Quote:
Gary Dempsey's weekly column
Follow Gary on Twitter (@Dempz8)
Schoolboy football has to change in this country if we are to produce better quality players. I recently went to watch my cousins play in a junior game and the county under-13 team happened to be training on the pitch beside me. What I saw was beyond belief!!! This was suppose to be training for the best 20 odd players in the county, and no joking it was 27 minutes before they touched a ball.
Now if you have to work on fitness with players at 11/12 years of age there's something seriously wrong. These players need ball ball and more ball. They need to be taught how to pass it, how to control it, how to receive it and where to move to get it . They should be doing this from 7/8 years of age in my opinion.
I've seen training sessions also where there's 14 or 15 kids training and the coach only has two footballs. Minimum there should be a ball for every two players if not a ball each. You will regularly see before a schoolboy game two fellas in the goal and the rest of the team taking shots at them, Stone Age stuff!! Crazy stuff.
I also attended another schoolboy game to watch some of my Academy players play and again the things I saw and heard were ridiculous. I had just walked in the gate and a ball had been played over the top and the goal keeper never came off his line to pick it up and the manager starts screaming at this little kid of 11 in the goal 'would you ever get off your line and pick it up'. The keeper from then on was a nervous wreck, didn't want to know really because he was TERRIFIED of making a mistake and god forbid let in a goal.
You go to any schoolboy game and listen on the sidelines to the information and shouts from the parents and managers, its embarrassing. You will certainly hear 'Jesus Christ lads, wake up'. I heard this from a county team manager, and 'would you just clear the ball and stop messing with it at the back,'... God forbid the kids might take the ball down and try to pass it.
What I see anytime I go to a game is some great players that are terrified of making a mistake and are made to play the game totally the wrong way. I see managers and coaches that are hell bent on winning at all costs, no matter what it takes or how they play. Its ALL about winning.
In Spain, Holland and these countries, schoolboy football is non competitive, they play smaller sided games, in smaller goals. This leads to players getting more touches on the ball, more skill and more goals. How many under 12 games have you seen when a player gets a touch but then might not see the ball again for 15 minutes, happens everywhere and its madness.
I work with young players in my academy and see when you take that fear away from them and tell them to go ENJOY themselves and EXPRESS themselves and without worrying about losing or making a mistake its an absolute joy to watch. They will listen to you and try and play the right way. Yes they lose the ball, yes they make mistakes but so what? This is how they learn, but they do it knowing full well that I'm not going to be screaming at them and frightening the life out of them where they end up going through the game not wanting the ball, for fear of another bollocking from the sidelines.
We HAVE good young players in this country and its up to us to produce them, coach them properly, teach them the game and watch them learn and develop. Coaches and parents have a huge responsibility in this. Coaches have to get rid of this win at all costs mentality and start thinking about these young players. Let them play, take the fear factor away and watch them grow and they will surprise you!
Socially we have a big obligation to these kids too, teaching them other disciplines in life. I read a great line the other day on Twitter and it read 'Try not limit seeing progress as just the league table. It's by far not the only indicator of success and winning at grassroots football'
Politics in schoolboy football too will be the ruining of players in this country, I've heard of a county that make their players sign an agreement before The Kennedy Cup saying they wont leave their local league, why is this? I have come up against so many obstacles with my Academy its ridiculous, beyond belief to be honest. I've had one league assassination tell their members not to play us in friendly games, make sure their kids are insured, make sure coaches are Garda vetted......all rubbish because of one thing, pure jealously.
They don't agree with privately run academies and there are plenty of good people working at clubs and not getting paid etc, this is what they come out with. Yes, there are thousands of fantastic people, UNBELIEVABLE people who do unbelievable work in clubs up and down the country, but very few are qualified coaches!! And there lies the problem. Some believe it or not will be doing more harm than good!!
We all must try harder because like I've said the potential is there, the passion is there, the commitment is there, the skill is there, I've seen it, so lets all work harder and do right by the kids and in my opinion that's what its all about, the kids, the players, its all about them enjoying our beautiful game. JUST LET THEM PLAY!!!
