Summer soccer

A new proposal by the FAI and led by high performance director Ruud Dokter to move all schoolboy leagues to summer soccer is set to split the assosiation down the middle.The great one John Delaney is also pushing it,while it would be good for the DDSL and players in the big cities,it will more than likely see the folding of many rural teams which is ok from the fai point of view who quietly reckons there are too many teams and are hoping for less teams with better quality in these teams.
Where i come from the GAA is strong and going head to head with them during the summer will lead to players concentrating on one sport and will probably end up with both codes being weaker.
A good point was made by a parent who says that soccer in the winter keeps his young lad busy and away for the tv and playstation screens and keeps his fitness levels high,also reckons kids with too much time on there hands could lead to depression and isolation etc,also said it was a great social outlet for parents to meet other parents.
Its going ful belt in Clare for a few years and reports ae mixed between coaches.Delaney sided with the DDSL in last years debackle re;seeding for national cups and he seems to be getting led by this group,players who play with the ddsl at present normally only play one sport so will suit them,looks like another dent for rural Ireland if this comes in.

I don't see why everyone in the GAA sees it as 'going up against them'. We're talking about kids & sport, who cares which one they are doing as long as they are doing something. If anyone at the GAA has an issue with that then they need to take a look at themselves for the answer rather than persecute the kids, something I have already heard when discussing this...
As for no winter sport, it sits up perfectly for Futsal, we have far more indoor venues than even 10 years ago and we are one of 2 countries in europe without a futsal team. Other than that, if it's no good for outdoor sport in the winter then why have soccer then?

I think the kids will be delighted with this choice, I know mine are. I had heard that it's already a done deal other than the legal vote, bring it on now I say.

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Originally Posted by Argyll12

I don't see why everyone in the GAA sees it as 'going up against them'. We're talking about kids & sport, who cares which one they are doing as long as they are doing something. If anyone at the GAA has an issue with that then they need to take a look at themselves for the answer rather than persecute the kids, something I have already heard when discussing this...
As for no winter sport, it sits up perfectly for Futsal, we have far more indoor venues than even 10 years ago and we are one of 2 countries in europe without a futsal team. Other than that, if it's no good for outdoor sport in the winter then why have soccer then?

I think the kids will be delighted with this choice, I know mine are. I had heard that it's already a done deal other than the legal vote, bring it on now I say.

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Cant see how kids would be in favour,having to choose between football,hurling and soccer,if your sons play only soccer like people in the capital then it suits.

Moving to summer football is a no brainer really. It should have been brought in years ago.
What the GAA or other sports do is irrelevant. I have seen enough games in the winter months in which the whole game is spent in one half beacuse the wind or rain prevents kids moving the ball in any sort of constructive way or games where you end up with 50 throw ins or 50 goal kicks because the wind is so strong.
It means teams can train in better conditions on grass for longer too because they dont have to spend money renting astro. It has nothing to do with the DDSL V country leagues its a decision being made for the improvement of football in the country as a whole. Thank god for Ruud Dokter from what i can make out hes a very smart football man.

You try and get a team out in July and August,half away on holidays and the other half playing GAA,will suit Bigger cities but will wipe out rural leagues and clubs.

Mayo youths have being playing summer soccer for years along with junior soccer and its ran fine even though its a mad GAA country!

Depends on who you talk to,Clare have summer soccer for the last few years and the Fai says its a great success,my club played a clare team this year in the national cup and i was talking to one of the coaches and he said it was a total disaster.

Its not about winning any more. It's about development. It's about training. If you can't get a team together so what!

Now that the change is upon us does anyone know how this 'short league' for late 2018 is going to work or where such info can be found? Is there relegation/promotion for example? I've always found contacting any agency of schoolboy football in this country an exercise in entering the dark web.

What is this "Short League" that you speak of. I was under the impression that the league ran from March to November, with something like a 6 week break over the summer to account for folk going on holidays.

I'm told that pre season will commence as normal in august and a short season (1 round of matches? Guessing - I don't know) will take place from last week of August and running into early November.

Then as you say the 2019 season will commence in early March.

My son has considerable skin in it as they've just been promoted and he's wondering will they only get half a chance at securing their top flight status or what's the craic.

I'm fairly sure in leagues where they are running a short season before Christmas it's a case of one round of games and a playoff at the end or something to decide the winners.
They'll probably put teams into the divisions that they would have gone into next season, and possibly keep those same divisions for 2019 then assuming all goes well.

The whole point of this scheme is to try to ensure that seasons are not disrupted by weather.

Instead they are going to be disrupted by holidays and the big long break.

Had this nonesens ebeen implemented this year, the season would have begun with the multiple postponements caused by Storm Emma, eventually started in early April, petered out for exam time and summer break before getting going properly in late August - just like it used to be.

Progress my eye!

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Originally Posted by jimhacker

The whole point of this scheme is to try to ensure that seasons are not disrupted by weather.

Instead they are going to be disrupted by holidays and the big long break.

Had this nonesens ebeen implemented this year, the season would have begun with the multiple postponements caused by Storm Emma, eventually started in early April, petered out for exam time and summer break before getting going properly in late August - just like it used to be.

Progress my eye!

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This is exactly what happened!
Our kids had their first game scheduled for around Valentines weekend. Both sides cancelled the fixture due to a clash with rugby. The next fixture wasn't until the same date in April. We then had 3 weeks of midweeks to try and catch up, before as you rightly pointed out the season petered out with confirmations and exams. Finished up 3rd weekend in June, and not returning until Sept 3rd.