NEWCESTOWN U21 football manager Seamus O’Donovan is a big fan of the Carbery U21A football championship that starts this weekend.
The reigning champions only won the title on December 29th, but start their defence away to Carbery Rangers this Sunday (12pm).
‘It always has been and always will be the best championship in West Cork,’ O’Donovan said.
‘If you can perform at this level, you can perform at a higher level. It’s a great way of blooding new players into their adult teams. Long may it last. It’s great that there is a county championship in it now this year. This is a competition all the top teams feel strongly about and it’s not an easy competition to win,’ added the Newcestown boss.
O’Donovan spoke about the importance of the U21 grade to not only blood players into their adult sides but also to keep them involved in GAA.
‘This competition is a lot more important than maybe minor competitions because you’re holding onto players up to the age of 21, and if they can show their capabilities at this grade they can make the step up to their adult team,’ he said.
‘On the other side of things, if you have a fella at 18 and he has no more competitions left, only at the adult grade, there’s a good chance you could lose him from the club altogether if he’s getting no game time. Not everyone develops fully at 18/19, some might take a little longer and this competition allows for another couple of years of growth for players,’ he explained.
Reflecting on his own playing days, O’Donovan remarked how the grade helped his club, along with numerous other West Cork sides, bond together and produce crops of players that helped their teams go on to achieve success at the adult grade.
‘I played in this competition for five years back in the 1980s but we never won it,’ he recalled. ‘We had to go up against fine Castlehaven and O’Donovan Rossa teams but it still helped gel the lads together. We won a junior county soon after and the likes of the Haven and Skibbereen, won countys, Munsters, and even an All-Ireland, and the U21 competition was a great springboard for them. I’m passionate about it. It’s a great competition for the growth of West Cork football.’
As Newcestown begin their attempt to retain their West Cork U21A football crown this weekend against Carbery Rangers,, they will be without five players from last year but O’Donovan notes that some of their younger lads stepped up in 2023 and will be key for their 2024 campaign.
‘We unearthed a lot of good young players last year who might not have got a run with our seniors and they will be big players for us in this championship,’ he said.
