JOHNNY McINTOSH: School corridor

ANTRIM GAA are in a position where we will now have two Gaelic development officers going into two schools. To say it’s badly needed would be an understatement.

Our footballers are really struggling – they dropped down to Division Four and had an underwhelming Tailteann Cup campaign. As for our hurlers, well maybe they haven’t necessarily underachieved but they’re more or less at the same level.

Unfortunately they’ve slipped down into the Joe McDonagh but at least we’e still Division 1B. Still, we should be looking to progress further.

So I think it’s a really positive move that two schools – St Mary’s in Belfast and St Louis in Ballymena – are recruiting two full-time Gaelic development officers and that’s simply massive for Antrim.

I know I’ve lamented a lot about the university system in particular because I was involved in coaching at Queen’s University, Belfast for a number of years, but schools level is just as critical and needs to be prioritised for both Antrim football and hurling.

For a county who hasn’t had much formal engagement directly with our schools, it’s a big step forward.

One of the things that the county board has agreed on is a target that by 2030 there will be a minimum of five full-time coaches within schools across Antrim.

If you’re from a more successful county it might just seem like babysteps, but it’s a big deal for us that we’re making a good step forwards in this respect.

I’ve spoken at length about the rugby models across schools in the North. It’s common-place for those schools to recruit a director of rugby.

In Antrim we probably need to go even further and have separate football and hurling development officers in schools given we desire to be a really strong dual county.

What we also need to prioritise is having schools that actively support the games.

I don’t think really have that in Antrim, I don’t think we have enough principals or boards of governors who are going ‘GAA, GAA, GAA.’

That’s not to take away from the likes of Cross and Passion and St Killan’s, who have won All-Irelands at B level. It’s a tremendous achievement but we want to be competing in the top competitions and at the moment we don’t have any schools who are doing so.

To be positive and give Antrim our dues, we are now looking at amalgamation teams in Belfast, where four or five teams will be merged and compete at those highest levels.

It may only be in Belfast and not everyone is a fan of amalgamations, but I think it’s an initiative worth supporting.

It’s difficult not to look at the likes of Tyrone and be envious, but we can also learn from what those counties are doing. They’re winning MacRory and Hogan Cups and there’s a pathway there to senior intercounty football. And in between times, they’re stepping up to u-20 level. They’re used to winning All-Ireland titles before they even become senior footballers.

We don’t seem to have the same level of joined-up thinking in Antrim. It is something we’re working towards but we need to get there quicker.

The conveyor belt needs to be system-based: Tyrone, which I again go back to, aren’t producing these players by total accident. There’s excellent club structures, they seem to have their house in order at county level, and there’s an expectation of success.

If we in Antrim could create some sort of culture, even if it’s schools becoming Gaelic football schools or hurling schools, it would serve us far better in the long-run. From you’re 11 until you’re 18, that school would almost be like a hurling academy for example.

That school will have the best coaches, not just a couple of teachers that like the game. It’s more important in a sense than clubs as there’s down periods at club level from a coaching perspective.

You have the likes of Chrissy McKaigue in St Pat’s, Maghera geared towards developing a player for years and years within that school and I think it’s something that Antrim is really missing out on. That September to June is a long period and a good coach in a school will do more than a coach in a club will do.

But as I said at the start, at least Antrim is starting to grasp the nettle. It’s just a start but it’s a good start, and it’ll be interesting to see whether it has the desired effect.