point was they were all under the age so he was quite within his right to field them, this spoke volumes for his mindset - no Child Awareness in Sport course will rehab that mentality.

BnB

To be fair to the GAA, what is happening here is so against everything that is coming from the top. The rule was brought in that under 12 championships were to be no-competitive for this very reason. Obviously this kind of rubbish still goes on out there (in all sports) but it is becoming less & less the norm.

While coming from a small club can have a lot of disadvantages, one big advantage that I always saw is that because numbers are so small, every player (especially a kid who is going to train regularly and show up to matches) is appreciated purely because s/he is a number. However in big clubs where they massive numbers, they sometimes feel they can get away with only looking after the top players in any age group and ignoring the rest. But as a number of other posters have pointed out, this will come back to bit you in the a55 in 4 or 5 years when you are trying to put out a decent Minor or under 21 team.

Anneb158

Check out GAA site and look up codes of best practice.
Do your homework and don't let your child get overlooked.

joankelly

Hi,
Just wondering how you got on. I also have a problem with u12 boys. My son never misses training but is the only boy never to start a match. He normally is put on for the last 3 minutes of the game. There are 4/5 girl subs also. He is one of the weaker players but isn't half bad if given a chance. I would like to pull him from it but I can't as he is very passionate about the sport! In his own words 'it is humiliating'. Any advice would be fantastic.

Chun the Unavoidable

keep going wrote: »

We recently attended croke park to participate in the u 12 go blitzs.clubs are invited up from all over the country and it is a fantastic opportunity for them to play in croke park and we had a ball.but we also met first hand the type of coaches described here, one team dispite being too strong for everyone continued to hammer in goal after goal and actually kept the score which no other team was doing .but the real killer was that they only used one sub despite having a full compliment so denied these youngsters the opportunity of a lifetime. You could see it in their faces this bunch was their dream ticket and they werent going to waste time with the" useless" fellas

joankelly wrote: »

Hi,
Just wondering how you got on. I also have a problem with u12 boys. My son never misses training but is the only boy never to start a match. He normally is put on for the last 3 minutes of the game. There are 4/5 girl subs also. He is one of the weaker players but isn't half bad if given a chance. I would like to pull him from it but I can't as he is very passionate about the sport! In his own words 'it is humiliating'. Any advice would be fantastic.

my eldest is approaching 15 and so i'm about to ask him again if he wants to tog out for the club this year. this time last year he said he'd give it a year off. he had done the same a few years back, went back and this is how his last year went.

firstly even finding out even training for the u14's was on was like the third secret of fatima. eventually i asked lad i know on the committee. so son turns up, and attends every training session. they stuck him at forward and he knocks in the occasional goal and several points every training.

match days come and he is on the bench. every match. gets maybe the last 5 mins, sometimes in the backs, once in goal. goes back to the training, scores points.

there is a championship, they got to the semi final, they were hammered, go into the shield, get to semi final, hammered.

in both semi finals they were way down at half time (like, 6 and 7 goals down). nobody from the bench was picked. it isnt as if they are any worse or much worse, it wasnt as if the game was going to be won. they werent picked, and sitting beside my lad was another lad who scored goals for fun in training, not just points.

our club is a merged one, from a rural and town area. it didnt take long to notice that the rural lads were all on the bench.

None of the lads went back last year.

Noticed in the paper this week that the under 12's had made their semi final, got hammered. had a look at the pic and the names. one lad from not from the town. when my lad was on the u 12s most were from the rural areas and they won a hurling and football tournament and a few blitzes.

all the coaches are form the town too and their lads were picked and played even when 9 goals down (and their brothers are on the u 12's and other teams).

Its bad when a 13 yr old can spot the problem. I guess when I ask this year it'll be a no too.

Before anyone says "as sure volunteer, get on the committee" and so on, that isnt the answer, if for no other reason than its the same form of bias that the coaches are displaying. (but of course there are other reasons, not having the time being one of them).

Its a pity that for all the grand initiatives that Croke Park come out with the one thing that can be got right and easily right runs head first into local politics and favoritism and gets knocked out stone dead.