alltheway wrote:I have to say, I'm a regular reader here, but a rare poster. Just to pick up on a few points and the dismay surrounding the county team's performance, most notably at the weekend, while disappointing, is hardly surprising. We'll come to that in a minute, but I just feel that to vilify any player, or member of a management team alike is just unfair and mean. We have to realise, in this day and age, and from our population pool and our current state of development that it will be lean and barren in the immediate short to mid-term. And I lament that and the state of affairs as much as anyone, it is very disheartening, but that is the way it is, and not for a lack of trying by those involved within the intercounty setup. For players to give up up to four nights of their working week, travelling from Limerick, Dublin, Cork and further a field, to train to the highest level of training, sacrificing home, work, social and family life for little, or in the current case no reward is highly commendable. For the litany of abuse and failure they currently recieve, would anyone of them be blamed if they walked away? No, yet they don't, they persist with a training regime that starts in mid november, with the best of facilities and guidance available to them, to afford us supporters the right and hope to travel to games hoping for a performance which unfortunatly hasn't been happening. This is an incredibly frustrating time for those who follow the team, but even harder for the small committed group of players which make that sacrifice week in, week out and shoulder a tonne of the grief that comes along with not heing fruitful on the playing field at the current time.
With regard to management, it was hearlded here a few months back when Eamonn Kelly was appointed, a revolutionary coach with a proven background with a team at an ebb such as Offaly's, see the current Kerry group. For anyone to think that Ciaran Carey came in and made that environment in less than six months would be wrong, the foundations laid by Kelly and his background team have laid the foundations for where they are thriving at their level now. Should we be talk of being at Kerry's level in comparrisson? Absolutely, because that is where we are, and we need to accept that and take stock of where we are and realise that the ass has to go before the cart now and start to build, not dig lower. Is it Eamonn Kelly or Brian Whelehans fault before him, or even those before that, that we are struggling to match even to average to low ranked teams? The conveyor belt isn't even trundling along, it has seized up, and will require a new machine to start the process again. Let's start with your own contribution as a coach, helper, parent, committee member, chairman or a general memeber. What are you, or your club doing as we will start there. What foundations have you put in place to deal with the development of a early school goingn child to develop their hand eye coordination, their approach to athletic develpment and skill recognition in your school or nursery in the field? How many parents have you drafted in to help and get the minimum level coaching award to feel confident in lending a hand both in the field, and in the homestead.
Have we helped create this environment, or has it been easier allow the kids be quiet and shove a tablet under their noses or a phone?
Following on from that as kids learn the basic athletic and motor funtions, hand eye coordination exercises etc., are they developing coming into ten to fourteen year olds where they can be exposed to more advanced coaching, shooting, tackling, catching and winning ball in contested drills within the training session, thus putting the more preparitive aspects neccessary to deal with the rigours of hurling in place, or is it pucking in twos, a few line drills and a match where 'That's it Johnny, let fly! Bull into it, that's the job!', or have you identified the need to come up with drills that replicate a match situation more closely. Now we're at the stage where the better of the cream and the more dominant, physically first, skillwise second, are sent into a development squad where they hope to start off a flourishing intercounty career and be the next TJ Reid. Where is that setup, and how often do they meet, and what is going on in them? This remember, is to be a step-up to the eliter level than you have providied at club level. The result? A six week camp, the first two, open trials where 40/50 kids attend a session in Banagher, and over those weeks it's whittled down to 24/30 and that group is to play in a couple of blitzes and trainings to be ready for the Tony Forristal come seasons end? Impossible. And it isnt solely down to those willing to get involved in these squads, but 'resources', 'time', 'logisitics', all the answers of a county who don't wish to move heaven and eart to run a productive, almost year round, set of academies at various age groups relevant to their progression, both skill wise and scientifically.
We have trundled along and the best end up on a minor panel, the average of 2-3 years, a minor team gets more resources and skillsets available to them to push them on and ready to prepare them for adult intercounty hurling, yet, the lads that have stepped up arent fully proficient in striking off both sides, movement, creative play, athletically developed, and it's at this stage the supporters and management alike panic, realise this is not a good group, the damage is done. The horse has bolted... And the belt is worn.
So now we end up with a chap, eighteen years young, about to be fed to the lions, and we, from ourseles within our clubs and schools, to the administration which have failed to put all their power and resources into going delving into this, the most vital cog of all the grass roots, and put in meaningful foundations to bulild on, and make this great game attractive, relevant, ground breaking and excitingn in this great county. From here on out let's cast the eye inward, and do whatever is in you damnest power to try and be the change.
Eamonn Kelly, his backroom team, his players, are giving as much of their time and resources to the cause, however frustrating. You all on here know players, members of the management or someone close to them, and the chatter coming out of the setup from players is that they still regard Kelly and his staff in the highest regard and he with them. The pool is small, neither he, nor Brian before him, or Baker before that can go into the homes of the lads we might like to hurl for us and drag them out the door, they've shown that disinterest over three management teams so each one can't be blamed for X, Y, or Z not being in there or not commiting. That's 9/10 a personal call and if they cant or don't want to committ to it, sobeit, such is life. We have a hard struggle ahead, but in a month's time we could still be in a leinster semi final, which was the realistic target at the start of the year. Carlow saturday, before Kerry, and hopefully Laois. The lads need us now more than ever, I thank them all for what they try to do, and I'll be clapping them come
Saturday evening please god as we try to salvage what's left of the year at this level.
Then maybe we'll realise the problem lies deeper somewhere else, and instead of being reactive to it, let's try proactive...
As good a post as we have seen here in a long time. Firstly, let us commend all players currently putting their shoulder to the wheel. Its not an easy time to be an Offaly hurler. They deserve all the support they can get. Management may have done things differently but lets be clear here, many of the so called better hurlers were unwilling to make the required commitments. A standard must be set by management and players need to meet that head on. However, maybe sometimes, a more roundabout way of pulling lads along could serve some better. That may appear as dancing to the players tune but, there is a happy medium in everything. Had management been surrounded with a little more local knowledge, they might have found easier ways of getting around some lads.
Regan comments appear to be quite controversial but he wears his heart on his sleeve and only has the best interests of Offaly hurling at heart. His choice of language describing the defectors is not helpful however and may only serve to prolong their absence. That said, some arent willing to meet the standard and that is how he called it when asked the question.
To really look at the reasons we need to go back to development squads for the last 10-12 years and what was done in them! We must ask the hard questions.
Were they run in a manner that players physical development needs for modern inter county hurling were addressed?
Were players made accountable to hit certain targets regarding fitness? If not, why not?
Did players receive appropriate levels of technical skill coaching for modern game? If not, why not?
Did players receive appropriate levels of tactical awareness for various positions within the modern game? If not, why not?
Were players educated on what they needed to be doing regards strength and conditioning? If not, why not?
Were players educated on expectations of inter county hurler for nutrition and hydration? If not, why not?
The likes of Limerick, Wexford, Laois and Clare all have these things in place. They are making strides as a result. If we looked after this for the next 5 years the landscape would improve hugely with standards of club players also improving with the volume having gone through development squad system.
These are a few basic pillars that are being done in
ALL competitive counties! These are the
basics, the fundamentals upon which all modern inter county McCarthy cup players have been brought up on through inter county development programmes in other counties. If we are not at these, then we are not going to be competitive at the top tier -
EVER!
The game has moved on and we have stood still. These are the actions required. What have we done?
WE HAVE NO PLAN!
We have huge enthusiasm with little or no know how generally. 300 coaches turned out to watch Martin Fogarty training sessions - nothing brilliant but good nonetheless. However there was no follow through! Why werent these coaches hooked into programmes that would up-skill them and improve them. Coaches need to realise this and the county really needs to push up-skilling of coaches but also improve the development system whereby everyone coming through the system has developed in all these areas. Our pool is small enough without without not putting the stepping stones in place to give lads the chance to be competitive at inter county senior level.