Leitrim needs to embrace S&C and hold onto young players says Foley

Leitrim GAA needs to do more to retain talented young players and embrace a proper strength & conditioning programme if they are to make a breakthrough, says Karl Foley who announced he was standing down as manager of the County Minor side.

Asked what Leitrim needs to do to make the breakthrough after the Tier 3 Semi-Final loss to Down, Karl told the Observer “The first area and I made it clear last year, I said it at a review meeting last year, is strength and conditioning, that has to be hammered in at a very young age, it should be started at 13, 14, 15, 16 and maintained. 

“We’re losing a lot of players throughout the years for a small county like Leitrim. We have to encourage a lot of lads to come back in.  Rugby is a big stumbling block for a lot of lads, we potentially could have had four or five lads on this panel this year that opted to play rugby - and the very best of luck to them.

“I love rugby but for the likes of Leitrim, we can’t afford to lose them. It is about getting a group, nurturing them and having them physically able to play the game - we had a wonderful coach in Kevin Stritch this year and the amount of time, effort and detail Kevin went into with these lads throughout the year, they will learn an awful lot from it.

“But unfortunately, we were just lacking that little bit of physicality, that little bit of belief to get across the line as well. There was no stone left unturned from our management perspective over the last couple of years, we’ve come up short and we will have to leave it to somebody else to get them over the line, to get that big win in the Minor championship and it is there for them but just that bit of belief is lacking.”

DOWN GOAL RUSH BATTERS LEITRIM INTO SUBMISSION - REPORT

For Karl, the decision to step down was driven by necessity: “I always said when I was coming in that I was going to do two years and that’s my two years, I’ll be stepping aside and leaving it to somebody else. I’ve done my very best, I’ve given it everything for the last two years, particularly since last October. 

“We were at it four times a week, I’ve done what I can, ok it wasn’t a great ending. So close but so far away in other ways but I’ve a young family at home, four kids and they’re crying out for my attention and I think I better give something back to them.”

Analysing the game, Karl felt Down’s physicality eventually told the tale in the 5-19 to 1-12 loss: “In fairness, the first 20 minutes, it was a decent ball game, the goal before halftime was a killer and I knew even when we came in at halftime that the heads were down, it was very hard to lift them. 

“We lost Daire McCabe, we didn’t have Cormac Moran with the Leaving Cert and there were too many big players missing and you look at the size of their lads and the physicality that they showed, I wonder how were these lads in the Tier 3, they’re a good physical side.

“We knew when the second goal went in, that was it and we made a few changes. The scoreboard mightn’t reflect the honest effort that the lads put in but ultimately, we had a Shield Final where we played seven 15 year olds on the team a couple of weeks ago, we had five of them starting again today and we introduced another couple. 

“We’re just lacking that bit of physicality when you get older lads on the field and that is really what the difference is between the two teams at this level.”