On The Ball

Can Mickey Ned end Kerry Minors All Ireland Famine?

January 13th, 2012
by Eamonn Fitzgerald

 Kerry lead the way in the roll of honour of All Ireland football titles with 10 championships to their credit, but they have not won any since 1994. See roll of honour below. This  has been a cause for concern for some years and a new management team has been put in place by the Kerry County Board to address the situation for 2012.

Mickey Ned O Sullivan is the manager taking over the hot seat, as he did when Mick O Dwyer retired at the end of Kerry's Golden Years. John O Keeffe and Peadar Keane join the minor management team.
There are plenty of views on the reasons for Kerry's famine at minor level. Mine have been well documented here in this column over the past decade. I believe that the lack of success has not been the fault of the excellent managers of the minor teams. I have been loud in my admiration for the huge commitment and work ethic of management teams led by Sean Geaney, John Kennedy, and Pat O Driscoll. They were decidedly unlucky on some occasions. One thinks in particular of Kerry being held to a draw by Roscommon in the 2006 All Ireland final only to lose the replay in Ennis, or that last gasp goal by Cork in a Munster final here in the Fitzgerald Stadium.

Burnout
No, it's not the fault of the managers, I contend, but the system of preparation they have adopted over the famine years. This involves bringing potential county minors together for training as early as October and continuing right through the winter and spring up to the first game in April. This produces a tired team that fails to deliver. These players are worn out because they are also playing with their schools, 0ctober to March and also with their clubs during the same period. Some will play with their clubs at minor, Under 21 and in some cases also at senior level. This will be particularly true in small rural clubs where they are needed to make up a team.

Come March 1st and the new county leagues at minor and at senior level begin. The managers of the respective club teams want the minors for training 2 nights a week and for matches once a week. Enter burnout. !!

Selections
I believe that any keen follower of the minor footballers, who sees them play with their schools and have seen them play up through the underage ranks, could name 10-12 of the starting 15 for the c 'ship by March 1st. At that stage Corn Uí Mhuirí and the VEC c 'ships would be at the final stages. Pick the county panel then and train them specifically for the 1st round of the inter-county, Mickey Ned knows my views, so I spoke to him recently.

Mickey Ned responds

"I agree with most of your views, because the demands on so many of our minors is much too great. ", he said.

"But you have been bringing potential county minors together right through the winter and plan to continue this in January through to March. Are you not adopting the same system as your predecessors," I added ?

"Let me explain." said the Kerry minor team boss." There is a real need to do strength and conditioning as well as some endurance works with the players. We have been blow out of it by the physicality of other counties and this work can only be done in the closed season ".

What closed season I wonder, for so many of these minors. Many of them only finished their district board competitions just before Christmas. They were back in school this week after the holidays and some of them are straight back in to training with their schools.

"But surely Mickey ,you and Johnno Keeffe in particular  from  your background in teaching and PE should understand the absolute need for rest periods interspersed with the training days. Furthermore, the vast majority of the Kerry minor panel are in their final year of Leaving Cert. By the end of this month they will have filled in their CAO options and will be very busy studying for the paracticals,projects and oral exams, which will be completed by mid April as well as preparing for the written exams in June. Add in the entire tIme involved in travelling to training and matches. That's huge pressure on these young players. Over to you "

The 5 sessions plan per week
Mickey Ned responded. "Yes, we are very much aware of the pressures on these young players'/students. What I have devised is the 5 session plan ( max) per week to surmount that difficulty. That means that every one of our minor panel can only have 5 sessions in total per week, whether it is with us/club/school. That could be 2 indoor sessions and 3 outdoor, or any combination up to a max of 5.. A match and a training session are separate. Each player has a diary, which he fills in and is examined by me. I will have access to these at all times. They must stick rigidly to the diary and are responsible for its accuracy. I have met the managers of the school teams about this and they are on board. There are really only 2 colleges involved at senior school's competition at this stage. Furthermore, we has cut down significantly on the time lost to their studies by arranging the gym sessions at several centres around the county. In Killarney, for example we have an arrangement with The Aura, where they can do the 2 weekly gym sessions and I have appointed a supervisor for each centre. On a Saturday morning for, example students will only be away from their studies for two and a half hours at most, instead of all the time lost travelling to one centre for training, as was the case heretofore. ".
I was glad to hear much needed realism in to the preparation for the 2012 minor team.

The Ides of March
Fast forward to the start of March Mickey, when the minors will be pulled between yourself, their club minor manager and in some cases the club managers ar Under 21, junior and senior level, not to mind hurling calls for a minority. The player really wants to don the green and gold and does not wan't to jeopardise his chances, yet his club managers also want him to train and play with his club. Who is going to call the shots for the player?
"I will," he said without hesitating. " There will be flak flying, of course. I will rescue the player from this tough decision making."

Suggestion
My suggestion is that the Kerry minor management team should meet the club managers in the next few weeks and explain the need for co-operation and bring sanity to the system of preparing the Kerry minor teams pertaining over the last decade, or more.

The minor players also need to play their part. Some of them are fine soccer, athletics, and basketball players. Choices, choices. What's their priority ?

Everyone needs to buy in to the logic of the 5 sessions in total per week. Otherwise we will end up with tired players, physically of course, but mental exhaustion I believe is an even  bigger problem.

Hope Mickey Ned can get the co-operation he needs for his plans, otherwise the March madness which has be-devilled the Kerry minors in the past will be back as bad as ever.

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship: Roll Of Honour
The leaders in the  Tommy Markham Cup
Kerry - 11
1931, 1932, 1933, 1946, 1950, 1962, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1988, 1994
Cork - 10
1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1981, 1991, 1993, 2000
Dublin - 10
1930, 1945, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1979, 1982, 1984
Tyrone - 8
1947, 1948, 1973, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2010


Manchester v Manchester
The Old Trafford side put down a real marker in last Saturday's cup derby with a sweet 3-2 win over their  Man. City rivals. Wayne Rooney also put down a real marker for  Ferguson, who chose to discipline him recently. Rooney hit 2 goals as Utd, went 3-0 clear. City were reduced to 10 men but fought back with 2 goals, but could not get the equaliser. Now it's on to an exciting next round cup game v Liverpool for United. Ferguson surprised many with the introduction of 37 year old Paul Scholes, brought out of retirement. Mancini will wonder where it all went wrong. Remember City thrashed Utd. 6-1 at Old Trafford in October.

Two Kerry players red carded
Kerry players Aidan O Mahony and Seamus Scanlon were given straight red cards for off the ball striking in last Sundays O Donoghue Cup semi-final replay at The Park. Aidan O Mahony was playing his first game since he broke a bone in his leg last October, but was sent off after 5 minutes after fouling the Currow full forward. In a separate incident before half-time Scanlon was also sent off. Currow were in a great position at that time ,but their inability to score left them playing catch-up with Rathmore. The county club champions well deserved their victory. Final score Rathmore 0-17 to 1-10'. Rathmore will meet Dr Crokes in the O Donoghue Cup final in The Park on January 22nd.

Kerrry Supporters
Dónal O Leary reminds us of the Annual social of the Kerry Supporters' Club fixed for Ballygarry House on Sat. Jan. 21st. Jas Murphy , Kerry's oldest surviving Kerry football winning captain is the guest of honour. The great win in the Christy Ring Cup by the hurlers will be a great cause for celebration.. Tickets available from Dónal at 087-9289906 or from any committee members.


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