IT’S BEEN 22 years since Pat Daly, Noel McCaffrey and Niall Moyna introduced the concept of Go Games to the GAA.
It was a difficult birth, an awkward adolescence and still viewed by some as a problem child. Yet it has been an undoubted success when it comes to participation numbers. Indeed, the drop-off begins in end when Go Games ends at U12 level.
The GAA is seeking to arrest this decline, as The 42 reported yesterday, by making teenage matches more like Go Games.
The paradox is that outside of national coaching circles, this area receives virtually no coverage or scrutiny. And yet, Go Games is where almost all the people come into contact with the local club.
It is in this forum that first impressions are made. That opinions are formed and conversations occur with other parents along the sidelines as children progress from nursery groups, up to the moment that they pull on the jersey to play Go Games.
The concept was devised by Daly after he watched his own son going out to play for their club, Ratoath, as a child. There were 30 players. So 15 played the game, tiny children on a massive field, while 15 sat on a bench and watched.
Pat Daly. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Go-Games redefined what football, hurling, camogie and ladies’ football could be for children up to U12.
Everything was downsized to make the experience more enjoyable. Smaller team sizes, with 6 or 8-a-side commonplace, would play in smaller pitches. Each player was allowed two plays of the ball, to guard against ‘stronger’ players dominating, and spread out the involvement.
In addition, there were guidelines set out about not counting scores in games, not hosting games on a knockout basis, and not hosting tournaments where cups and medals would be handed out from U11 down.
And that works for a lot of people. But not all.
For some, this is just the thin edge of the woke wedge. Another example of kids growing up soft and having it too damn easy. There has to be winners and losers, this thinking goes, it’s a lesson worth learning and might as well be sport that delivers this truth.
So the format is abused in some counties. Clubs still will play the Go Games format, but dispense with the guidance on scorelines and tournaments.
With a cup on offer, or even a shield or a plate that keeps more and more clubs engaged as the day goes on, inevitably the focus on that silverware becomes keen. And, with that, the guidelines around equal playing time are dispensed as some clubs inevitably play their strongest and most developed players in the knockout stages.
The GAA are well aware of this. Any tournaments that offer cups and medals for the winners are not sanctioned by the GAA. Not that they would, or should, punish those that host them.
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At the 2023 GAA Congress, GAA director general Tom Ryan flagged up the issue in his address, citing “creeping competitiveness” that’s such a danger to juvenile player retention.
“Too much ‘meaning’ is being assigned to games for the 7-11 age cohort,” said Ryan.
“Where blitzes and fun predominated, we now see the emergence of leagues for such age groups.
“We also have the growing emergence of unofficial tournaments which are being treated like All-Irelands for children as young as 10 years of age or younger.
“We hear of the ‘best’ children playing while others are left on the sideline. The damage that this does to children, families, clubs and the Association is profound.”
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Introducing something new is always a challenge and gaining buy-in takes time. However, it was particularly stiff when Pat Daly and his group first introduced the idea 22 years ago.
“There was this thinking that Go Games were non-competitive. There’s no such thing as a non-competitive game. If kids are playing in the garden it’s competitive,” he said.
“The critical thing is that it’s developmental. And if winning is at the end of it then the likelihood is that it won’t be developmental because everything will be keep the best, forget the rest, and win.”
This goes right to the heart of player retention and the role of the club in the community.
All of us live our lives and hold our values, shaped through a lifetime of experiences. Some of us have processed those experiences and have an ability to step outside of the situation and ask what is best for the child.
When it comes to Gaelic games though, otherwise charming, erudite, clever people can lose all reason. A personal recollection is of an underage blitz where a mentor of a U11 team was asked to leave the club grounds because of their constant berating of their own team, the opposition and the referee.
It’s now clear that some GAA clubs see their underage teams as mini-development squads. That you pick the strongest players at that age, line them up through the middle and dot the best of the rest around the fringes.
In May 2023, an email was sent out by the GAA to all units, warning them that these tournaments are not with the blessing of the Association.
Hosting tournaments is not commonplace throughout the country. For example, after some enquiries, there is no such established practice in Mayo. Nor Clare or Cork. In Kerry, Fossa held an U10 blitz day, but it wasn’t a competitive event.
Ulster and parts of Leinster are where it is more prevalent. And like a lot of events in Ulster, an instant competitiveness sets in. These affairs become all-day extravaganzas with fast food stalls and ice cream vans.
There is a fundamental decency to these ventures. Quite often they are conceived to honour the name of a former club member. And what’s more fitting to remember the name of somebody than having children playing and enjoying themselves?
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
But as the events grow, so too does the need to compete.
It has become commonplace now for parents to be reminded in team WhatsApp groups that game-time for children may be limited because the side ‘need to be competitive’.
Some clubs in Ulster have decided that the county Go Games schedule of two or three clubs meeting up at a venue for uncompetitive games does not fit their needs. Instead, they trawl the neighbouring counties for tournaments and fill their calendars with these events instead.
The bad news for clubs aligned to this way of thinking is that at present, some plans are advanced within Croke Park coaching circles to expand some of the Go Games philosophy to the 13-17 cohort.
This would mean modified rules and non-competitive games. A report has already been compiled and will be published soon after an imminent meeting.
The motivation for this came from an alarming drop-out rate after Go Games, as well as other non-related issues such as playing numbers dwindling in smaller units. There has been some closed-door work done with clubs and the findings have come from a survey with some 1,500 responses.
Just how much this will work remains to be seen. While the conditions of Go Games have bedded in, it would seem the overall philosophy has been discarded in many cases.
But not all. Those that rail against the aims of Go Games would do well to study the approach of Nemo Rangers.
Recently crowned Cork champions again, and the most successful club in the All-Ireland senior club championship, they believe in enjoyment and participation as ‘The Nemo Way.’
Former underage chairman Kevin Barrett told GAA.ie in February 2023, “As a club we’re not going to let anyone get away with doing things that are against the ethos of how we want to develop our players. You have to be vigilant.
“The biggest thing is watching who is involved with the teams, that’s critical. You don’t want people involved with underage teams who are purely in it for the winning. Because that can do a lot of damage.
“We actively weed them out and we’ve been lucky so far. From the age of 14 on then, winning can become more of a thing.”
As from a couple of weekends ago when they won their latest county title, Nemo Rangers have 23 county championships, the first won in 1972.
They also have mined 17 Munster titles and are top of the leaderboard with seven All-Ireland titles.
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Cheers, jeers and tears: the GAA's fears over the treatment of Go Games
IT’S BEEN 22 years since Pat Daly, Noel McCaffrey and Niall Moyna introduced the concept of Go Games to the GAA.
It was a difficult birth, an awkward adolescence and still viewed by some as a problem child. Yet it has been an undoubted success when it comes to participation numbers. Indeed, the drop-off begins in end when Go Games ends at U12 level.
The GAA is seeking to arrest this decline, as The 42 reported yesterday, by making teenage matches more like Go Games.
The paradox is that outside of national coaching circles, this area receives virtually no coverage or scrutiny. And yet, Go Games is where almost all the people come into contact with the local club.
It is in this forum that first impressions are made. That opinions are formed and conversations occur with other parents along the sidelines as children progress from nursery groups, up to the moment that they pull on the jersey to play Go Games.
The concept was devised by Daly after he watched his own son going out to play for their club, Ratoath, as a child. There were 30 players. So 15 played the game, tiny children on a massive field, while 15 sat on a bench and watched.
Go-Games redefined what football, hurling, camogie and ladies’ football could be for children up to U12.
Everything was downsized to make the experience more enjoyable. Smaller team sizes, with 6 or 8-a-side commonplace, would play in smaller pitches. Each player was allowed two plays of the ball, to guard against ‘stronger’ players dominating, and spread out the involvement.
In addition, there were guidelines set out about not counting scores in games, not hosting games on a knockout basis, and not hosting tournaments where cups and medals would be handed out from U11 down.
And that works for a lot of people. But not all.
For some, this is just the thin edge of the woke wedge. Another example of kids growing up soft and having it too damn easy. There has to be winners and losers, this thinking goes, it’s a lesson worth learning and might as well be sport that delivers this truth.
So the format is abused in some counties. Clubs still will play the Go Games format, but dispense with the guidance on scorelines and tournaments.
With a cup on offer, or even a shield or a plate that keeps more and more clubs engaged as the day goes on, inevitably the focus on that silverware becomes keen. And, with that, the guidelines around equal playing time are dispensed as some clubs inevitably play their strongest and most developed players in the knockout stages.
The GAA are well aware of this. Any tournaments that offer cups and medals for the winners are not sanctioned by the GAA. Not that they would, or should, punish those that host them.
At the 2023 GAA Congress, GAA director general Tom Ryan flagged up the issue in his address, citing “creeping competitiveness” that’s such a danger to juvenile player retention.
“Too much ‘meaning’ is being assigned to games for the 7-11 age cohort,” said Ryan.
“Where blitzes and fun predominated, we now see the emergence of leagues for such age groups.
“We also have the growing emergence of unofficial tournaments which are being treated like All-Irelands for children as young as 10 years of age or younger.
“We hear of the ‘best’ children playing while others are left on the sideline. The damage that this does to children, families, clubs and the Association is profound.”
Introducing something new is always a challenge and gaining buy-in takes time. However, it was particularly stiff when Pat Daly and his group first introduced the idea 22 years ago.
“There was this thinking that Go Games were non-competitive. There’s no such thing as a non-competitive game. If kids are playing in the garden it’s competitive,” he said.
“The critical thing is that it’s developmental. And if winning is at the end of it then the likelihood is that it won’t be developmental because everything will be keep the best, forget the rest, and win.”
This goes right to the heart of player retention and the role of the club in the community.
All of us live our lives and hold our values, shaped through a lifetime of experiences. Some of us have processed those experiences and have an ability to step outside of the situation and ask what is best for the child.
When it comes to Gaelic games though, otherwise charming, erudite, clever people can lose all reason. A personal recollection is of an underage blitz where a mentor of a U11 team was asked to leave the club grounds because of their constant berating of their own team, the opposition and the referee.
In May 2023, an email was sent out by the GAA to all units, warning them that these tournaments are not with the blessing of the Association.
Hosting tournaments is not commonplace throughout the country. For example, after some enquiries, there is no such established practice in Mayo. Nor Clare or Cork. In Kerry, Fossa held an U10 blitz day, but it wasn’t a competitive event.
Ulster and parts of Leinster are where it is more prevalent. And like a lot of events in Ulster, an instant competitiveness sets in. These affairs become all-day extravaganzas with fast food stalls and ice cream vans.
There is a fundamental decency to these ventures. Quite often they are conceived to honour the name of a former club member. And what’s more fitting to remember the name of somebody than having children playing and enjoying themselves?
But as the events grow, so too does the need to compete.
It has become commonplace now for parents to be reminded in team WhatsApp groups that game-time for children may be limited because the side ‘need to be competitive’.
Some clubs in Ulster have decided that the county Go Games schedule of two or three clubs meeting up at a venue for uncompetitive games does not fit their needs. Instead, they trawl the neighbouring counties for tournaments and fill their calendars with these events instead.
The bad news for clubs aligned to this way of thinking is that at present, some plans are advanced within Croke Park coaching circles to expand some of the Go Games philosophy to the 13-17 cohort.
This would mean modified rules and non-competitive games. A report has already been compiled and will be published soon after an imminent meeting.
The motivation for this came from an alarming drop-out rate after Go Games, as well as other non-related issues such as playing numbers dwindling in smaller units. There has been some closed-door work done with clubs and the findings have come from a survey with some 1,500 responses.
Just how much this will work remains to be seen. While the conditions of Go Games have bedded in, it would seem the overall philosophy has been discarded in many cases.
But not all. Those that rail against the aims of Go Games would do well to study the approach of Nemo Rangers.
Recently crowned Cork champions again, and the most successful club in the All-Ireland senior club championship, they believe in enjoyment and participation as ‘The Nemo Way.’
Former underage chairman Kevin Barrett told GAA.ie in February 2023, “As a club we’re not going to let anyone get away with doing things that are against the ethos of how we want to develop our players. You have to be vigilant.
“We actively weed them out and we’ve been lucky so far. From the age of 14 on then, winning can become more of a thing.”
As from a couple of weekends ago when they won their latest county title, Nemo Rangers have 23 county championships, the first won in 1972.
They also have mined 17 Munster titles and are top of the leaderboard with seven All-Ireland titles.
They might be worth paying heed to.
***
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