Early years Gaelic football: ‘Some senior coaches have no idea how to coach a four-year-old’
Michael Gerard Doherty trains super heroes like Spiderman and Batman at a GAA session.
Protect the dinosaur egg. Stare down a rival cowboy or cowgirl. Collect Sonic’s rings. Michael Gerard Doherty believes in bringing children through the gate of the GAA club and transporting them to another world. They can do anything. Everything.
This has always been his way. It is how he was reared. Before the coaches in West Belfast’s Pádraig, there was his father in the back garden.
“Before I even started playing in the club, my daddy would have us in the back garden throwing a football over the washing line,” he laughs. “Or try kick a ball into the coal bunker. That is where a lot of my creativity stemmed from. We grew up in a council house where it was about getting creative with what you had. We were rich in terms of the time our parents put into us. How could we make a game out of everything at our disposal?”
A teacher by trade, Doherty recently released a coaching guide for early years Gaelic football games. It is 55 pages of clips and drills and pure unconfined fun. The project came about towards the end of 2024 as he totted up the 90 workshops he had given across the country in the previous 18 months. How could he share without the taxing trips and time away from the family? A PDF. QR codes for game videos. Personalised covers for each club. He flicked the switch to watch the light radiate far and wide.
Currently a member of the Antrim U20 backroom team, he grew up attending coaching courses, unhindered by the fact neither of his parents could drive. It meant long bus journeys down to Newry for Steven Poacher's annual coaching event. This devotion to learning led to his own essential discovery.
“I believe we as an association started nurseries way too soon,” Doherty says.
“I think we weren’t ready for them. One club had an under-10 team, the neighbouring club has an under-8, so we’re suddenly worried and start at under-7 and so on. You actually have clubs now with babymentals for two-year-olds. There was a fear other clubs would get a head start. They think, ‘we want to compete at senior, so if kids start younger, we can get a jump on others.’ If you want, bring kids in at that age but do it to be active, so they can spend time together or with their parents.
“But I saw examples of children being coached traditionally at that age group. Some senior coaches have no idea how to coach a four-year-old because you can’t coach a four or five-year-old the way you would a senior.
“Creativity is important at every level, senior to kids. At that grade, you need to get into their minds and see through their eyes. I have similar games I use for a young U8 team or a senior team, but it is for them. We might be hunting in packs with an octopus and tentacles trying to chase fishes which is working as a pair to double up. It’s not about delay and deny, the way we would at senior, but they are getting the same principle of play.” Did he meet resistance? Everywhere. Including in his own house.
“My father would be old school in his coaching methods. A game I would be known for is Ready, Teddy, Go. One day I put a message into the club coaching group saying I would love if kids could bring their favourite teddy to the next session. No sooner had I hit send when the door was being banged. My father, ‘Hey! What in earth are you thinking? They play Go Games at seven. We are trying to get them away from that baby stuff.’
“I explained to him. I noticed first with Iarlaith my son or kids that age, when it comes to catching a high ball, they tend to close their eyes. They turn away, naturally. Any kid with an object coming at their face will turn away.
“I was scratching my head trying to think of a way I could get into a kid's mind and break that barrier. They see an object; it can be threatening. A ball can be quite hard.
“Anyway, my eldest son hates the dentist. The morning that I sent that message he brought his big teddy with him. We were in the dentist throwing the teddy high up, he was focused, catching it and it was one of those eureka moments. Why not take the least threatening thing to a child, something they bring to bed and protect, use it in a different way. I did a deal with Daddy to try this and if it falls flat, I take full responsibility. Let me try it. It ended up as one of our most enjoyable sessions. My father afterwards had a big smirk and gave me the nod.”
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It can branch out from there. Solo in hurling or camogie by keeping the prized toy off the ground. Teach body position by protecting the dinosaur egg. A cowboy showdown with an attacker taking on a defender. Compete a skill and earn a Sonic ring.
“I’m not out there to shove it down people’s throat or say this is the only way to do things, I just find our kids are enjoying it. If one more child comes to one more session, that 0.01% difference has been made. If kids are enjoying it, going away talking about how much fun they had, chomping at the bit to come back, everyone is a winner.”
He will continue to share. Others share back. A strong coaching community has developed within the GAA. They grow together.
“More and more are seeing the bigger picture, a greater collective. Make our game as accessible as possible to as many as possible. Keep them involved for as long as possible. Make it as exciting and entertaining as possible. To see so many working towards that same goal, it is class.”
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