Antrim's run in the Tailteann Cup this year is inspiring a new generation of supporters in the county.
By John Harrington
Antrim’s progress to Saturday’s Tailteann Cup quarter-final against Carlow has generated some real tremors in the county.
County Coaching Officer and Gaelfast chairperson, Paddy Kelly, is working at the coalface of games development in the county and he can feel the good vibrations from the three wins the unbeaten Saffrons have racked up to date in the competition.
“What this Tailteann Cup has meant to us has been unbelievable,” Kelly told GAA.ie “I'm there at all the matches through the McKenna Cup, the National League, the Ulster Championship, and now the Tailteann Cup and the crowds are getting bigger and bigger.
“All clubs can bring their juveniles free of charge in to any of our home games and we're seeing a great uptake in that now. The kids are coming in big numbers, they're enjoying the day out, they're seeing Antrim win which is a big thing, and they're going home with smiles on their faces.
“I'm seeing far more Antrim jerseys about the place now, the number of kids wearing the new Fibrus jersey is phenomenal compared to where we were maybe three or four years ago.
“It takes a wee bit of pressure off everybody who work in juvenile level because the eyes get cast to the seniors when the seniors are doing well. There's a a real boost and a feel-good factor then with the seniors when they're doing well.
“The saying, success breeds success, is so true. It's so much easier when the county team is successful.”
Antrim GAA have put huge effort and resources into coaching and games development in recent years through their Gaelfast project.
Launched in 2018, the main aim of Gaelfast is to increase participation levels in clubs and schools across the county, and so far significant gains have been made.
The Gaelfast coaching and games development initiative has increased the number of children playing Gaelic games in Antrim.
The number of children coached every week by Antrim GAA coaching and games development staff has jumped from 1,800 to 5,400.
On top of that, they also run four blitzes per month that reach another 2,000 children.
A particular emphasis has been placed on coaching in primary and secondary schools, and Kelly hopes the impact of this will be seen in the not too distant future.
“Schools are a big thing for us, a massive thing,” he says.
“That is probably the biggest success story we have so far. We started an Antrim schools competition this year for Year 8s and Year 10s, so the equivalent of first years and third years, football and hurling.
“We had 28 schools involved in the football which was nearly every single school, including two or three of the integrated colleges who had never previously played Gaelic games before which was a big thing for us.
“There's a huge difference in standard obviously between the schools so we had a cup and shield competition and a grading process. Huge crowds came out to the Year 10 Final which was a great game that went to the wire under floodlights in Dunsilly where we had music playing, it was just a brilliant occasion and has really boosted the schools.
“St. Malachy's won the Year 10 Antrim Cup and went on this year then and won their Ulster competition at 'C' level, and it's a big success for them to move up to 'B' level next year at Year 11 with those lads.
“That Antrim schools competition is definitely improving the standards and it's putting more of an onus on teachers within the schools to actually get out there and coach more with the kids.
“To be honest, we've been lazy in Antrim in terms of that. We haven't previously put enough effort into schools. And now we're really pushing on there.
“It'll be 10 years before we see the real benefits with our county teams, but things are definitely going in the right direction.”
Peter Healy of Antrim during the Tailteann Cup launch at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
Antrim GAA aren’t just increasing the number of children playing Gaelic games in a school setting, they’re capitalising on these gains by strengthening school and club links all around the county.
“We have a lot of kids now playing in primary schools thanks to Gaelfast who are getting coaching there and love Gaelic games,” says Kelly.
“But they maybe don't come from traditional GAA families or the schools previously wouldn't have had much Gaelic games so they don't have a link to a GAA club.
“So now when we go into a school now we'll contact three or four clubs within that area and we say, look, we're going to be in this school for the next eight weeks, you are more than welcome to send club coaches along for your U-10s to help out and then also as a way of helping you recruit more players for your club.”
The potential of Antrim to make significant strides in both football and hurling in the coming years is obvious.
They’re the second most populous county in the country and if the participation rates continue on their current upward curve then sheer weight of numbers should steadily increase standards.
The county’s overhauled coaching and games development structures are growing the game from the grassroots up, and with the county senior footballers and senior hurlers becoming more and more competitive, hearts and minds will be more easily won.
“When people talk to me about development, I always say that anything you're doing in Gaelic games now you're building towards a day that's maybe eight years away,” says Kelly.
“I really do think we're starting to ride a bit of a wave at the minute and hopefully our footballers will continue winning this year and that will give us even more momentum.
“We know of course that we have a long way to go. We're not getting carried away because there's still a huge amount of work still to be done.
“But it does feel like now we're building on some solid foundations. The infrastrucure around our inter-county teams from senior all the way down to the U-14 Academy squads is day and night to what it was five or 10 years ago. It's just a complete sea-change.
“The level of support, the level of coaching, and even the financial support through the Saffron Business Forum has been brilliant. That's been a game-changer for us as well.
“Any of our county managements will tell you that anything they ask for they get now. It really is a positive environment to be coaching in.
“We're looking to the future now a lot of optimism with the work that's being done in the schools through Gaelfast and there's a lot more coming in the next 12 months.
“With our Academy squads and county seniors and U20s going well, things are definitely on an upward curve, but we still have an awful long way to go.”
