Former Cork boss Brian Cuthbert driving radical proposals on underage player development in GAA

Cork’s Darragh Cashman taking on Evan Nolan of Galway in the minor football All-Ireland. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson
The Task Force also believed that “developmental” competitions from U17 down should be run nationally by a separate Competitions Control Committee (CCC) membership of which should include the heads of Coaching and Games Development in each province.

The data gathered is powerful, especially when it’s so local, but when Cuthbert wrote a thesis on the subject, he gathered research from around the world on talent identification and building optimal environments for academies. And most of the scientific arguments favour late selection as much as possible.
