Under Age football - Juvenile level

Lex Luthor

My lad is 6yr old and plays with his local GAA club. He isn't 7 until Jan. He trains with the Under 7's as I'm told he is too old for the Under 6's.
I have no problem with this as he's capable to play in that group.

However, when I was young, when I was say, 10, I played under 10's. My birthday is in April, so when I was 9 in the march, I played under 10, when I was 10 in the December I played in the under 10.

Do they do it different in different parts of the country.

I'm from Cork but now in Kildare.

culabula88

For under ten competitions this year the player must be under 10 on the 1st of Jan 2007. i.e. he/ she has to be nine on the 1st of Jan 2007 .

He could be ten on the 2nd of jan , but he is still under 10 for the purposes of a GAA competition.

I dont think that there is any formal competition for U6 or U8 and would be very suprised if there was, but i can only guess that the trainers would rather have the older players e.g. those that are 6 playing with the u8s as to give the 5 year olds etc a better chance. This would be true if the player was particularly strong player. It should only benefit the player by playing with an older age group in terms of skill development etc.

squire1

My nephew (9) who is small for his age was born on new years eve so he will always be a lot smaller than the rest of the guys on his team and opposing teams. If he was born a few hours later he would be able to play U10 again next year. It seems a bit unfair but I suppose they have to have some cut off point. Some of the guys on his U10 team are built like a S*it brickhouse. What do they feed these kids nowdays?

hawker

As a small aside, what age do the GAA Clubs usually start training the kids? And do they call to the local school to recruit?

vandermeyde

most clubs have nurseries which will take them from about 5 onwards...

I'm involved with a club at that level and generally it can be quite difficult to get access to the schools unless there's a solid history of co-operation with them (we're a relatively young club), so it's just via leaflet drops, local papers, word of mouth etc....

My fella is not long 7 and plays for the Under 8's but will probably play there again next year as most of the U8's are about to turn 9 and the physical difference is huge at that age...

It's just about fun when they're so young, although it's great to see the natural talent of some of the kids, even at such a tender age...

hawker

Thanks Vandermyde.

I'm just curious as I have a young lad thats is 6 but I haven't a clue what to do to get him involved. It is a rural club with really only one primary school that he attends.

Should I approach them first or just accept I'm not in the clique?

Aplogies to the OP for not answering his question. I always thought that 31st December was the cut off point. I can recall someone being born at 11.45pm on December 31st so in fact he was 15 mins overage!!

vandermeyde

Just to echo what other's have said about age-groups...The year starts from the 1st of Jan so to play U-8's this year, for example, a child would have to be born on or after the 1st of Jan 1999.

Personally, I'd be pretty sceptical as to the ages of some of the players (U-8's) i've seen my son come up against, some were practically shaving

as regards getting involved, some rural clubs can be a bit intimidating at a senior level as they're sometimes dominated by one or two families which can give the impression of being a bit cliquey but most welcome new recruits, particularly at a young age, with open arms...Alternately have a chat with one or two parents down at the school to find out where they send their kids and send your little bundle of hyperactive 6 year old energy along too...

yahoo_moe

Lex Luthor wrote:

Do they do it different in different parts of the country.

No - it's just that the cut-off date used to be April 1st which is why you qualified 'differently'. Think it changed about 15 years back or so... my birthday was (and still is!) January so it didn't affect me, though

squire1

hawker wrote:

Should I approach them first or just accept I'm not in the clique?

A lot of clubs would feel bad about knocking on doors looking for young lads to come play for them so if the haven't been in contact yet, just call down or ring them.

One way to approach them is to offer your services too! Many rural clubs find it diffucult to get adults to train the very young players and it is normally left to one or two individuals to do the whole lot. If your club is anything like mine then they will only be too delighted to have your young fella join them and extra delighted if you can give them a dig out too. Pretty soon you could find yourself managing the Under 10's .

Lex Luthor

vandermeyde wrote:

Just to echo what other's have said about age-groups...The year starts from the 1st of Jan so to play U-8's this year, for example, a child would have to be born on or after the 1st of Jan 1999.

Vandermeyde, now I was told something different to this.

Any kid born in 2000, is eligible to play U-8's. Born in 1999 is for U-9's.

My lad is born Jan 2001 so they tell me he is eligible for U-7's, but he plays with the U-8's as most of the U-7's are just beginners and he's been playing since he was 5 so would probably be too strong for most of them.

shiibata

Lex Luthor wrote:

Vandermeyde, now I was told something different to this.

Any kid born in 2000, is eligible to play U-8's. Born in 1999 is for U-9's.

My lad is born Jan 2001 so they tell me he is eligible for U-7's, but he plays with the U-8's as most of the U-7's are just beginners and he's been playing since he was 5 so would probably be too strong for most of them.

this is right, one of my boys was born in feb 2000 and he is u-8 for the year 2008..

Lex Luthor

shiibata wrote: »

this is right, one of my boys was born in feb 2000 and he is u-8 for the year 2008..

don't you mean for the year '2007'?

thirdmantackle

if i had a child born at 11:45 on new years eve i would ask them to not register the birth for another 20 minutes... :eek:;)

the child would thank you for ever more when playing sport

clubs generally start at U8, some clubs at U6. depends if there are people willing to do the coaching and whether the club has competition for youngsters in which case they get them inside the door as early as possible!

an hour in the back garden with a ball or hurley would be more beneficial for skills than some of the carry on i've seen at U6!!

Lex Luthor

thirdmantackle wrote: »

if i had a child born at 11:45 on new years eve i would ask them to not register the birth for another 20 minutes... :eek:;)

They are hardly likely to do that for you...best thing to do is make sure you take precautions around the end of March....I didn't and my eldest was due on xmas eve but luckily he was a week late

shiibata

Lex Luthor wrote: »

don't you mean for the year '2007'?

No, he is u-8 for 2008..they are training now getting ready for next year, the usual sit-ups and press ups and so on:D seriously they just started the usual kickabouts indoors for next year last week..they have u-8 and u-10 blitz every so often early summer..

Lex Luthor

shiibata wrote: »

No, he is u-8 for 2008..they are training now getting ready for next year, the usual sit-ups and press ups and so on:D seriously they just started the usual kickabouts indoors for next year last week..they have u-8 and u-10 blitz every so often early summer..

on what you say, that makes my fella U-6 at the moment and U-7 for 2008, when he turns 7 in Jan. Not what I'm being told on Sun morning

thirdmantackle

so the U-7s are doing pre season training for next year? holy feck. and i thought some senior county teams started back too early...

shiibata

Lex Luthor wrote: »

on what you say, that makes my fella U-6 at the moment and U-7 for 2008, when he turns 7 in Jan. Not what I'm being told on Sun morning

Should ask them on a Sat morning, maybe the head is a bit confused on a Sun morning after the night before:D..At least we know why kildare dont do well under age now;)

Lex Luthor

managed to get clarification finally...

kids born in 2001 are under 6 for the year 2007. So my lad has been playing with the U-8's for the last few months....:eek:

I found out its actually the 3rd team for U-8's. Most of them are U-7 in that team anyway