Kerry open football school of excellence

FORMER Kerry star Darragh Ó Sé last night helped launch the North Kerry Football School of Excellence at St Michael’s College in Listowel.

This new initiative, under the auspices of the North Kerry Board, aims not only to improve playing standards among underage players in the region, but also to provide coaches in the area with expertise to help them in their roles.

John Dillon, the games development administrator (GDA) for north Kerry, feels that this programme can also help to improve the representation on county teams of clubs from that area.

“It’s a purpose-designed training plan for north Kerry,” he said. “While the major focus is on helping coaches develop new methods that will be of benefit, we are also hoping that it will increase the number from north Kerry on underage teams and, in the future, senior teams.”

Beginning in January, the North Kerry U14, U15 and U16 panels will work with qualified coaches from outside the area on eight consecutive Saturdays at St Michael’s College, with local coaches invited to observe.

There will also be workshops on Monday nights dedicated to areas such as circuit training and nutrition, while a specific coaching course will run on Wednesday nights.

“The best thing about all of this is that it’s open to all,” Dillon says.

“The sessions are not just confined to the 22 players on the underage panels, anybody who wants to attend is more than welcome. It’s the first venture of its kind in north Kerry and obviously we are very optimistic that we will see positive results. We’d like to thank the North Kerry Board and Irish Wire Products, who are sponsoring the programme, and also St Michael’s for generously providing their facilities.”