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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Untapped talent lurking in the junior ranks
BY MICHAEL GALLAGHER
THE County Cup final may have slipped under the radar of many footballer followers on Saturday last, but those who keep watch on the fortunes of Burrishoole and Ballinrobe had their eyes firmly on the prize when their teams took to the pitch in sparkling sunshine in Charlestown.
Both sides were very determined to get their hands on the beautiful silver cup and tried hard to produce their best football on Fr O’Hara’s green carpet. Burrishoole were the better team on the evening and deservedly went back to Newport with the precious prize in safe keeping. Their victory sent thoughts racing through my mind of the day in 1991 when Erris Gaels brought the cup over ‘Corick Bridge and unleashed a night of joviality and fun in the barony.
That campaign was a memorable one for those players from the four Erris clubs who banded together and beat all-comers, and the county medals that were awarded for that victory are still prized possessions in many homes.
There is a recurring conversation about what players from small clubs can do to get noticed by Mayo selectors and that put me thinking about that County Cup campaign and the way the competition was run in 1991.
It’s impossible and unrealistic for John O’Mahony, Tommy Lyons and Kieran Gallagher to travel around the county and keep tabs on every club player in Mayo. How can they watch all the players from Ballaghaderreen to Blacksod and from Ballycastle to Shrule? They have to run the Mayo senior team and pick the best players available to them and that’s what they do, but there are a group of players in our county who never get the chance to show what they can do at a higher level. Those who play with the junior clubs in Mayo are unknown to those outside their own community. They train and play and win and lose in the third tier of football.
Media reports concentrate on the senior and intermediate clubs and rarely, if ever, delve into junior matters until the final stages of the county championship.
The players who populate the lower reaches of Mayo football have the same dreams and ambitions as those at any other level and there are some of them capable of operating at a much higher level, but how is that achieved?
West Mayo are addressing the problem by amalgamating their junior clubs to compete as one in the senior championship. This project was shown to good effect on Saturday last when the boys from the western division produced some fine football against Charlestown in the opening round of the senior campaign.
They will take on Breaffy, Kiltane and Westport in the coming weeks and over the course of those games the junior players will get the chance to show what they can do against those at the top level.
The junior players in the three other divisions do not have the same opportunity and that’s a pity. There may be untapped talent lurking in the junior ranks in those divisions but that’s the way it’ll probably remain unless they get the chance to show their skills in a higher competition.
In 1991 players from all levels in Mayo had the chance to compete on an even keel. Those junior players who were good enough to rub shoulders with intermediate and senior players did so and loved it.
The county was divided into areas where two or three clubs were grouped with a local senior club and they faced one another in a knockout competition. Erris Gaels played four games, so there were up to 16 amalgamations involved.
The junior players who were capable, were given the opportunity of lining out alongside their upper echelon neighbours. They were given the opportunity to exhibit their skills at a higher level and some grasped it while others didn’t.
I’m well aware that the fixture list is very congested and there may not be space to run the County Cup in the same manner as 1991, but it’s worth thinking about. It would require four rounds of matches and maybe, just maybe it would unearth a diamond from the rough. It’s surely worth a try!
******
Picture the scene. The final whistle has just sounded. Mayo people the world over explode in a tidal wave of ecstasy. The long wait for an AllIreland football title has finally come to an end. The stewards who are tasked with the job of keeping the crowds off the Croke Park pitch are over-run by swarming Green and Red masses. The players dance and embrace as they celebrate their greatest day and then move through the swarm towards the Garda cordon under the Hogan Stand.
Eventually they get to the steps of the famous presentation area and Trevor Mortimer is ushered forward. The smile on his face is as wide as the Shannon as he climbs upwards and hundreds of hands stretch out from the crowd to slap him on the back.
The team captain gets to the top step and advances towards the dias but then he realises something is missing. The Sam Maguire is nowhere to be seen. Word comes through that nobody bothered to get it to Croke Park in time for the presentation and a quick phone call gives the message that someone will get it delivered to Trevor in a week or two.
Of course the above situation is nothing but fantasy, yet the longer I live the more I become convinced that fantasy may someday become reality. On numerous occasions this year I have been present at Connacht colleges finals when no silverware was on hand to present to the winners.
Scholars give a huge amount of their school days to perfect their football skills, teachers and voluntary coaches show huge dedication to develop young talent into productive footballers and school authorities invest time and money in promoting sport but all this is thrown back in their faces time after time.
How sad and embarrassing it is to witness groups of young footballers congregate in the middle of the pitch after a memorable season only to be left standing there staring into space.
It cannot be too hard to arrange the availability of silverware at a final that’s scheduled publicly. The GAA has a lot of work to do in regards to the promotion of its games, but the provision of cups at the end of colleges finals should be one of the easiest to address.
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