East Cork Development Officer Damien Irwin on why GAA must stop focusing on elite young players

KILLEAGH GAA stalwart Damien Irwin is looking forward to his role as Development Officer with Imokilly GAA. 

It's a new beginning in administrative matters for the former star defender who has enjoyed dipping his toes in the water as a club delegate.

At the recent divisional convention, he highlighted his huge concerns for players in their late teens who are lacking competitive games at present. 

"It's a new direction for me certainly and I suppose it has arisen out of being a County Board delegate and indeed some of the debates we had recently. I feel very strongly about player retention.

"The lack of proper games after the age of 17 is something that I see as a real problem.

"It's an issue at national level, county level and local level in East Cork and is something that has to be addressed very quickly. After the convention here in Imokilly, there is a definite commitment from the board to go forward with an U20 or U21 grade for next year. 

"Personally, my call would be for U21, it retains players longer with their club. Players feel wanted for longer and if they feel wanted they will stay with you. Failure to provide games for them will see guys drift and eventually leave unless they are of an elite level. 

To be honest there are few elite players. Most players are developing and need time to develop. 

"I think it is a really urgent issue to address."

Irwin is well placed to offer a view on a massive issue for Cork clubs, given his background in teaching and having kids of his own involved underage.

"From the biggest to the smallest clubs, this has an impact. If you delve into the life of very young players who come into their local club as six- or seven-year-olds, they can become accustomed to getting a series of regular games for about 10 years. Then, suddenly at 17 activity starts to thin out. 

"Players leave that age group with an uncertainty as to what's about to come next. And the cubs are not too sure either what they can provide. Into the vacuum fall players in the 17- to 18-year-old bracket, lads of that age don't make speeches about these things. The following year their families will notice that these guys are not playing games anymore.

"But if you can get players to the ages of 21 and 22 they will stay with you. It's vital that the gap is bridged. 

A lot of changes happen in the lives of people between 17 and 21. School, college, work, apprenticeships. The GAA can be a constant at that stage. 

"You have to remember that only a very small number of players make their club's first team at 17 or 18, they stand out from 12 onwards. My point is that not alone would U21 competition give them a programme of games, but it would also give them first-team games. Everybody has an affinity with being on a first team. Once guys reach 21 it can be seen whether or not they are ready to step up and be ready for adult competition.

"Fitting these extra matches into a very busy GAA calendar is obviously going to present problems, especially in a county like Cork, where most clubs play hurling and football. But there are always solutions to these things, by sitting around a table figuring out how you can maximise what you have to give people meaningful games."

BADLY NEEDED

On the likelihood of more coaches/GDAs coming into the game in Cork on a full-time basis, Irwin cites the example of Dublin 15 years ago.

"They had over 50 new coaches recruited in the capital, associating them with clubs and schools and we can see what a difference that had made. Back then, Dublin GAA was not the power it has become now. 

"GDAs had a big part to play in that - the extra funds which seem to be coming from Croke Park are very badly needed because at the moment we all agree that the number of coaches is totally inadequate compared to the numbers we are catering for at the moment in Cork."