Summer Football Good or Bad idea ?

I would just like to put it out there to parents & managers alike to see what opinions would be on starting the football season in march playing through the summer & finishing in october . As we already know this season so far has been a complete wash out with the snow & rain causing havoc . from my own personal experience both as a parent of an under 13 footballer & as the manager of senior team , this season so far has been a disaster with both teams having played a only small handful of games due to the ongoing cancellations . I just think it would be more benificial and enjoyable to everyone if we had summer football . It would also give the kids something to occupy them during the holidays when they have the most free time .I have brought it up with some people who are involved at this level & most think it should at least be debated .

My son's team has only played two matches since October last year. I know this year is an exception but every year we lose some matches to the weather. Summer football opens up the possibility of evening matches. Possible negatives are that the last three summers have been very wet so we might lose matches then too. Also family holidays and Junior & Leaving Certs may run some interference. I don't know everything about the logistics of organising a league program so there may be issues that I have not considered but, in answer to your question I am all for a serious debate about the prospect. Personally I would favour a trial run for one season.

There's nothing to lose by trying it for a year,teams would just have to work around holidays and if you think of the kids,they would much prefer to play in the summer if they had the choice.

The matches lost to weather would be dramatically reduced and training would be more enjoyable (especially for the real small kids) in the bright evenings.

Here we are again in the last weekend of febuary and yet again the games are off . 90% pitches have been called off this weekend with the balance only on subject to inspection which is worst because it means getting out of bed early sat/sun morning & still not knowing if you'll be involved . The sooner its brought up at a one of the schoolboy association's meetings the better ...

Our match is going ahead this weekend (it's an away match so no nets for me :) ) but it is one on the few exceptions.

So here's what I'm going to do in an attempt to a least get some debate going on the issue:

1) Email all of the officers in my son's club
2) Raise it at our monthly manager's meeting (which for some reason I am allowed attend even though I'm not a manager?)
3) Email all of the schoolboy leagues in the country - I think Meath & District have begun debating the issue.
4) Ask Soccer-Ireland.com to post something about it on the home page (or the Pitch Check page which might be more appropriate)
5) Ask anyone I know that is involved in schoolboys / girls football to email their clubs and their leagues

If anyone else has any ideas I'll gladly row in with them too.

I for one don't think it's worth it - soccer would be going head to head with the GAA season and youngsters would be put in a position where they have to give one or more sports to play another. It would be less of an issue in bigger urban centres where there are enough numbers to represent different sports but it would kill small rural/village soccer clubs where they rely on the same kids to fill various teams.

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Originally Posted by Soccer Mom

Our match is going ahead this weekend (it's an away match so no nets for me :) ) but it is one on the few exceptions.

So here's what I'm going to do in an attempt to a least get some debate going on the issue:

1) Email all of the officers in my son's club
2) Raise it at our monthly manager's meeting (which for some reason I am allowed attend even though I'm not a manager?)
3) Email all of the schoolboy leagues in the country - I think Meath & District have begun debating the issue.
4) Ask Soccer-Ireland.com to post something about it on the home page (or the Pitch Check page which might be more appropriate)
5) Ask anyone I know that is involved in schoolboys / girls football to email their clubs and their leagues

If anyone else has any ideas I'll gladly row in with them too.

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I have asked my sons manager to raise it on their web page & after reading it this morning there seems to be a lot of interest , most reckon you need to approch your club's committee first for their backing & then try get the other local clubs involved . only then can you bring it to the attention of one of the associations to request a debate on the issue .
Is it possible to show this thread to the wider population in the forum without starting again ???

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Originally Posted by liv4ever

Is it possible to show this thread to the wider population in the forum without starting again ???

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If people keep posting in the thread it'll stay on the first page of the forum and anybody with any interest in kids football will see it,it's the biggest problem in kids football (along with overage players).

One reason which would go against summer football is the amount of injuries which would be incurred when the ground is rock hard. Its ok if private clubs can water their pitches on a regular basis but there is no way public parks are going to receive the proper treatment.

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Originally Posted by drummerboy

One reason which would go against summer football is the amount of injuries which would be incurred when the ground is rock hard. Its ok if private clubs can water their pitches on a regular basis but there is no way public parks are going to receive the proper treatment.

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I think the correct footware would go a long way to reducing such injuries , your right though it's another obstacle, although a lot teams that train on these new all weather pitches will face some of these problems during the winter i know a lot of my lads complain with sore ankles because they are so hard underneath.

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Originally Posted by drummerboy

One reason which would go against summer football is the amount of injuries which would be incurred when the ground is rock hard. Its ok if private clubs can water their pitches on a regular basis but there is no way public parks are going to receive the proper treatment.

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Don't see that as being much of an issue up to under 14's,as the younger kids spend a lot of their time in parks etc playing football with and messing around with their mates on it anyway.

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Originally Posted by drummerboy

One reason which would go against summer football is the amount of injuries which would be incurred when the ground is rock hard. Its ok if private clubs can water their pitches on a regular basis but there is no way public parks are going to receive the proper treatment.

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That wouldn't have been a problem in the last three seasons with all of the rain we had. Even though we got a match in last week the lads played in a bit of a mud bath. The more I think about it it is definitely worth a go for a one season trial.

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Originally Posted by Soccer Mom

That wouldn't have been a problem in the last three seasons with all of the rain we had. Even though we got a match in last week the lads played in a bit of a mud bath. The more I think about it it is definitely worth a go for a one season trial.

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I have been talkin to a few of the lads i know that are involved in the local clubs and every one of them would be interested in a trial for one season . they are going to arrange a meet with the rest of the managers at thier club to discuss it properly in the next week or so . There seems to be a theory amongst them though that the local councils have a big say in things & think they would appose it as it would mean more maintenance on parks during the course of the summer & more money spent that they have nt got , but that aside im going to keep contacting clubs to see if they are interested & the more clubs i can get on board then the more likely it is to be discussed .

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Originally Posted by liv4ever

There seems to be a theory amongst them though that the local councils have a big say in things & think they would appose it as it would mean more maintenance on parks during the course of the summer & more money spent that they have nt got.

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I have some contacts in a couple of the Dublin councils. I'll see if I can get a read on this.

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Originally Posted by 5th metatarsal

I for one don't think it's worth it - soccer would be going head to head with the GAA season and youngsters would be put in a position where they have to give one or more sports to play another. It would be less of an issue in bigger urban centres where there are enough numbers to represent different sports but it would kill small rural/village soccer clubs where they rely on the same kids to fill various teams.

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I am a "youngster", and I have no problem playing two sports.

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Originally Posted by GUFCghost

I am a "youngster", and I have no problem playing two sports.

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The point I am making is that you may have a problem playing two or more sports at the same time.. which is exactly the position schoolboys and schoolgirls would be in if the GAA and Soccer seasons are running at the same time of the year.

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Originally Posted by 5th metatarsal

The point I am making is that you may have a problem playing two or more sports at the same time.. which is exactly the position schoolboys and schoolgirls would be in if the GAA and Soccer seasons are running at the same time of the year.

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Not sure about the rest of the country but here in Dublin the season's overlap but with football in the morning and GAA in the afternoon. It becomes more problematic when you get to U15 though, both usually play Sunday mornings.

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Originally Posted by drummerboy

Not sure about the rest of the country but here in Dublin the season's overlap but with football in the morning and GAA in the afternoon. It becomes more problematic when you get to U15 though, both usually play Sunday mornings.

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There's overlap alright but realistically there's not a lot of underage gaelic football or hurling matches played from mid/late september until the end of March at the earliest.
By moving soccer to a summer sport it's inevitible that there will be clashes with training and with matches.

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Originally Posted by drummerboy

Not sure about the rest of the country but here in Dublin the season's overlap but with football in the morning and GAA in the afternoon. It becomes more problematic when you get to U15 though, both usually play Sunday mornings.

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I would of thought that by the age of 15 a choice would have to be made either way wether it's soccer or GAA . The training would obviously be getting a lot more physical for both sports its the same for kids who box or are into athletics or whatever , sooner or later they all end up choosing the sport the love most .

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Originally Posted by liv4ever

I would of thought that by the age of 15 a choice would have to be made either way wether it's soccer or GAA . The training would obviously be getting a lot more physical for both sports its the same for kids who box or are into athletics or whatever , sooner or later they all end up choosing the sport the love most .

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Maybe that would be the case for kids that are good enough for the Emerging Talent Programme or alternatively County Football/Hurling but for the vast majority of players they will continue to play both for another couple of years.. at least
If Soccer was to move to a summer sport you'd have droves of children (or their parents) that would be making a choice about what sport they want to play as young as 8 or 9 years of age. Soccer would lose out a lot, especially outside of the cities and bigger towns as a result of this and that can't be good for Soccer or our kids.