U18 Cup gone!

[olegunnar]

there is NO u18 National Cup this year
there is NO u18 Gaynor cup this year

are there any competitions planned for these players? what were the problems with national cup? could they not be done province wide only with a final 4 weekend?

[chick]

no competitions planned AFAIK.
ridiculous, as this is only going to add to the already massively high number of drop outs once girls hit 16/17

[Squeez]

I think its a disgrace, i heard recently that in relation to the Gaynor cup that the international mangers are tracking players at an earlier age group now so that was reason for dropping the 18's. Personally i think thats a load of crap! You can plenty of late bloomers or players that only take up playing soccer at a higher level in their late teens!

As for the national cup, now the overage 16yr olds and older are forced to play senior football if they want to continue, and they may not be ready for that jump in standard.
Word through the grapevine was national cup scrapped due to number of walkovers given in the cup last year. I still think there are enough team out there that want to play at that level so they should be given the opportunity.
I think teams should be made qualify out of provinces first, i reckon a reason for some walkovers could be to do with the cost of travel etc.

[Monkey]

any word on the senior intermediate or junior draws ?? the first date is the 11th may

[olegunnar]

squeez...

i think one of the teams that qualified for semi last year,gave a walkover!! thats not good.

also,was there some issue with rounds of matches being on same weekend as oxygen or the like??

as i suggested, maybe a regional only competition, with a final 4??

[corkrebel]

Wilton United gave a walkover in last years semi but that was after the competitions officer told them he had agreed to their request of a postponement. The next Wilton heard about it was when they heard that the final had taken place. After the senior cup game between Wilton and Dundalk, Wilton's under 18 coaches approached the fixtures secretary who denied they had even asked for a postponement. Why would a team purposely not turn up and wait until after the final to kick up a fuss? I'm not a member of Wilton and never have been but I felt sorry for them, because they had a very strong team. Anyway after that long ramble my point is the wfai complaining about walkovers is hardly a good excuse if they are telling teams there games is cancelled when they are not. I do agree with playing at a regional level first it makes sense and every other cup besides the senior cup is done that way and they all work well, why not the 18's?
Also I think the u18 Gaynor was the best to watch some players after they had been playing for a few years, would be very passionate and that added to the competition. There should be a huge value placed on representing your province it shouldn't be all about Irish trials, canceling the Gaynor u18 is a disgrace they are basically saying if you aint the best in the country by time your 16 we don't give a crap about you, hardly a good message to be sending out to players while everyone else is trying to help the sport grow.

[37Beour]

Did i not bring this subject a couple of weeks back?? And all i got was a very luke warm response!!!!

Is it only now that its sinking in that we have NO under 18 national competitions!!!!!!! Players have no where to go especially if they are at a senior club........i think this will higher dropout rates in girls soccer!!!!

Well done people in Dublin for another job well done!!!

[Wexford Rules]

It is a pity that the Under Eighteen Cup is gone but like I said a few weeks back, the walkover rate was way too high. Any competition that has over a fifty percent rate of games not played, is not really feasible and it was bound to have a knock on effect

However there will be an inter league competition for either under eighteen or nineteen later in the season and it should give players an opportunity to play and not put pressure on clubs who are unable to field teams at this age group

Several things were tried to make the under eighteen cup a success but none worked and now that its gone, the clubs who wouldnt travel are the ones doing the most crying. When the cup was provincial the same three clubs from Munster were all that entered that particular province each season. Leinster might manage eight, Connacht anything between three and six and Ulster usually one or none. Its a tough age group whether its boys or girls and I do have first hand experience of it as I am involved in both leagues in my area.

If the under eighteen cup is to be brought back, it needs a serious restructure and someone needs to come up with a viable plan and not just moan

[corkrebel]

Of course people are moaning, they’ve cut both under 18 competitions. But it’s not like solutions aren’t being offered, three of us have already said to run it on a regional level first.
I can’t remember when it was run on a regional level it must be over 6 years ago? There is definitely more than three teams from Munster entering now. I can think of about five teams in Cork alone who would enter

[LmkSnr]

Solutions are already in place with stiff fines and a years ban from competition being introduced for cup competitions.But do we now have another problem from this decision to scrap the u18 cup.Some teams have now entered 2 teams in the national cups. Raheny [senior;intermediate] and Lakewood [intermediate;junior].Will watch these with great interest to see what players are involved

[Squeez]

Are teams allowed to enter 2cup competitions? or have they both got 2seperate teams?

[ramladies]

Teams must have 2 seperate squads to enter in 2 competitions.

Lakewood pulled their team from junior cup because the team was made up of mostly their under 16 team and some senior team members who wouldnt normally get there game at senior level. They instead put teams into under 16 cup and their senior team is in the intermediate.