Stronger together is not just a slogan

You know you've wandered in the territory of a good auld debate when you chat to one man extolling the benefits of amalgamations and an hour and a bit later, you meet another proclaiming loudly, probably for my ears, that it is a disgrace that three clubs can be allowed come together to defeat one standalone team in a County Final.

Monday's Newtowngore Engineering U17 League Division 1 Final saw the combined might of Allen Gaels & Fenagh St Caillins prove too strong for a young but encouragingly defiant and well drilled Glencar Manorhamilton team and, well, it is fair to say, that this latest “super-power” has divided opinion quite a bit in Leitrim underage club circles.

You sense from chatting with those drawn from Allen Gaels, Fenagh St Caillins and Ballinaglera (remember, they're combined with their Drumshanbo neighbours at juvenile level) that they're sick and tired of the jibes, the  remarks about the “League of Nations” and all that goes with any team striking out in a new direction.

Aiming at the wrong target

THE LAST POINT

But amalgamations have been here with us for a long time and they aren't going away - St Joseph's see two fierce rivals in Aughavas & Carrigallen join forces while Mohill always used to have the Eslin lads in with them but now Cloone are an accepted part of the St Manchan's banner. Rinn Gaels has been a huge success for Gortletteragh and Bornacoola and if Aughnasheelin, Aughawillan and Drumreilly can come together as St Brigid's, putting aside their local battles, then amalgamations do work.

The biggest success story of all, to my mind at least, has been Mac Diarmada Gaels - a partnership forged by necessity but one that has exposed the young footballers of  Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins and Kiltubrid to a far higher standard of football and some wonderful days over the past few years. 

It doesn't happen without sacrifice and hard work - you've got to get the buy-in from all parties, everyone has to work for the greater good and accept that selection decisions are made for the good of the team - and that's not always easy when your first loyalty is to your own club.

To be honest, I haven't always been a fan of amalgamations but I've come around over the years. Yet I also empathise with where those objecting to amalgamations are coming from - after all, the GAA's cornerstone ethos is that of the “parish”, pride in place and “you don't choose your club, your club choose you” rhetoric so anything that threatens that, that goes against the supremacy of the club, is naturally frowned upon, to put it mildly.

But here in Leitrim, we've a long history of amalgamations - from Sliabh an Iarainn to the Shannon was the jibe thrown at the Sheemore Gaels team drawn from St Mary's, Kiltubrid and Fenagh who won the Senior title in the 70s while many of Ballinamore's greatest triumphs of the sixties were powered by Aughawillan men at a time when the Willies had no club in their own area.

Leitrim clubs are struggling for numbers right now, no matter what the statistics say of the county boasting its highest population in almost half a century. That population explosion is confined to five or six areas and you don't have to look very hard to see quite a few clubs are struggling at juvenile level, a struggle that is magnified when it comes to adult games.

I'd also be of the belief that generations of footballers were ill-served by playing 9 and 11-a-side football at juvenile level in terms of skills development and that  clubs crucified themselves by short term thinking that saw them concentrate on fewer players and now they're paying the price.

In the last few weeks, Leitrim's U15 & U16 teams have produced some very encouraging displays on the inter-county scene, the U16s due to play the Fr Manning Cup Final in a few weeks and I wonder do supporters see the correlation between those  performances at county level with the switch to 15 and 13-a-side at juvenile club level, a decision that many clubs opposed due to the fact that amalgamations were a necessary part of the plan.

Harsh lessons now may yet bear fruit

THE LAST POINT

 Some will say that in  this approach, only the County benefits but that's not true - better players  at  juvenile level are better for a club long term, particularly if they play at a higher standard and a higher intensity - a failing that shows up when our teams take to the field in provincial competition.

I'll admit that I wasn't a big fan of the idea when I heard Allen Gaels and Fenagh St Caillins were joining up - it smelt too much like trophy hunting but then you learn that the Drumshanbo club were rebuffed by some of their neighbours when  approached about a partnership, Fenagh  the only ones willing to break new ground in order to have their players playing at a higher level.

Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins suffered the same fate a few years back before Kiltubrid took the plunge with them so why shouldn't the Fenagh and Drumshanbo lads not have the same opportunity? 

Standalone clubs will  suffer, of course they will, but a Manorhamilton team with all but one player eligible for next year really put it up to their stronger opponents in Monday's Final and meeting the challenge head on will serve them better in the years to come than a facile victory over another team?

If I had my way, amalgamations would be confined to neighbouring clubs, purely for practical purposes of organising training and building an identity and maybe that is something the authorities will look at - a declaration of what is and isn't possible, more so to avoid the theoretical possibility of  St Mary's Kiltoghert and Glencar Manorhamilton joining forces to obliterate all before them.

Unless you have a clearly defined structure, someone will try to take advantage of the situation so a bit of  commonsense might alleviate all the rows and jibes about the “League of Nations”.

To my mind, the biggest challenge facing underage football in the county is not amalgamations but rather that young footballers don't get enough games. To reach the Division 1 Final, all Glencar Manorhamilton and Allen Gaels Fenagh had to do was play five games and I'd imagine the same applies for the championship so that makes ten games spread over an entire year.

A strange evening in Drumshanbo

THE LAST POINT

If you want to improve football in the county, play more games - I know there are crossover issues with younger players playing at older grades but more games means more chances to develop skills and that benefits everyone in the long run.

Finally, and I get that not everyone will row in behind this sentiment - Up the Dubs! Growing up watching the Kingdom trample all over the dreams of us Jackeens means I'm approaching Sunday's Final with as much a sense of dread as of hope. I'd love to see James McCarthy create history but as any Leitrim fans know, you don't always get what you want. But for what it's worth, Come on you Boys in Blue!