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Some examples of sports stars who were late to develop into stars

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Growing up in Portroe, my childhood was pure simplicity. You came in from school, gobbled down the dinner, crossed two fields, jumped two ditches and arrived in the hurling field.

Little did I think the impact that field would have on my life. I will never be able put a true value on everything it gave me. It was pure bliss. Often, we played a game of football first and then hurling, but no matter what, we were always active.

What we consumed through TV mattered too. When Wimbledon was on we played tennis (no shortage of arguments as to whether the ball was in or out). During the World Cup, we played soccer. All ages, boys and girls. Tubex was the local factory and shift workers finished at four so they often joined us and everyone was welcome.

I was struck by David Clifford's interview after his FOTY award on Friday night where he spoke about trying every sport as a kid and then recommended picking one if you get serious. He would have approved of our approach in Portroe. Sport was the centre of our community and I still have wonderful memories of those times.

In 2022, the world for a child growing up is far from simple. We have just been through a global pandemic, a really challenging time for all ages. Significant action was taken and thankfully we are back to a more normal lifestyle. During that turbulent time, the importance of clubs being the central hub and heartbeat of communities was never as important.

But it strikes me there is a silent pandemic at play in relation to obesity. Over the last two decades we have seen a significant increase in body fat and kids are challenged in terms of diet and activity levels to stay fit and healthy. Sport has a real opportunity to play its part in addressing this by retaining players from youth to adult and giving them the pathway to a healthy balanced lifestyle playing a game they have fallen in love with.

But to achieve this we have to park a few egos and put the player - the child - at the centre of our thinking. I'm talking about the football manager who tells the kid he can't play soccer or rugby or he'll be dropped. Or the hurling coach who stops players playing Gaelic football. I've heard and seen it all. I'm talking about the selectors who can't see past winning the next Under 12 match and leave kids sitting broken-hearted on a bench. And I'm talking about the problems our most talented kids face too, with coaches fighting over them, trying to push them onto their 'development pathway'.

I heard Ireland soccer international Clare Shine - a brilliant camogie and Gaelic footballer too - say recently she was turned off and disillusioned in her teens by the pressure various coaches were putting on her to play their game, so their team won. She was forever feeling she was letting someone down and eventually burned out and lost her love for the games. I'd say it's by no means a unique experience.

We must stop forcing choice on kids too soon. All field sports must work together to grow the number of players playing games and being retained in sport. Put the player at the centre and allow them pick and choose the games they love the most. And if they leave your team because they prefer another, be proud you have given them some crossover skills to take with them. And always be ready to welcome them back with open arms.

There is an argument that athletics is the key sport, promoting movement at all levels from walking to sprinting and jumping and throwing. If the fundamentals of movement are in place and you are physically fit then all sports are on the agenda from there. Then it's back to the one you love the most.

With all the challenges facing today's kids and the ever-increasing access to substances, there is real value for parents in knowing a child is at their club three or four times a week. And it's important too that parents value that peace of mind. The support of parents is so vital to a child's sporting journey. That means encouragement and approval, not pressure. The only question a parent needs to ask after training and matches when they are young is 'Did you enjoy it?' Everything after that is a bonus.

The drop-and-collect model is not ideal. And volunteers are in scarce supply. If it's important to you and your child, I'd recommend to anyone to make an effort to lend a hand in whatever way. If your child sees you pulling out of the car park every evening, it'll make it that bit easier for them to turn their back one day too. Your commitment could be infectious. And clubs provide an environment where people look out for each other which is so important these days.

Many GAA clubs will be holding their Juvenile AGMs in the coming weeks and secretaries' reports will focus on matches and trophies won. The time has come when the most important question to be asked is: Will we retain all of our players for next season?

There are many factors at play when it comes to retention. No doubt quality coaching has a real impact. When I was involved with development squads in Tipperary, I told the coaches I would be asking the parents what the kids are saying when they get back into the car. If you hear a child say they absolutely loved it and cannot wait to come back next week you are in business. You have to create an environment where kids can learn the skills while having fun and making mistakes along the way.

We have Darren Gleeson coaching our U8s and 10s in Port and he has great people with him. You can be sure these kids are enjoying it and have a much better chance of staying with the game.

It haunts me to think that the GAA, for one, is losing six out of 10 kids to the game between 12 and 21. Some are moving to another sport, which is fine. But only a small portion. This stark drop-out has got to be tackled through a unified approach across the country.

The age-grade debate raging at the moment is one factor, but only one part of the big picture. There are issues in schools too, especially secondary. Our games programme in GAA is too centred on the elite. Eight or nine primary schools might feed into one second level school. That could be upwards of 100 lads or girls who were used to playing for their school - 25 might now get picked for a Rice Cup panel, or whatever. And the rest can stay back in class while the fun is going on. And this is at a vulnerable age where a kid might easily drift away from his club having left behind some of the friends they grew up with.

We all know a club that is excellent at keeping their players. There are pockets of brilliance around the country with great coaches who involve everyone and invest equally in all their kids. We have clubs that continue to outperform their size and population because they bring almost everyone through to their adult teams. We have to learn from each other and share best practices as ultimately the winner will be the player.

We must consider too the many new arrivals to this country, who are becoming a greater part of every parish. We must prioritise all-inclusive communities where players and parents are encouraged to become involved and get to know their new surroundings.

There aren't one-size-fits-all solutions. In some of the bigger urban areas, it might make sense to have more than one club, to prevent kids being lost under the sheer weight of numbers. In rural areas, we may have to accept more amalgamations to keep the games alive. Pride and history can never stand in the way of the player.

The Government can do more to support local villages and rural Ireland in general. There are people in our parish who cannot get planning permission to stay and live in the village where they grew up. It feels wrong and I don't see leadership to address the issue. If it's happening in Portroe it must be the case in other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, it is great to see the integration process has finally kicked off under the leadership of Mary McAleese and it should provide an opportunity for our three Gaelic games associations to come up with a unified approach to transform participation and retention in our games.

We have a duty of care to the next generation to grab these opportunities to make meaningful gains in retaining our people from youth to adult. In the discussions and inevitable disagreements that will come, it will be vital the player is always put first, given the opportunity to choose and play the sports they love, and develop personally and collectively while creating memories that will last them a lifetime.

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Liam Sheedy: Time to park trophies and egos and put players at centre of our sporting world

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Growing up in Portroe, my childhood was pure simplicity. You came in from school, gobbled down the dinner, crossed two fields, jumped two ditches and arrived in the hurling field. Little did I think the impact that field would have on my life. I will never be able put a true value on everything it gave me.

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‘We nearly lost our boy due to men who needed the under-12 win to make them feel they were great’

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What happens when team sports stop being fun and ends up chipping away at a child’s confidence?

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The ‘Nemo Way’ Is A Philosophy From Which All Clubs Can Take Inspiration | Balls.ie

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Stephen Cronin got all the way to under-16 level with Nemo Rangers before he won a championship game. That was not due to poor coaching.A major factor was the c...

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Hurling folk would have already known him as the inter-county forward turned goalkeeper. A member of the Kiladangan side that won the inaugural All-Ireland intermediate club hurling title in 2005. A member of the Kiladangan side that won the All-Ireland senior sevens in 2011.

But what they might not have been aware of was how integral Egan has been in transforming his club. Just 30, Egan is the principal of Kiladangan National School. From Eamonn Kelly in 2000 to Liam Flannery in 2004, there have been individuals who have helped bring Kiladangan to within 60 minutes of a first county title since 1938 and their current centre-forward is among them in more ways than one.

"Darragh Egan has a massive profile in the club," says chairman Michael Ryan. "He was juvenile club chairman four or five years ago and he brought in the thing that all of the senior panels get involved from U6s, U8s, U10s, U12s, U14s and U16s. In fairness to him, that has brought back all the seniors involved with the young kids and at the end of the day they're the ones looking up to them every Sunday.

"We're playing now in Semple Stadium, thank God. There are two guys involved from the senior panel with every under-age team and it really brings the kids out because they're watching these guys. Darragh was the man that really brought that element to the club."

As difficult as it may have sounded to entice players to contribute even more to the club by way of mentoring, Egan, now in his 16th senior year, said it wasn't. "We've a massively tight-knit hurling community in the village. It was a massive stepping stone to get the lads back involved. You go to any Kiladangan under-age match in the last five years and the senior lads will be doing water, will be doing hurleys, encouraging the young lads. Our lives are literally based around the hurling field at the moment."

Having no senior county representation this year has certainly helped Kiladangan, Egan has no doubt. "I remember one night down in training and we had 52 on the field and that's absolutely savage."

But with the young leaders they are developing it won't stay that way for long. Last Sunday, they had 10 lads aged 21 or under starting - David Sweeney and Willie Connors were prominent on Willie Maher's Tipperary U21 team this year.

"David Sweeney did a fine job on Bubbles (John O'Dwyer in last Sunday's semi-final)," enthuses Egan. "In my opinion, one of the performances of the summer was what David Sweeney did against Patrick Curran down in Walsh Park in the U21 Munster final and Patrick Curran is an absolutely serious hurler."

Even if it is the monarchs Thurles Sarsfields they face, Kiladangan know their arrival at this stage is no fluke having won three of the last four North Tipperary championships. It's a far cry from their humble situation in the late 1990s. As Egan recalled: "I remember going to a junior A match 20 years ago, going behind the goals. They were our first team and we were getting hammered by Roscrea's second team.

"We didn't even win a junior A but we decided to go up to intermediate. Eamonn Kelly took over and it all started from there, a county minor team in '98 and they were the fulcrum for our team for the next 15 years.

That they only had a seven-day build-up from beating Killenaule means the hype won't be as great around the area. "Traditionally, over the years we have worked better on that week-on-week situation. It seems to suit us. It will be manic for the week but we just need to stay away from that."

The arrival of the Liam MacCarthy Cup in Egan's school last Tuesday helped distract attentions. But the only silverware on Kiladangan minds is the Dan Breen Cup. They have given themselves enough reason to believe it's within their grasp.

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Darragh Egan's mentor plan gave Kiladangan room to improve

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Hurling folk would have already known him as the inter-county forward turned goalkeeper. A member of the Kiladangan side that won the inaugural All-Ireland intermediate club hurling title in 2005. A member of the Kiladangan side that won the All-Ireland senior sevens in 2011.

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Belgium are currently the number one ranked side in world football, overtaking superpowers like Brazil who they eliminated from last year's World Cup. Simply put, no country per capita is remotely producing as many top footballers as they are. So what's their secret? By not making it about winning or even the team, but rather the individual player

At a time when Irish football is in turmoil, Belgian football is in full bloom.

Whereas 20, 30 and 40 years ago the FA Cup was hoisted by a triumvirate of Irishmen in the form of Messrs Keane, Whelan and Rice, this month that privilege belonged to a Belgian who also happened to receive the Premier League title, the same Vincent Kompany having days earlier scored the goal that essentially decided the biggest domestic league in the world.

On Wednesday in Baku, the most scrutinised and revered player on view in the Europa League final will be Eden Hazard in what is expected to be his last game with Chelsea before he joins Real Madrid like his fellow countryman Thibaut Courtois before him.

Then next Saturday in Madrid, a Liverpool side that won its way through to the Champions League final courtesy of a two-goal semi-final brace from Genk academy graduate Divock Origi will run up against a Spurs side anchored by an all-Belgian central defence of Vertoghen and Alderweireld.

And as for the national team, it's currently number one in the Fifa world rankings, a fraction ahead of the French side that edged it in last year's World Cup semi-finals.

So, just 10 years after being ranked 66th, how did they make their way to first?

Because, argues Kris Van Der Haegan, they put the player first. It's not about the coach. It's not about the team. All through the system, from as young as five, the player comes first. That's been the secret formula. A player-first philosophy = national team first in the world.

It's something the Belgian FA's director of coach education will be expanding on in Limerick in three weeks' time as one of the speakers at the iCoachKids international conference that Sport Ireland Coaching are hosting in UL.

But Van Der Haegen is also happy to spread the message to anyone who wants to listen and is open to learn. It is a philosophy that he is strikingly passionate about, not least because it's underpinned by scientific research, which is why he took our call a couple of days ago while away in Greece with the Belgian senior national women's team.

"When you start coaching underage football and you know little about how learning works, your automatic reflex is to think like you would have as a player - that it's about playing games and trying to win games. And that's what happens most of the time. 'Okay, we have to prepare our team for the game to give us the best chance to win the game.

That's the wrong starting point.

What he advocates is The Coaching Switch, an awakening and transformation as loud and as profound as Paul on the road to Damascus. Focus not on the team and the game but the player. Every player on your team.

"It's really demanding, that switch," he acknowledges. "You really do have to put in a big effort to change your whole way of thinking. To where it's your individual relationship with a player and making individual corrections. That I'm not there for my team, I'm there for every player. I'm not there to make sure that we win the game. I'm there to make every player better.

"In an individual sport like tennis, that is the mentality of the coach. How do I make that player better, on all aspects - technical-tactical, mental, physical? And that is how it should be in children's football. That we should have a different approach for each of our players because each player and person is different.

But that outlook is in not widespread. We certainly didn't have it in Belgian football 20 years ago.

Their own Coaching Switch came in the wake of co-hosting Euro 2000. Never before in the history of the competition or the World Cup had a host nation failed to emerge from its pool. "A catastrophe," says Van Der Haegen, but also an opportunity - "It's when things are going badly that people are open to change and listening. So we started from scratch." Including Van Der Haegen himself, being part of the review process initiated by the Belgian FA's visionary technical director, Michel Sablon.

"I'm about the best example you'll find of the Coaching Switch. Before 2000 I coached with the same outlook I had as a player. I had to have constant discussions with the referee. 'What?! That wasn't a free!' Because my focus was on winning the game. When that's your driver, your emotional temperature gets higher and higher.

"But when you take a step back and the result of the game isn't what's important, and you start observing your individual players and how they are doing at the tasks you would have discussed with them, you start looking at the team and the game in a totally different light. That the game is merely a tool, a measurement. 'Okay, we tried something in training this week, let's see if it works in the reality of the game.'

You don't have to stress any more about having to win the game. And you see that the referee is a person just like yourself and the players - that they're going to make mistakes too, so deal with it and keep focused on your own job.

As part of the 2000 review, the Belgians looked to their neighbours, the Netherlands. Both nations breathed the same air, spoke the same language, yet on one side of a border was this trail-blazing, mould-breaking football power, and on the other, a run-of-the-mill side playing a limited, unsophisticated form of football.

"We started to ask, 'What are they doing that we don't do?' And the one thing we took from them was, 'Okay, we need a system of play and a set of principles that remain for the next 10 years and we'll evaluate it then.'

"If you look at Ajax, they have a philosophy that they stick to all the time. We needed to do the same - teach the game in a consistent way so we could play the best possible game."

At the turn of the millennium, Belgium's football wasn't a lot more sophisticated than the Irish team of this decade. It was all about having a good defensive shape, a lot of people defending in the low block and then booting the ball up front for someone to run after.

"We always played with two strikers. Two strikers means running. Running into space. Running and running and running. We needed to change. To play a more possession-based football, to have creative players on the wing like the Netherlands."

And so they switched from a predominantly 4-4-2 lineup to 4-3-3, right across the board; Van Der Heagen likes to say that from the U15 national team straight through to the senior setup, "Only the size of the shirt changes. Even if we were playing naked, I should be able to recognise our team."

So, to produce creative players, they had to let kids - every kid - play. And get plenty touches. And dribble. From the moment they showed up at their local club's pitch. The FA consulted with Van Der Haegen himself on the principles of learning; before he became a full-time football educator, he was a language teacher. They listened to psychologists talk about the needs and wants of children. One university recorded 1500 youth games and identified that in too many games some kids were barely getting a couple of touches a game.

"You can have the best development plans but if you don't spread the message across the whole community of coaches, then you have a plan that might be great on paper but shit on grass. If it's only at your desk, you don't develop players. It must be in the mind of the coaches.

"The first two years [after the 2000 review], we organised all over the country coach education - for free - to get people on board. Every week for two months there was an evening where we would have four-hour workshops, so we could have meaningful discussion and interaction with the coaches.

To me the biggest ingredient in the success of Belgian football is the quality and education of grassroots coaches. They know exactly how to develop a player from when they are five or six years old. We have a player-focused format that I can safely say is the best in the world. It's tailor-made football for the child.

At five and six years old, kids just play one-on-one, with two goalkeepers. Because that's all kids that age want to do - dribble and shoot and score a goal. They don't really have the interest or the cognitive capacity to pass. Then after a year they can progress to 2v2 and having a passing option. That is how their blitzes at that age work. Lose and you move to your left, win and you move to the right, to play someone more your own standard. Every kid gets to win, every kids gets to lose, every kid gets to play and get touches and score.

By U8 they're playing 5v5. By U10, it's 8v8 which they stick with for four years. It's only at U14 that they go full on 11v11 and league tables are published. Again, it's not about winning or the team. It's about developing the player. Every player. Instead of halves, there are quarters. You can only sub at the end of quarters and any kid who didn't play in the last one has to play in the following one.

"Before [2000], we used to have a lot of dropout when kids reached 15, 16. Why? Because they were always on the bench. Because the coach wanted to win. But when you are coaching these guys, don't get beaten by the result of the game! Forget about the result and focus on the enjoyment and development of every child. Every child is important! Every child is as important as the other - from the most developed to the least developed.

Don't be what we call a PlayStation coach who wants to decide everything for them. Let them discover the game and play freely and support them in that effort. And I'm proud to say in Belgium, we really have created an environment that is 100% player-centred.

It means that less physically-developed players can drop back to play a year younger, once they've been screened and certified by a doctor who can prove they're significantly below the average weight or height.

The late developer is prized in Belgium. Kevin de Bruyne made his first underage national squad when he was 18, just like half a dozen of the current senior squad. As Van Der Haegen points out, "If we were not aware of late developers, a Kevin De Bruyne wouldn't have come through the system."

Kevin de Bruyne scores in the FA Cup final. The late developer is prized in Belgium, having made his first underage national squad when he was 18, like half a dozen of the current senior squad. Picture: Nick Potts

For several years they had him playing with a 'future team', mostly of lighter players born in the second half of the year.

Conversely, a more advanced player doesn't have to abide by the old adage that they should play their own age grade. Eden Hazard didn't play with the Belgian U17 team that failed to get out of their Euro group because he had already been elevated to the U19s. Sure, it was a shame the 17s lost in his absence - but again, player first.

Such concepts would be a hard-sell here. Van Der Haegen would know Vim Koevermans and even more so the Dutchman's fellow countryman and successor as FAI performance director, Ruud Dokter; the pair of them sit together on Uefa's Jira coaching panel.

He has some appreciation of the challenges Dokter encounters. Like how something like his summer-football model could soon be in tatters following the decision of the two Dublin underage leagues to return to the traditional calendar more akin to the school year. Like how ferociously competitive, win-first some of those clubs and leagues can be.

He doesn't envy Dokter.

"The big challenge for Ireland is to get people around the table together who want to collaborate. You can sometimes get a situation where coaches can be prepared to come into a club to help make the player better and be told, 'No, we don't need your support, we will do it our way.' And this is a big problem in football in general - ego. 'We can do it on our own.' And doors are kept closed.

"Our country and Ireland are the same. You have, what, five million people? We have only 11 million. We cannot compare to Germany or France. They are so big they can miss a lot of talent but still do well because they have so many players. Countries like ours are small. So we need collaboration.

"I have said it before - what has been done in the last 15 years in Belgium can be done by anybody - in your club, your federation, your team. Because it had nothing to do with money. We have no money. We are a small country and we have challenges because we have two different languages - the northern part speaks Dutch, the southern part, French. But it isn't a big issue because we are used to it and we have a mindset to overcome it and work together.

But in countries like England and Ireland, there is a different sports culture, with schools football, regional leagues... We don't have these troubles. We don't have all these units and regional associations with their own rules. It's easier for us because we are more united. When we make a plan, it is easy to get agreement across the board.

He can see though how England have got their act together and are overcoming some of the obstacles on their landscape. How they speak now about creating an English DNA, just as the Belgians reinventing their own a decade earlier. Van Der Haegen still has a presentation on his laptop which he gave to the English FA, upon their invitation, about eight years ago.

"They also invited coach educators from the Spanish, French and German federations to show how they developed players. And what they have now are many of the best elements from all those countries. At youth level now they are phenomenal. A big difference between them and us and the big challenge for them is that when they get to 20, 21, it can be difficult getting enough playing opportunity in club competition."

There is another significant difference with the Belgian pathway. A 15-year-old from England and Ireland could be in the academy of a Premier League club where education is merely an add-on, though much better than it was even a decade ago. In Belgium a player of a similar age in an academy like Anderlecht's or Standard Liege's go to normal schools.

They only train after school hours. They're expected to qualify with the equivalent of a Leaving Cert. Not just because 99% of them won't stay on in top-level football, but that the 1% who do make it to the top are more educated and well-rounded, humble human beings.

"The only youngster to leave Belgium at 16 for a Premier League club and not fail has been [Adnan] Januzaj [formerly Manchester United, now Real Sociedad]. Others have gone because agents and clubs have offered them more money but we can show that statistic.

"We want them to keep them to help develop them and that they get an education and still play in the Belgian league. Then when you have 200 games in senior competition, or even 75 or so like a Lukaku, you can leave for the Premier League and are prepared in a much better way to succeed there. You are an adult. You have been through that difficult period of adolescence while still having had the comfort of being near home. You are more than ready."

He's mindful that Belgium won't always be number one in the world. As he puts it, just as Barcelona without Messi will be another Barcelona, Belgium won't always have a Hazard. But just as there was another golden generation of Irish rugby player post-O'Gara and O'Driscoll,

Belgium won't sink to 2000-like depths after the likes of Kompany or even Hazard retire.

In 10 years' time will we be number one in the Fifa world rankings? Realistically, most likely no. But our ambition is to remain in the top 10. And we have the coaches at the grassroots to do that and the buy-in from the academies.

In remembering that they're coaching kids, they keep turning out top adult players.

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organisation: senior national women’s team

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Big interview: Golden generation nursed from the grassroots

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Belgium are currently the number one ranked side in world football, overtaking superpowers like Brazil who they eliminated from last year's World Cup. Simply put, no country per capita is remotely producing as many top footballers as they are. So what's their secret?

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In 2014, Limerick underage hurling received a significant boost when their Under-15 side, managed by Leo O'Connor, won a Croke Park organised tournament.

O'Connor's team beat Clare, Galway and Offaly along the way. Around the same time the Limerick Under-16 inter-divisional sides were also in full swing playing competitive games and tournaments.

The success of those teams stemmed from an underage set-up which originated in 2011 and remains the template that the current Limerick success thrives on today.

Many capable, passionate and progressive people were involved in lifting the Treaty.

One of those was Aine MacNamara, a lecturer in Elite Sports Performance and Exercise Psychology, who was involved in the original strategy document.

While Limerick won the Munster minor title in 2013 - a first since 1984 - the scrutiny remained on the long-term development of players over short-term success. Maybe that was not always the case in the county.

The Talent Academies, built by the likes of Shane Fitzgibbon, Liam Hayes, Eibhear O'Dea, Joe McKenna, Eamon Cregan, Joe Quaid, Leo O'Connor and many more began to recognise the shift in philosophy.

The Limerick side that won the 2001 All-Ireland U-21 title

No more would short-term success come at the cost of long-term development in Limerick hurling. Between 2000 and 2002 the county, with Dave Keane at the helm, won three All-Ireland Under-21 titles in a row.

Several of the team played in that three-year block but there was no second album, no massive follow-through. Many of the team went onto play senior but some only featured in spurts. Limerick didn't subsequently set the world alight at senior level and they didn't help themselves by having five different managers between 2000 and 2006 - including Cregan, Keane, Pad Joe Whelahan, McKenna and Richie Bennis. How could a team find itself with such turnover?

They didn't reach a Munster U-21 final for another eight years either.

As the noughties passed, with a 2009 senior hammering to Tipperary labelled a real eureka moment, the likes of Fitzgibbon, O'Dea and McKenna stepped up.

The 2011 season saw a document for Limerick underage hurling formulated. Now there was some sort of structure.

It came after much frustration. At one underage trial a group of under-14s turned up and found only one sliotar to train with. The session was abandoned when that sliotar was lost.

At that time Munster rugby had captured the imagination and were still surfing a wave that saw them contest four European Cup finals, winning two, and stealing the hearts of many in Limerick city, county, the province and beyond.

That oval ball revolution saw Munster GAA to employ a dedicated hurling coach in Limerick in an effort to improve penetration. That helped.

A huge landmark was getting the juvenile divisions of the Limerick county board to come together and work within an academy-type system. A sub-committee was set up, driven by Fitzgibbon, O'Dea and Eamon Cregan.

They were told little would be accomplished. The boards would never unite, not enough quality coaches would come on board and the players were more interested in getting Limerick gear than committing fully.

A deaf ear was turned to that narrative. Before long, following meetings and follow-ups, the divisional boards were coerced to come together for the good of Limerick. A range of top-quality coaches were appointed, and the players loved the respective set-ups.

Eamonn Cregan

The first one on board was Cregan, a man who has done more than most for Limerick hurling. He took the Under-14s. Fitzgibbon himself took the Under-15s.

Ger Hegarty took control of the 16s, Anthony Carmody had the 17s and the likes of Brian Finn, Ger Cunningham, Frankie Carroll and Mike Galligan all played roles too.

Jerry Wallace was installed as the director of hurling for the underage academy system.

And how the coaches coached changed. Áine MacNamara brought every Limerick manager into a meeting one evening - from senior boss John Allen all the way down to the under14s. They were asked if they wanted their teams primarily to win. Almost every hand went up. But the managers were told that only John Allen's hand - as senior manager - should be raised. The rest should be in situ to develop their hurlers for the long-term good of Limerick hurling.

After much persuasion, and despite the concerns of traditionalists, Andy Murphy was brought in as Strength and Conditioning coach. Another step up the ladder.

They started off lifting no weights, only focusing on technique. The mantra was that by the time older they would be savage athletes. Again, that was later proved right.

After Fitzgibbon, O'Dea and company had gone to work, a new five-year Limerick Strategic plan recognised that 57% of primary school children in Limerick city were now playing Gaelic Games. Five years earlier it had been just eight per cent. Work on the ground was already paying off.

The 'Lifting the Treaty' paper had served a huge purpose as did the backing of Gerry and JP McManus some years later.

Saturday mornings at UL became an institution for the Limerick coaching and games development section. They used the new astroturf pitches at UL as a base for the Academy. Between 9am and 1pm the minor team, followed by the Under-16s, 15s and 14s would train. They worked in cycles of six weeks meaning that no schedule, goal or target was too overwhelming.

At underage, under Joe Quaid, they won All-Ireland plates at Under-15 and an All-Ireland A title the following year. Building all the time. Players like Seán Finn, Cian Lynch and Aaron Gillane were part of a squad that won the All-Ireland U-16 title with Quaid and became a showcase for the Academy 'system'.

Aaron Gillane playing for the U-21s in 2019

Gillane is a perfect example of what hard work and proper coaching can achieve as he had been part of 'B' teams up to that point. He's now one of the leading hurlers in the land.

Brian Ryan's Munster MHC-winning teams of 2013 and 2014 drove the project on. There were under-21 provincial crowns in 2015 and 2017. Limerick were humming.

All the time, John Kiely was forging his own path, from Under-21 selector to Under-21 manager to county intermediate manager before assuming the top role.

With the right man in charge, the players prepared in the right way, and with the correct structures and resourcing Limerick managed to build something magnificent.

That second album is what they're looking for now. That's the next goal.
Watch the All-Ireland senior hurling final between Limerick and Waterford and the Joe McDonagh Cup final between Antrim and Kerry live on RTÉ2 from 12.30pm Sunday, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 or follow our live blog on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app. Highlights on The Sunday Game (9.30pm RTÉ2).

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Limerick now reaping benefits of long-term development

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In 2014, Limerick underage hurling received a significant boost when their Under-15 side, managed by Leo O'Connor, won a Croke Park organised tournament. O'Connor's team beat Clare, Galway and Offaly along the way. Around the same time the Limerick Under-16 inter-divisional sides were also in full swing playing competitive games and tournaments.

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On New Year's Day 1997, the Corofin senior squad gathered to listen to Paul McGettigan, the new manager, lay out the season ahead. The Donegal man was brisk and confident in his delivery, and told the room that winning the All-Ireland club championship was the main objective.

"We laughed," Michael Donnellan recalls of how he and his team-mates instinctively responded.

The team had been bundled out in the first round of the county championship the year before. They had lost All-Ireland semi-finals in 1992 and 1996. They seemed to be regressing.

Yet McGettigan's words were prophetic. Corofin duly became All-Ireland champions in March 1998, fire-starting a revolutionary year for maroon football. It marked a transformation of internal Galway football prowess.

Corofin would win 14 of the next 22 senior titles. The club was on the way to becoming a furnace of high achievement through all grades, and are still seeking to exceed themselves. On Sunday they will pack Croke Park, seeking to defend their All-Ireland title in a mouthwatering showdown against Dr Crokes.

"If you're asking me what their secret is: I don't know. While it is true that other clubs try to emulate them I don't think they have any real understanding of the level of preparation they actually go to," says Donnellan.

The Corofin man now manages the Mountbellew senior team, one of the clubs working furiously to compete against Corofin's unassailable domination of the local scene. They have featured in the last two finals, losing 2-14 to 0-10 in 2017 before almost springing a spectacular ambush late last October, equalling the champions on a surreal scoreline of 0-7 to 0-7. It took a nerveless build-up from the defending champions to work a fisted point by Michael Lundy with seconds to go to avoid a huge upset.

For Donnellan it was a week of private conflict: he is steeped in Corofin but immersed in the task of delivering what would have been Mountbellew's first championship in 32 years. The east Galway club are roughly where Corofin were 20 years ago: on the verge of a significant step forward.

The difference is that back then there was no gargantuan obstacle standing in their way. Nobody says it aloud but there is a residual sense within Galway football that Corofin are almost unbeatable.

That partly informed Donnellan's decision to spring an all-out defensive plan in the final. It almost worked, and in the replay Mountbellew held Corofin to 1-8. But the element of surprise was gone.

"We were 9 to 1 going into the final, and a lot of people would have said it was damage limitation. And, yeah, we had probably caught Corofin a little bit. They had beaten us by 10 points the year before. We came within 10 seconds of pulling off an incredible shock.

"But that's the thing about Corofin - they can play it however you want. We took a huge amount of encouragement from being able to go toe to toe with them for 60 minutes. Because at the back of your mind was a bit of fear and trepidation that it could be another hammering. After all, they went out the week after playing us and ran up 4-22 against Clann na Gael."

More cynical

Tom McHugh knows the club felt the scythe brushing past them that afternoon in Pearse Stadium, Galway. This golden era cannot be infinite.

"If Mountbellew had perhaps been more cynical and fouled us out by the sideline, then I think they would probably be county champions. And I think they would have come close at All-Ireland level too because they have done everything right."

The observation mirrors a general pattern within Galway football where other teams and managers imagine alternative scenarios and outcomes if only Corofin were not such an immovable force.

The McHughs are one of those perpetual Corofin football families. In researching the history of the club, Tom McHugh can identify a number of years when the club could have gone in any direction, and the transformation over the past two decades.

"If I could condense it to just one thing it is a commitment for a long, long time to underage coaching and football."

Frank Morris is generally credited with drawing up the blueprint for a concentrated focus on fundamental skills.

"Frank was club secretary at the time, and he took over and placed an awful lot of emphasis on skill. He was a former player with St Jarlath's, and had been with St Enda's but was a real thinker about the game.

"Outside commentators talk about how good Corofin are on the ball. But it is incredibly hard work to keep that going. Everything that is in place now is his legacy. And if you watch some of the training sessions it can be breathtaking because there is so much freedom to try these things."

To a pattern

There are now 340 registered club players from under-6 to under-17. The club has 48 registered coaches. "They aren't all experts by any means but they do things to a pattern," says McHugh.

Cultivating youngsters within their club catchment and finessing their coaching has enabled the club to produce enviably strong teams year after year.

In 1992, Corofin won their first minor title since 1975, and then went on to own that grade for the following eight years. McHugh believes that perhaps the most skilful underage footballer to come out of the club was Derek Reilly, who played on a celebrated St Jarlath's school team with Pádraig Joyce and Dunmore's Michael Donnellan.

Newspaper reports from the 1994 Galway minor final, to which Reilly contributed 3-6, speak of the youngster in superlatives. He was still eligible for minor a year later. One of his goals that afternoon was branded with an unforgettable touch.

He was a starring player on the team that Ray Silke would captain to Corofin's maiden All-Ireland four years later, even if his adult career did not result in the kind of profile in Galway colours that his talent presaged.

In September 1998, Galway won an emotive Sam Maguire with Silke as captain: it had been a perfect year. And the sense of abundant health within the club helped to convince the 1998 team that they could become more ambitious.

Yet Silke admits that none of them then foresaw what Corofin would become.

"There was a feeling that we could win an All-Ireland club. But three more since then? You couldn't predict that. Like, Liam Silke is six years playing senior club football and has yet to lose a match in county championship football."

Minor groups

McHugh details Sunday's team into two distinct minor groups. The 2008 minor side featured Lundy and Michael Farragher, and had been one of those serial-winning juvenile outfits that steamrollered all-comers. Their 2004 Féile winning team included Dáithí Burke, then aged 11.

The 2012 minor team had had the opposite life experience, suffering heavy defeats at under-14 and under-16 grade before suddenly clicking at minor. Liam Silke, Martin Farragher, Jason Leonard, Dylan Wall, Conor Cunningham and Colm Brady all emerged from that side, and all play prominent roles at senior grade.

When Stephen Rochford was scouted and identified as the ideal candidate to take Corofin one step further in 2015, it coincided with a sweeping change in approach. Traditionally Corofin had a reputation for defensive excellence but Rochford and David Morris saw the potential in developing a side capable of obliterating teams through pure attacking football.

When Silke recalls 1998, he acknowledges that directness was there.

"You were trying to get the ball up as fast as you could, but it wouldn't be as streamlined as it is now. Right now Corofin want all of their teams to play the same style of football through the ranks: a brand, if you like. One hop pass into space and try and feed the full-forward line."

The conscience of the present team is located within senior figures like Kieran Fitzgerald, who won a senior All-Ireland with Galway back in 2001, the phenomenally consistent Gary Sice, former captain Ciarán McGrath, and Cathal Silke.

Culture of excellence

"They remind me of Brian Cody's Kilkenny in that there is such a culture of excellence in the group driven by management and that senior group," says Donnellan. "They just keep going."

He will be in Croke Park on Sunday as an unabashed Corofin supporter until the local championship starts again in a few months. Then the issue of how to unseat them will occupy the other football strongholds of the county. It won't be easy.

"The reality for clubs all over the county is that that they are struggling for funds and people are volunteering. But Corofin have set professional standards in their structures and how they plan things. Even before Corofin became as dominant, when I was still playing with them, you would have heard a mixed feeling towards the club.

"On one hand there was a feeling that they were dominating too much. But on the other side there is a huge admiration in Galway for what they have achieved.

"And this brand of attacking football, and their phenomenal kick-passers of the ball is something to behold. They play the game the right way."

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Corofin: A club founded on the right stuff

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On New Year's Day 1997, the Corofin senior squad gathered to listen to Paul McGettigan, the new manager, lay out the season ahead. The Donegal man was brisk and confident in his delivery, and told the room that winning the All-Ireland club championship was the main objective.

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One in four students cannot run properly and half cannot kick a ball

A growing number of school children lack the basic skills to take part in sport and physical activity with many unable to run, kick, or throw a ball properly.

As efforts to tackle childhood obesity continue, new research shows one in four students between the ages of five and 12 cannot run properly, one in two cannot kick a ball, and less than one in five cannot throw a ball.

The development of children's basic movement skills, including running, jumping, catching, and kicking, also stalls at the age of 10, according to the research carried out at Dublin City University (DCU).

Surveying more than 2,000 children from across the country, the study found children lacked proficiency in fundamental movement skills (FMS), which are considered key when it comes to promoting physical activity.

Children taking part in the survey had their motor development tested based on their running, skipping, galloping, sliding, hopping, and jumping.

Their object-control was also tested based on their catching, throwing, underhand rolling, striking, and dribbling.

Those taking part also were tested on their vertical jumping and on their balance.

While previous research had shown that children can master all FMS skills by the age of eight, this study found a large proportion of children had not mastered these skills by the age of 10.

This milestone is considered important as if children do not reach it, it can result in young people, particularly teens, showing an aversion towards taking part in sports and physical activities, according to the researchers.

The first set of published findings from the Moving Well-Being Well project also found that there is a notable difference between boys and girls when it comes to certain skills.

Boys displayed a greater proficiency in ball skills such as throwing and catching, while girls scored higher than boys in skills requiring control of the body such as balance and skipping.

The Moving Well-Being Well project is currently assessing school children's skill levels to develop a series of interventions aimed at improving physical fitness.

One of the most comprehensive studies of its kind ever produced in Ireland, the research highlights the poor levels of basic movement skills here, according to Stephen Behan, one of the study's authors.

"If children don't have a solid foundation of basic movement skills, how can we expect them to do more complex skills as part of organised sport?" he said.

"This solid foundation is what allows children to take part in a multitude of physical activities, and to feel confident in trying new things.

"There is a lot of attention on childhood obesity and low participation rates in sport - a focus on the fundamental movement skills in young children could be key in tackling both."

Sarahjane Belton, of DCU's Department of Health and Human Performance, said it is time now for action.

"We need to focus our attention nationally on developing physical literacy capacities and capabilities in our children and young people," she said.

"We need to help them develop the tools needed to enable them to live long, healthy, and active lives. At the moment we are failing our kids badly, and that is a very sad situation."

The findings are published in the Journal of Sports Science.

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organisation: department of health and human performance

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Concern at kids' lack of sports skills; 50% cannot kick a ball

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One in four students cannot run properly and half cannot kick a ball A growing number of school children lack the basic skills to take part in sport and physical activity with many unable to run, kick, or throw a ball properly.

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Liam Sheedy: Seven steps to heaven for an All-Ireland chasing manager

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Liam Sheedy: Seven steps to heaven for an All-Ireland chasing manager

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At the dawn of a new campaign so many counties believe they have what it takes. But any eventual winner needs to get all of these right

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Analysis: What does it take for the short puck-out to be successful in hurling?

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Analysis: What does it take for the short puck-out to be successful in hurling?

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Sean Flynn breaks down why Limerick were so successful with their short puck-out, and why others weren't.

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Analysis: Clare, Tipp and what we learned about long puck-out struggles

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Analysis: Clare, Tipp and what we learned about long puck-out struggles

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Sean Flynn breaks down the long puck-out and the factors that influence winning the breaking ball.

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GAA Games Development Conference 2017 - Paul Kinnerk

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Stephen Behan - Fundamental Movement Skills

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Stephen Behan - Fundamental Movement Skills

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Listen to this episode from Coaching the GAAme on Spotify. Dr Stephen Behan joins us to discuss the importance of Physical Literacy in Children. Dr Behan has recently completed his Doctorate in DCU.

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Paudie Butler Coach Educator and Former National GAA Hurling Director chats about the steps of development for the person and the skills and talks passionately about releasing the potential in every person

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Our player development pathway

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Kris Van Der Hagen - The Coaching Switch

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Kris Van Der Hagen - The Coaching Switch

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The plan that brought the Belgian football team from rank 66th to 1st in 20 years.

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National Games Development Conference 2020 - Kris Van Der Hagen - The Coaching Switch

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Niall Moyna - The Key to Sustaining Success

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Niall Moyna - The Key to Sustaining Success

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National Games Development Conference 2020 - Professor Niall Moyna - Values, Behaviours & Culture

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Des Ryan - Developing Players the Arsenal Way

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Des Ryan - Developing Players the Arsenal Way

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National Games Development Conference 2020 - Des Ryan - Developing Children the Arsenal Way

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Using games to develop fundamental movement skills

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Using games to develop fundamental movement skills

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with Colm Crowley Cork GDA

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Using Games to develop FUNdamentals with Colm Crowley

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50 small sided and conditioned games by Coach and PE Educator Barry Mullane

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Hurling gamesSmall sided games,conditioned games andmodified Read more about forwards, scoring, gates, promotes, striking and teams.

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Coaching - A games based approach. by Barry Mullane, Fingallians Coach Development Webinar

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Aine MacNamara was involved in drawing up Lifting The Treaty for Limerick GAA

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"Building a culture to develop young players” with Dr. Áine McNamara

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Paul Browne is a Limerick GAA coach and GDA.

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"Introducing the Games Based Approach to Coaching" with Paul Browne

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with Aine MacNamara

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Gaa Coach Webinar Series 2020 - Talent Development - James Devane & Aine McNamara