Breeding ground of future stars
IN recent years Kerry has had a fine tradition of keeping the production line going when it comes to our underage talent in football.
Kerry’s hurling squads are no different. In recent years Kerry’s talent academy has produced now established Kerry hurlers such as Shane Conway, Barry Mahony, Jack Goulding and Niall O’Mahony to just name a few.
The opportunity for a young Kerry boy dreaming to don the famous green and gold jersey begins at Under 14 level. Kerry GAA uses this age group to introduce a broad number of players on an open ended basis to high quality coaching with peers from different clubs.
This is where a player gets to experience a new development and dimension to their game. The Under 14 squad competes every August in the famous Tony Forrestal / Sonny Walsh competitions down in Waterford against teams of the calibre of Cork, Kilkenny, Clare and Galway.
This is the first stepping stone in what promises to be one of many days out in the green and gold for our young prodigies.
While often the main aim for a player starting out at county level is to represent their county at minor (Under 17) level, the structure of the talent academies allows them to make that progression gradually by having Under 15 and Under 16 Development Squads and Tournaments.
This allows the player to experience three quality years of coaching and games at the highest level possible before reaching minor grade.
The Under 15 and 16 development squads are a continuation from the previous year with new players being introduced as often as possible. These two squads compete in two competitions over the year, spread over a number of months in order to facilitate more games and experiences for these players (insert quote from Under 15 manager.)
For our Under 16 squads this is their first year where they may get to represent their county at Minor Level. A lot of strains can be put on a player at this age group in particular on dual players (hurling and football).
The talent academy, however, is tailored to address situations like this. This provides an extra opportunity for the player who may not have played at Under 14 or 15 to participate at development squad level.
The Under 17 Celtic Challenge competition sees the crème de la crème of 16 and 17 yearolds who are not participating in Leaving Cert.
This competition was established in 2016 and provides mass participation across the whole country, from all the 32 counties. Last year the Kerry Under 17 squad narrowly lost out in the Division 1 quarter-final to the eventual winners, East Cork. This year the squad and management hope to go the whole way.
Every year Kerry and Munster GAA honour the great Todd Nolan by hosting a number of neighbouring counties from Munster to participate in at Minor level. The tournament is provisionally fixed for last weekend in March and promises to be highly competitive with the best hurlers in the province on show.
Of course the squads wouldn’t be complete if it weren’t for the coaches who equally put in as much time and dedication as every player. All clubs over South and North Kerry have done a fantastic job in developing these coaches and they have been hugely accommodating in every way towards each Development Squad.
2019 promises to be a great year for hurling in Kerry and all these young players and coaches will play a huge part in representing the green and gold.