By Mark Ronaldson
Won’t somebody please think of the children? The GAA would argue that they are by taking the competitive element out of games and blitzes for Under-12s. My 4th Class children and I, however, beg to differ.
The footballers of Rehins NS, Ballina, who featured in the recent Division 1A semi-final in the Mayo Cumann na mBunscol competition in Mulvey Park, Castlebar. They are pictured with their teacher Mr Eanna Casey. Picture: Michael Donnelly
As teachers we are encouraged to promote “student voice” so what better way to get to the nub of the topic-du-jour than asking the Under-12s. It wasn’t very scientific but a quick straw-poll of twenty-five 10 and 11-year olds showed that all the children were strongly against the notion of banning score-keeping and abolishing the awarding of trophies in Under-12 matches. Market research: straight from the horse’s mouth!
The class are of mixed footballing ability but most of them are stone mad on football. To a boy and girl, they baulked at the GAA’s new proposals for underage games. “But what’s the point of that?” was one aghast garsún’s riposte. One of his more circumspect classmates reasoned that “you learn as much from losing as you do from winning”. While another measured, mature response included that “getting to finals is a good experience, whether you win or lose”. Like I said, not very scientific but a simple show of hands and class discussion of the target audience is probably as representative a study as you’ll get on the issue.
I understand where the GAA are coming from. Their intentions are pure as they try to promote inclusivity, participation and enjoyment. Competitiveness and resilience are also important elements of life too, though. Society can become too sanitised as we try to cancel anything that is a bit edgy and difficult. It’s reminiscent of the debate about whether primary school children should have homework or not. A bit of homework never killed anyone! It instils some structure, consistency and discipline in to a child’s life. Life isn’t all care bears, unicorns and rainbows – there will be obstacles, challenges and difficult days so school and sport should help introduce mild doses of adversity into children’s lives.
I don’t remember too much from my primary school days but some of my most vivid memories are of completing my homework at the kitchen table with my mother and reaching two county finals in my final year in 6th Class. Wonderful, golden memories, none of which scarred me badly or have tainted my views on school or sport.
In those said finals, we lost one and won one. We were all only 12 at the time and despite the mixed results I can honestly say I learned as much from the defeat as the victory. We beat Breaffy NS in Westport in the Mini-7s County Final and lost to Culleens NS, Ballina in the Division 2 Final in Kiltimagh. Against Breaffy, I played at midfield and marked Seamus O’Shea. Needless to say, our midfield careers went in different directions after that game. In the match against Culleens, I was marking Ger Cafferkey in the first of many duels we would have against each other.
The trophies seemed important at the time but what was even more important was the igniting of the football flame inside young footballers as we started our football journeys. Seamie, Caff and I would often recall those heady days of youth as we trained and played together with Mayo teams over the years. Had those competitions been Go-Games, without a winner or loser in a non-competitive environment, then I’m not sure our interest, motivation or friendship would have sparked.
A football life is marked by milestones, usually big wins and bad losses, and without winners and losers the whole thing becomes a bit vanilla and unremarkable. I often meet lads from those teams who did not play much football after that but still remember “the year in 6th Class when we got to two county finals”. Players progress at different rates. Some guys’ best days are when they are running rings around players in underage games. It’s a bit harsh on them if those days are now going to count for naught. In sport, every dog has its day but will that still be the case if we ban winning and losing in underage GAA?
Of course, the big issue is not really about score-keeping, cups and silverware but about the fact that success-hungry coaches will not give game-time to all their players if maniacally obsessed with winning. Malachy Clerkin, The Irish Times’ brilliant writer, is a strong advocate of Go-Games and believes they are one of the best things about the GAA. He argues, reasonably, that former intercounty players like myself claim that a bit of competition never did us any harm because we got to play every minute of every game. That is a fair point and I accept where he is coming from. Therefore, the GAA’s focus should be on getting children more game time rather than scrapping competitions.
For that reason, when coaching teams in schools’ championships, I always try to ensure that every child gets to play at least 20 minutes of the match. To keep the integrity of the competition, there will be a winner or loser at full-time but we will play three 20-minute “halves”. The referee will only keep score for two of those periods as agreed upon by the respective coaches at the start of the game. We could keep score in the first and second periods, the first and third, or the second and third but the children would never know which ones were being recorded in his notebook. The referee will also just announce a winner and loser at the end of the match rather than a score breakdown.
This will allow us to empty the bench, freely rotate players and guarantees that each child has meaningful minutes on the field. It’s not a perfect system but it works for us and ensures that every child goes home from a match having played their part and was given an opportunity to work on their skills all the while being involved in the buzz of a championship match.
Children just enjoy playing ball. They are in their element when left alone in the park or on the pitch during school lunchtime, using jumpers for goalposts and pretending to be Messi or Clifford. And they always keep tally of the score themselves so that their games have a purpose and direction. As adults, we need to leave them at it. It’s our job to coach them, transport them to the matches, wash the jerseys, arrange referees, set up the venues but when they’re on the pitch they need to be left to their own devices to figure it out. Too much adult meddling or interventions on the playing side dampens the fun.
The erosion of their enjoyment in GAA usually comes from helicopter-parents or unhinged sideline mentors roaring instructions in their direction or abuse in the ref’s. Mayo GAA’s initiative to introduce “silent side-lines” for all U8, U10, U12 and U14 games for the coming season is a much more positive and welcome move than abolishing competitions in games and blitzes.
To paraphrase the line from the Pink Floyd classic Another Brick in the Wall, “Hey, GAA administrators, leave those kids’ competitions alone!”.
One more thing …
They say that possession is nine-tenths the law and Roscommon obviously subscribe to that view. In the build-up to their final score of the half against Dublin last Sunday, the Rossies kept possession of the football for a stunning five minutes and 45 seconds. In that near six-minute period, their goalkeeper, Conor Carroll, touched the ball nineteen times! I was dual-screening and couldn’t help but think that this dull and sedate keep-ball was a world away from the fire and brimstone battle happening concurrently in Limerick in the Munster Hurling Championship.