Derry U20 footballer, James Sargent, pictured at the announcement of the Dalata Hotel Group's five-year sponsorship of the GAA Under 20 Football Championship.
By John Harrington
Yesterday’s heavy defeat to Armagh which bookended their relegation from Division 1 of the Allianz Football League will have stung Derry supporters.
It’s easy to believe though that there are better days not too far ahead for the Oak Leaf county such is the quality of young talent coming through in the county at the moment.
The county U20 footballers start their Dalata Hotel Group Ulster championship campaign against Armagh on Wednesday and there are high hopes they could lift some silverware this year.
With good reason, when you consider that they’ve won the last two All-Ireland minor championships and St. Pat’s, Maghera won the Hogan Cup Final earlier this month.
James Sargent captained the Derry minor team that won last year’s All-Ireland Final and is now in the first of what will be three years in the U20 grade.
He knows it’ll be a step up physically, but the experience of winning back to back All-Irelands means his generation of players have a winning mentality and natural self-confidence.
“Previously you might have thought about the opposition too much before we won those All-Irelands,” says Sargent. “But since winning them I've lost my fear anyway of the big counties.
“Obviously there's good potential there no at U20 because you have your two All-Ireland minor winning teams and our minor team from three years ago was a good team too,” he told GAA.ie
“We lost to Galway by a point and they went on to win the final pretty handily.
“There's a lot of potential there but you have to build on it because U20 football is a different game to minor football.
“You have late developers coming through and there's new combinations that you didn't have at minor. We just hope the team doesn't get lost and we bring everyone through.
“At minor you're normally looking down on a lot of boys or there are boys the same size as you.
“But when you go in to U20 they're a lot bigger and built more physically because them boys are ready for senior. Whereas when you're just out of minor you wouldn't be anywhere near.
“It definitely gets a wee bit daunting that way. I just hope I am ready for it.”
Derry captain James Sargent lifts the trophy after the Electric Ireland GAA All-Ireland Football Minor Championship final match between Armagh and Derry at O'Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
There’s a reason Derry have won three out of the last five All-Ireland Minor Championships.
The county’s Centre of Excellence in Owenbeg has become a finishing school for the best young footballers in Derry and a culture of high-performance is now deeply embedded.
“It's nearly daunting the amount of pitches they have,” says Sargent of Owenbeg. “Even the big stadium beside it, you'd never be out there but you're always wanting to get out to it.
“You look over when you're training and you're out of breath and maybe need a wee bit of motivation.
“It's all just part of a dream to play for your county. That was always the goal for me at the start of my career when I joined up with the Derry U-15 development squad.”
Sargent hails from Lavey GAA club which is located in the traditional footballing heartland of south Derry.
Clubs from that part of the county remain the standard-bearers, but there has been significant investment in coaching and games development in the north of the county that is now starting to really bear fruit.
The once largely untapped potential of Derry city is now starting to come on stream, which bodes well for the county’s future.
“We had five or six boys from north Derry in our minor squad last year,” says Sargent. “When the Derry seniors won their 2022 Ulster title there was only one boy from north Derry in the whole panel.
“There's a wee bit of a focus now on developing talent there because there is plenty of people up there and plenty of clubs.
“The clubs in south Derry have always produced a lot of players but there was a bit more of a focus put on the clubs in north Derry and now there's more and more players coming from those clubs.
“No offence to them, but previously you would never have heard of the north Derry clubs being in the 'A' championship but now from U-14 up to U-16, up to minor, there's always one or two there and they're really competing.”
Derry captain James Sargent with the trophy after the Electric Ireland GAA All-Ireland Football Minor Championship final match between Armagh and Derry at O'Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
Demotion from Division One this year might feel like a step backwards, but in the bigger picture Derry have come a long way in a short period of time.
They played in Division Four as recently as 2019 at a time when there didn’t seem to be huge support for the county team whereas now it feels like there’s a renewed sense of identity in Derry.
“There definitely is,” says Sargent. “I feel like when we were in Division 4 the mood around the county was probably a wee bit toxic.
“The club and the county were two different things. Everyone was sort of like, ‘you're in Division Four, what are you playing county for? Just come back to the club and we'll get a wee bit of momentum there.’
“Now though there's a much greater togetherness as a county. It's just a bit unit. Even seeing Glen win an All-Ireland Final is a big encouragement for the whole county in terms of how close Derry football is to everyone else in the country.
“We're taking it year by year, game by game at this point. Obviously the final goal is to win a senior All-Ireland with your county but you're just taking every win in your stride and hoping that them teams can come through.
“Even at the minute there's a great generation of them boys in the senior team so hopefully they can win something without needing us.”
