Drumsurn Road to Croker

Drumsurn GAC's Road To Croker programme started back on the 17.11.10. The programme concluded tonight under lights with Antrim running out winners after a tough final with the Dubs. All the players from all teams show great skill and determination throughout. A big well done to all players! There were no trophies or awards on the night,hopefully the big reward would be to be pulled out of the hat for Croker sponsored by Club Derry!

The Road to Croker sponsored by Club Derry

On Tuesday 6th April Dungiven Footballers, Ballinascreen Hurlers and Glenullin Footballers all enjoyed their day out in Croke Park as part of the Derry Under 12 Road to Croker Competition sponsored by Club Derry.

100 young players, their mentors and parents were the special guests of Croke Park today. At 1.30pm they enjoyed a tour of the stadium and museum then from 2.45pm to 4.15pm they took part in Go Games on the famous Croke Park turf, needless to say everyone had a very special day.

More information and photographs to follow. Thanks to everyone who made the day a huge success, to the three lucky clubs, their players and mentors for behaving impeccably, to Mary K Burke for agreeing to take photographs of the special day and of course to Club Derry for sponsoring the event.

Bellaghy Road to Croker

Tonight Bellaghy Under 10's had their 'Road to Croker' All Ireland Final. The boys have been playing in this competition for the past 6 weeks and have really enjoyed themselves. The improvements in the players performance has been notable with improved first touch, speed of thought and the weak foot strongly evident. Well done to Martin Mc Faul and his team of coaches for organising such a brilliant competition.

The Road to Croker

Over the winter months, Derry GAA held an under-12 program consisting of an indoor football / hurling competition styled “The Road to Croker”. All participating clubs were entered into a free draw for an all expenses paid day trip to Croke Park, courtesy of Club Derry.

This year’s winners were the footballers of St Canice’s Dungiven who will now get the chance to play on the famous Croke Park turf. They will be joined by runners-up Glenullin footballers and the hurlers from Ballinascreen.

Each participating club implemented six rounds of internal blitzes, playing the “Road to Croker” one night a week. Different set conditions were imposed on the games each week, with each session designed to develop different skills in the young players.

Club Derry Vice-Chairman, Brian Og Mullan, explains why he thought the competition was important:

“The program helps maintain skill levels and aerobic fitness throughout the winter months when traditional club competitions have finished and both ground and weather conditions are less favourable. It is also importantly consistent with the message of “play and stay with the GAA” to our young players”.

Brian Og concluded:

“I would like to thank all the clubs for taking part and to Chris Collins and Derry Coaching Staff for overseeing the competition”

Photo caption
Club Derry Vice-Chairman, Brian Og Mullan along with Derry senior football and hurling captains, Gerard O’Kane and Kevin Hinphey, making the draw for “The Road to Croker” competition. Club Derry were sponsors of the main prize of an all expenses paid trip to Croke Park and a chance to play on the famous turf for the u12 players taking part.

Glen Road to Croker

Diarmuid Scullion was in Glen tonight to get their 'Road to Croker' up and running. 18 boys and 1 girl took part. The teams were split into 4, Armagh, Tyrone, Dublin and Meath and the condition that we put on the games was that any goals scored with the weaker foot were counted double. All participants really enjoyed it and this was evident by the big smiles and red faces at the end.

Glenullin Road to Croker

Glenullin recently ran their "Road to Croker" tournament in the Club Hall. County Players Gerard O'Kane and Brian Mullan attended the event to give their support to the young players. The programme included P.5, 6 and 7 children. The teams were split up into Armagh, Dublin, Cork and Kerry and they played against eachother every week.

Kerry and Cork played in the final with Kerry coming out the stronger. The most improved player with young Joseph O'Hagan. Glenullin are now entered into the free prize draw sponsored by Club Derry for a trip to Croke Park

Ballymaguigan Road to Croker

Ballymaguigan started their Road to Croker programme on friday evening, with their U13 girls taking part. The girls were split into 5 teams of 4-a-side and had a really enjoyable evenings football. Any other clubs needing help to implement their 'Road to Croker' can contact Diarmuid Scullion on 07821383081.

The Road to Croker indoor Under 12 football and hurling

This year’s Under 12 winter programme will consist of an indoor football / hurling competition, “The Road to Croker”. All clubs who take part in the competition and conform to the set guidelines will be entered into a free draw whereby one lucky club will win a day trip to Croke Park courtesy of Club Derry.

Each club is expected to implement a 5 week competition, playing “The Road to Croker” one night a week and imposing the set conditions on the games each week. Clubs will run off these 5 internal blitzes and we will finish the programme by bringing the clubs together to play against each other in an external blitz.

Clubs can play their own competition at either 4, 5 or 6-a-side, depending on hall size and numbers etc. Below is an example of how to play a 5-a-side competition for a panel of 25 players;

25 players split into 5 equal teams of 5-a-side. Cork (Red Bibs), Armagh (Orange), Dublin (Blue), Meath (Green), Kerry (Yellow).

Cork v Armagh
Dublin v Meath
Kerry v Cork
Armagh v Dublin
Meath v Kerry
Cork v Dublin
Armagh v Meath
Dublin v Kerry
Meath v Cork
Kerry v Armagh

Matches are 6 minutes in duration with no half time and the next two teams should always be ready to start as soon as the match is finished. This means each player gets 24 minutes of high intensity football and players should rotate positions each game thus learning the necessary skills for that position.

Each week there will be a different condition imposed on the games to aid the development of different skills and to encourage the children to practice at home in their free time.

Examples of Conditions:
Week 1 – Hand passing only, only scores fisted over the bar count, weak hand counts double
Week 2 - Scores with weaker foot count double (Encourage scoring with weak foot)
Week 3 - A goal is worth 1 point whilst over the bar is worth 3 points (Encourage point taking)
Week 4 - Weak foot only (Practice skills with weaker foot)
Week 5 - No Touch rule (Increase speed of thought and teamwork)

At the end of the games each week, clubs can inform the players what the condition will be on the following weeks' games. For example, at the end of of week 1, tell the players that next week scores with weak foot count double and so they should spend the week practicing with their weaker foot. Coaches could also make this the aim for that weeks coaching session.

Due to a number of different factors such as playing numbers, time allowed in the hall and hall size, each club may run their programme slightly differently in order to make the best use of this 'The Road to Croker' concept, and we in the county coaching positions will support and advise each club on how best to run their programme. If a club wants to get involved but only have 10 children say who would be eligible to play we can pair some clubs up providing we have access to a hall.

The cost of this programme is to be minimal to clubs. We would envisage most clubs using parish or club halls.

After Christmas we will look at running an indoor league in Meadowbank again however I do appreciate there is a substantial cost to clubs.

If your club will be taking part in The Road to Croker send me an email as to when you plan to start the competition. Where possible we will try and give clubs a hand to get the competition started

Kind regards,
Chris