THE MAN BEHIND THE WIRE: Schools' performances augur well for future of Offaly GAA

IT has been great to witness the progresss made by Offaly schools teams in hurling and football this year.

Several schools have performed really well in their various competitions and it all augurs well for the future of both games in the county.

A combined Offaly schools team won the Leinster Colleges Senior “A” hurling title, producing a sensational display to beat famed Kilkenny nursery, St Kieran's in the final. As a combined schools team, Offaly could not go into All-Ireland series – that is quite rightly restricted to individual schools - but Offaly will have noted that St Kieran's have gone on to reach the All-Ireland final, beating Cashel Community School in Birr last Saturday.

There have also been very encouraging displays by Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore in the Leinster Colleges Senior “A” Football Championship and Colaiste Naomh Cormac, Kilcormac who have reached the All-Ireland Colleges Senior “B” Hurling Championship – they play the final on St Patrick's weekend.

Colaiste Choilm and St Brendan's Community School, Birr also competed very well in the Leinster Colleges Senior “B” Hurling Championship, though the expectation that a star studded Colaiste Naomh Cormac would be too strong for everyone else at this level proved to be correct.

Special mention must also be reserved for Ard Scoil Chiarain in Clara who have reached the All-Ireland Colleges Senior “D” Football Championship final. They play St Joseph's from Spanish Point, Clare in the final this Saturday in Tuam and it would be great to see them win. “D” football may be down the pecking order a bit but reaching the final is a huge achievement for this Ard Scoil team and any All-Ireland win will add to the feeling of well-being in Offaly GAA.

While Offaly Schools winning the Leinster title was the biggest success by a schools team from the county, it was not the most noteworthy achievement.

That belongs to Colaiste Choilm who competed really well in the Leinster Colleges Senior “A” Football Championship. They played some great football as they reached the semi-final where they were pipped by eventual champions Naas CBS. Naas went onto beat Moate Community School in the final and Colaiste Choilm were left to reflect on what might have been. They got their noses in front inside the last ten minutes and had Naas on the ropes. Unfortunately they couldn't close out the deal as Naas scraped home – the Tullamore students missed a handful of scoreable frees and these cost them dearly.

The Moate Community School also included a few players from Offaly. Ballycumber's Cathal Guinan and Adam Daly and Tubber's Donal Shirley, Padraig McLoughlin and Conor Fox all started in their two point Leinster final defeat by Naas CBS. It was great to see those players competing so well at this level and “A” level competition is the true test of players.

Colaiste Choilm won the Leinster Colleges Senior “B” Football Championship a couple of years ago with an excellent young team that included outstanding members of the Offaly side that won the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship in 2021: John Furlong, Cormac Egan, Jack Bryant.

While that trio were gone along with others, they went “A” last year and competed well before being resoundingly beaten by an exceptional Naas side in the Leinster semi-final.

Naas went on to win the Hogan Cup last year while Colaiste Choilm were much more competitive against them this year and really should have beaten them.

St Mary's in Edenderry won the All-Ireland Colleges title in 2012. That was a terrific achievement, a great help to Offaly football at that time, though several of the squad came from across the county border in Kildare. Colaiste Choilm's team this year was comprised of all Offaly players and it would have been great to see them win.

The combined Offaly Schools team did very well to win their Leinster senior hurling colleges title as the quality of their hurling took the breath away. They fielded the bulk of the Offaly side that was so unlucky to lose to Tipperary in the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship final last year and many of them will be on the county U-20 team this year.

The Offaly Schools team was essentially a development squad for the county U-20 side with Offaly U-20 manager Leo O'Connor and selectors involved in their management. St Brendan's Community School in Birr won All-Ireland and Leinster senior hurling colleges titles back in the 1980s and their success in that era was a huge factor in Offaly's great run at minor level and their subsequent senior success in the 1990s.

The Offaly schools success does not compare with St Brendan's CS achievement. It was terrific for the young players, it will serve them well and it increases optimism and confidence about the future of Offaly hurling.

The participation of combined teams in schools competitions, however, is very questionable. It is done with good intent and aimed at helping improve standards in weaker counties and schools. Offaly also fielded a combined schools team in the Leinster Colleges Senior Football Championship but they did not make real inroads – Colaiste Choilm and St Mary's, Edenderry players could not compete with them as they had teams in the competition.

The Offaly schools hurling team was really a county side and their participation was very hard and unfair on individual schools. The argument has been made that the St Kieran's side they beat fielded players from several clubs but you are not comparing like with like. Big town schools will always attract students from a number of clubs in their hinterland and this is very different than a big combined team, having the pick of every school and therefore every club in the county – and with no individual school competing at “A” level, the Offaly schools' side had the pick of the entire county.

Allowing in combined schools teams of this magnitude goes against the ethos and spirit of those competitions. In fact, the combined Offaly schools team may have damaged Colaiste Choilm's prospects in football. With the Leinster hurling final looming, Dan Ravenhill didn't play with them in the semi-final. Just back from a lengthy injury lay off, Ravenhill's game of choice will be hurling and he has the ability to become a real star – it is understandable that he will choose hurling over football but he probably would have played against Naas if a big hurling game was not coming up and he could have made all the difference there.

The combined teams also created real headaches for other schools and it resulted in a considerable load for some players. Colaiste Choilm drew withering glances from some when they didn't release their players for a couple of the early Offaly Schools' games but many of these were playing both football and hurling and they were right to protect those young stars from complete burnout.

Schools competitions hold a very cherished part in the GAA psyche. Some of the greatest footballers and hurlers first came to national prominence at this level and success creates a welter of excitement in the schools, their town and the communities they draw students in from.

Some Offaly people still retain great memories of the All-Ireland and Leinster colleges senior football successes by Carmelite College, Moate in the 1970s – future county footballers, Vinny Henry and Aidan O'Halloran and hurling star, Danny Owens featured on some of those teams, along with other Offaly people.

It would have been interesting to see how Colaiste Naomh Cormac would have fared in “A” colleges hurling this year. They probably wouldn't have been able to beat St Kieran's but you would imagine they would have been very competitive and a provincial final place may have been within their compass. The benefits from that would have been huge and it would have been a bigger achievement than Offaly Schools winning it.

That is not to take away from Offaly Schools' success. You just had to admire the way they played hurling; their work rate and skill levels. It is not about that and they just availed of the rules that were there but they were a county team competing in a schools competition.

Their success was still a great boost for Offaly GAA. The combined schools experiment needs serious examination by Leinster GAA but it is mighty to see schools from Offaly competing very well in their various grades. The key is consistency – for Colaiste Choilm to remain competitive in A level when the current drop leaves school, for Colaiste Naomh Cormac to give it a good and St Brendan's Community School to get back up there and compete year in year out. That is where the real benefits will acrue.