Why restructuring the youth system is important
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I’m writing this week’s column from the press box in Turner’s Cross. You might be immediately presuming that it’s Friday night and Cork City are facing Monaghan United. Well, you’d be mistaken. It is, in fact, Sunday afternoon and the pick of the Cork Youth League are battling out an entertaining FAI Youth inter-league semi-final with the Dublin District Schoolboys League.
The talent on show is impressive, several have been cross-channel on trials, and others possess the ability to make a decent name for themselves over the coming years. Danny Morrissey for Cork has already played senior football for City, appearing in the league at just 16 years of age last season.
In terms of the standard, it would be just a little below your typical Leinster or Munster Senior League game and the pace is lightning quick, with Morrissey in particular covering more ground than a ton of mulch in a sizable back garden. Still, what will the future hold for these clearly talented players? The bulk will probably end up in the LSL or MSL, but what can LoI clubs do to improve the development and integration of these players at a higher level?
Of the Cork starting eleven, almost half are now playing with City, but all had been at previous schoolboy clubs. On Leeside, the situation is a convoluted one. City’s setup doesn’t start until under-17, and at that point they hold trials at the beginning of every season to form a squad, attracting some of the best players from the local clubs. Understandably, this annoys those clubs that are losing their best players to what appears to be a big bully robbing hard-working local teams of their best assets.
City give the players lucky enough to play for them the best coaching around and they’re all treated excellently. It also gives players, like Morrissey or Kalen Spillane, now a permanent fixture in the senior team this season, a chance to work their way into the LoI if they show enough promise in the youth setup.
But, the problem is Spillane left Carrigaline United to join City and that undoubtedly causes some dissatisfaction at the local club, who lose out on one of their best talents. Perhaps the problem wouldn’t be as bad if we had a national underage league for clubs like City too – but seeing as we struggle to run a senior league properly, that’s never going to realistically happen.
Instead, Cork City’s under-17 and under-18’s play against the local clubs around Cork, often winning games by five or more goals. It’s a difficult scenario for the players, and while they often advance to the latter stages of the national cups, there is a strange structure to the Youth leagues in the Rebel County.
Darragh Keena was the star of the show for the DDSL side yesterday, and take a guess who his current club is? Yeah, it’s Shelbourne. The difference amongst the Dublin clubs however, is that they nurture players right from the beginning. Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, St Pat’s and Bohs all bring kids into the clubs and develop them from a young age.
Away from Dublin, though, there are rarely such relationships forged with young players, but there still is an ocean of young talent coming through. Kevin Loughran at Monaghan United is a prime example. The 15-year-old has already appeared for the senior team off the bench on a couple of occasions and with attention from cross-channel, Mons have a gem on their hands.
While the problem is much deeper than this, if clubs could improve relationships with the local sides in their area, then we could even see some youngsters stay in Ireland. Look at all the current LoI players playing cross-channel now. That would prove that it is sometimes more beneficial to hang around in Ireland rather than travel over as a naive teenager.
Seeing as the failure rate for those going straight over to England is so high, it would make more sense for young players to stick around. But for that to happen there would need to be a better structure in place for those youngsters – something to make it worthwhile. I’m sure many parents would agree, because it would also give their son a chance to stay in school. Too often we hear of young players coming home from England with no education, and a step towards improved structures for youth teams in Ireland would see that also improve drastically.
On a side note, the attendance at that game yesterday was about 100 people, embarrassing considering that the quality of football on show was excellent. For many years Cork people, in particular, have boasted about how they’re such great supporters of all sport in the country. That is continuously shown to be a myth.
The talent on show is impressive, several have been cross-channel on trials, and others possess the ability to make a decent name for themselves over the coming years. Danny Morrissey for Cork has already played senior football for City, appearing in the league at just 16 years of age last season.
In terms of the standard, it would be just a little below your typical Leinster or Munster Senior League game and the pace is lightning quick, with Morrissey in particular covering more ground than a ton of mulch in a sizable back garden. Still, what will the future hold for these clearly talented players? The bulk will probably end up in the LSL or MSL, but what can LoI clubs do to improve the development and integration of these players at a higher level?
Of the Cork starting eleven, almost half are now playing with City, but all had been at previous schoolboy clubs. On Leeside, the situation is a convoluted one. City’s setup doesn’t start until under-17, and at that point they hold trials at the beginning of every season to form a squad, attracting some of the best players from the local clubs. Understandably, this annoys those clubs that are losing their best players to what appears to be a big bully robbing hard-working local teams of their best assets.
City give the players lucky enough to play for them the best coaching around and they’re all treated excellently. It also gives players, like Morrissey or Kalen Spillane, now a permanent fixture in the senior team this season, a chance to work their way into the LoI if they show enough promise in the youth setup.
But, the problem is Spillane left Carrigaline United to join City and that undoubtedly causes some dissatisfaction at the local club, who lose out on one of their best talents. Perhaps the problem wouldn’t be as bad if we had a national underage league for clubs like City too – but seeing as we struggle to run a senior league properly, that’s never going to realistically happen.
Instead, Cork City’s under-17 and under-18’s play against the local clubs around Cork, often winning games by five or more goals. It’s a difficult scenario for the players, and while they often advance to the latter stages of the national cups, there is a strange structure to the Youth leagues in the Rebel County.
Darragh Keena was the star of the show for the DDSL side yesterday, and take a guess who his current club is? Yeah, it’s Shelbourne. The difference amongst the Dublin clubs however, is that they nurture players right from the beginning. Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, St Pat’s and Bohs all bring kids into the clubs and develop them from a young age.
Away from Dublin, though, there are rarely such relationships forged with young players, but there still is an ocean of young talent coming through. Kevin Loughran at Monaghan United is a prime example. The 15-year-old has already appeared for the senior team off the bench on a couple of occasions and with attention from cross-channel, Mons have a gem on their hands.
While the problem is much deeper than this, if clubs could improve relationships with the local sides in their area, then we could even see some youngsters stay in Ireland. Look at all the current LoI players playing cross-channel now. That would prove that it is sometimes more beneficial to hang around in Ireland rather than travel over as a naive teenager.
Seeing as the failure rate for those going straight over to England is so high, it would make more sense for young players to stick around. But for that to happen there would need to be a better structure in place for those youngsters – something to make it worthwhile. I’m sure many parents would agree, because it would also give their son a chance to stay in school. Too often we hear of young players coming home from England with no education, and a step towards improved structures for youth teams in Ireland would see that also improve drastically.
On a side note, the attendance at that game yesterday was about 100 people, embarrassing considering that the quality of football on show was excellent. For many years Cork people, in particular, have boasted about how they’re such great supporters of all sport in the country. That is continuously shown to be a myth.
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile