Championship structures are once again topical with the group format being replaced by a back door format structure next season. Paul Quinn has drawn up a proposal that would give all counties a similar look to the season. He spoke with Michael McMullan… WHEN Leitrim took the decision not to field against Fermanagh in the […]
Erne boss Donnelly ‘wary’ of Leitrim challenge
Premium
March 15, 2025
By Katrina Brennan “FOCUS on ourselves” will be Fermanagh manager Kieran Donnelly’s message to his players as they head into their penultimate league fixture with Leitrim this Sunday. While promotion is still mathematically possible, it would very much depend on other results going in the Erne men’s favour. Things are tight in Division Three. Kildare […]
Crunch game for the Saffrons
Premium
February 20, 2025
By Michael McMullan AFTER two defeats on the bounce, Antrim face Saturday’s visit of Leitrim knowing they’ll need a change in fortunes to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle. Worse still, they’ll have to do without midfield duo Conor Hand and Conor Stewart who were shown straight red cards in Sunday’s defeat to Offaly. […]
STEVEN POACHER: Empower youth through a child-centred approach
Premium
December 3, 2024
THERE is always a lot of debate over methods to coach young children, particularly those in the very early stages of their development. The debate will rage on what is the best method – is it the traditional approach to coaching, where a skill is taught, broken down and used at beginner levels to help […]
Steven Poacher: Standing on his own two feet
Premium
November 22, 2024
Steven Poacher is planning for his first season as a county senior manager with Leitrim. He spoke with Michael McMullan to chart his coaching origins his learnings along the way MANCHESTER is a long way from Carrick on Shannon but that’s where Steven Poacher slipped his foot on the first rung of the coaching ladder. […]
STEVEN POACHER: Time is now to grow coaching tree
Premium
November 11, 2024
COACH education is a subject very close to my heart, it’s a huge passion of mine. As a coach I never want to stop learning. With that in mind, I always carry a little black book with me; quite a bit of my week seems to be spent in a car, so therefore the book […]
STEVEN POACHER: A world of opportunities
Premium
October 21, 2024
15 YEARS ago in the PE office in my former school in St Columban’s I had an idea of a fund raiser for the PE department and GAA within the school – a Coach Education morning. In its inaugural year back in January 2009, we had 57 coaches come through the doors and one of the greatest […]
STEVEN POACHER: Coaching is teaching
Premium
October 7, 2024
MANY people not involved in teaching don’t appreciate the stress and strains the profession can bring, but let me assure you, teaching is a wonderful profession, particularly PE teacher where every day brings a different challenge. All teachers are good teachers but one of the best teachers of all time and an inspiration of mine […]
STEVEN POACHER: Skills of the game must be nurtured in training
Premium
September 23, 2024
AFTER-SCHOOL football is well and truly back in full flow throughout the province of Ulster with the countless number of schools back training, relying on the good will of dedicated staff. School, in my opinion, is without doubt the bedrock for the development of young players. Unfortunately there are horror stories in the past of […]
STEVEN POACHER: Sleep is important so don’t get caught snoozing
Premium
September 10, 2024
THE Olympics ended a few weeks back and one of the common trends coming from a lot of athletes who were successful was about the importance sleep had on their performance. A number of years ago in professional soccer, news broke about Real Madrid having built and installed 81 five star bedrooms at the club’s […]