Players pictured at the launch of Carlow GAA's Cental U16 County Football Championship at Netwatch Cullen Park. Photo by Carlow GAA Coaching & Games
By Cian O’Connell
Carlow GAA is introducing a new U16 competition to afford further playing opportunities in October and November.
The inaugural Cental U16 County Football Championship was launched at Netwatch Cullen Park last week and will feature six teams with matches taking place on Friday evenings.
Four regional teams will be involved, alongside the U16 Division 1A winners, and the Carlow U15s. Robert Sansom, Carlow GAA Games Manager, explains the reasons behind the innovative project. “We looked at all of our underage competitions, similar to a lot of counties you've a couple of clubs really dominating,” Sansom says.
“Then, you'd have rural clubs, who might be starting to struggle, especially at U16, you've a lot of 13, 14, and 15 year olds having to play up. So, we were sort of looking at how could we expose those players that might be playing in Division Two or Three to a Division One standard of football.
“We used Kerry as our example, with the East Kerry region, you'd the likes of Paudie Clifford going so well, getting spotted by Kerry. We wanted to expose some of our players at lower level to Division One standard, to see how they get on?”
Footballers born in 2008 and Carlow’s U15 will be given opportunities to shine. “Our Coaching & Games staff, in conjunction with Coiste na n-Óg and a couple of coaches, we put the concept together,” Sansom says.
“We met all of the clubs, maybe six weeks ago now, to let them know what the plan was, to get a bit of feedback. We are looking at this as a long term project, I don't see why in the next five years that this can't be ran at U14 and U16 in hurling and football.
“We are just using our U16 football this year as the trial. One of the things we proposed is that we'd propose a neutral manager to each region, to keep it fair, so nobody has any excuse about Johnny is only starting because the manager is from his club.
“So, we've linked in with a couple of coaches from around the county, who we'd know, and who'd be involved at a quite level, whether it is county or high club level. We approached them and asked them to give us a dig out for this short six week period.”
The reaction from coaches and clubs has been positive. “In fairness, everyone seems to be more than happy to get involved,” Sansom adds.
Mikey Bambrick, Carlow, and Liam Coleman, Wexford, in Leinster SFC action earlier this year. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
“We are still waiting to tie down one more, but every regional team will have a neutral manager. Each of the clubs in that region have been asked to put forward whether it is a coach, selector, kitman, or statsman, just one person from each club, that they are all represented on the management team.”
There is a bit of interest locally and Sansom is encouraged by the response to the initiative. “When we sat down first to come up with this idea, when you bring anything new into any sort of facet of life, there will naturally be a few people wary of it,” Sansom responds.
“When we sat down first we came up with every possible flaw that people could try to pick in this, to have an answer to it. That might sound a bit backwards, but we addressed and looked at it, playing Devil's Advocate, looking at everything that could go wrong.
“We were able to tie it down, if somebody brings this up, that is what we will come back with. We had, what we felt, were all the solutions.
“The clubs were really receptive when we met them all. I was involved with the U16 county team this year, they were all really looking forward to it.”
The action gets underway at Carlow GAA’s Centre of Excellence in Fenagh next month. “It starts on October 18, it will run for six Friday nights,” Sansom says.
“You'll play everyone in the group. We'll have three matches every Friday night. Then, our last night, one will play two in our championship final, and three will play four in the shield final.
“The idea is that the U15 county squad, the U16 Division One winners, who get to take on all comers, and for the regional teams it is fully U16 players only.
“In essence every Friday night in our Centre of Excellence, you'll have the best U16 and U15 footballers in the county are all going to be playing at the one time. So, it should be a very high standard of football.
“We had a bit of a launch with players from every club, that was the general feedback from them, that some of the lads playing in Division Two and Three, who'd be on our county squad, are now getting a chance to put themselves up against the best Division One players.”
