FORMER three time All Ireland winner, John Crowley from Glenflesk replaces Declan O’Sullivan as a selector in Jack O’Connor’s Under 20 backup team.
At tonight’s meeting of the County Committee, Jack O’Connor was appointed Manager of the Kerry Under 20 football team for a two year period.
Jack was manager of the Kerry Under 21 side for the last two years and prior to that led Kerry to two All Ireland Minor titles in 2014 and 2015.
His selectors are Micheál O’Shea (Castlegregory), Eamon Whelan (St Senans), John Crowley (Glenflesk). Trainers: Alan O’Sullivan (Kerins O’Rahillys) and Arthur Fitzgerald (Firies).
JACK O’Connor is to take on the role of Kerry Under 20 manager.
According to Kerry GAA website, the Chairman of Coiste Chontae Chiarraí, Tim Murphy will propose him for ratification as Manager of the Kerry Under 20 Football team for a two year term at the next meeting of the County Committee on September 4.
O’Connor took over as U-21 Manager from Darragh Ó Sé in 2015 and earlier this year led Kerry to their first Munster title win in the grade since 2008, before losing out to Galway in the All Ireland Semi Final.
KERRY College of Further Education (KCFE) at Clash, Tralee, is delighted to announce the introduction of a new course delivered by a renowned Kerry GAA coach.
Supported by the Kerry County GAA Board, this Post Leaving Certificate Coaching and Sports Development Course at QQI Level 5 course will be coordinated and delivered by All Ireland Senior Winning Football Team Manager and current Kerry Under 21 Football Manager Jack O’Connor.
The course is starting in September 2017 and is the only full-time Coaching and Sports Development course in Kerry. A unique aspect of the course is the wealth of knowledge and practical experience Jack O’Connor will bring to it.
“I am very much looking forward to running this course in the KCFE from September 2017. Gaelic football coaching is my passion and I think it will be a great course for people with an interest in this area. It will give the participants the qualifications and most importantly the confidence needed to embark on a coaching career themselves,’’ said Jack O’Connor.
“This is a really exciting development for the College,” stated Carmel Kelly, Acting Principal of KCFE. “The course is aimed at students and adults who wish to gain formal coaching qualifications and become master GAA coaches.”
“Students will spend much of their time on the training pitch and in the gym addressing the practical skills of coaching as well as gaining invaluable insights and knowledge of game video analysis, player performance analysis, player nutrition etc. We are delighted to have developed this course in conjunction with Kerry GAA Board and we look forward to its roll-out in September,” said Ms Kelly.
Participants can expect a very active course with the emphasis on the practical skills of coaching in a GAA environment. The course content addresses GAA coaching to Level 2 (which is the advanced GAA coaching level), player development, game video analysis, endurance training, strength/conditioning, core GAA skill coaching in hurling and football, injury prevention, sports nutrition and sports anatomy and physiology.
In addition, students will have the opportunity to study the theoretical components of coaching and to apply their practical skills and knowledge on the playing fields.
On successful completion of the course the participants will achieve GAA Foundation and GAA Levels 1 and 2 Coaching Awards. In addition, students will also complete the Associate Refereeing Course. These nationally recognised qualifications will ensure students are gainfully employed in their chosen career paths.
A key component of the course is work experience in a GAA setting. Working with Kerry GAA Board it is planned to place many of the coaches in local National and Post Primary Schools for their work placements.
Graduates will receive a full major Level 5 Award in Sport, Recreation and Exercise with career opportunities which include GAA coaching, strength and conditioning, personal training, fitness instructing, in the health and leisure industry and community organisations etc. Alternatively Graduates may choose to continue to Higher Education with progression to Universities and Institutes of Technologies nationwide.
“The course supports the wider development of GAA games in the College. With access to the newly refurbished playing pitch adjacent to the college and Tralee Regional Sports and Leisure centre facilities, students can look forward to developing their coaching skills as well as participating in the Colleges Men’s and Ladies GAA teams” according to Carmel Kelly, Acting Principal of KCFE.
Students will have the benefit of learning from a GAA master coach in Jack O’Connor. Jack’s many accomplishments include:
Inter-county
• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship:
Winner (3): 2004, 2006, 2009
Runner-up (2): 2005, 2011
• All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship:
Winner (2): 1996 and 1998.
Runner-up (1): 1999
• All-Ireland Minor Football Championship:
Winner (2): 2014, 2015
• Munster Senior Football Championship:
Winner (4): 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011
• Munster Under-21 Football Championship:
Winner (5): 1996 1997 1998, 1999 2002.
• Munster Minor Football Championship:
Winner (2): 2014, 2015
• National Football League:
Winner (3): 2004, 2006, 2009
“Kerry County GAA Board is delighted to be associated with this new and exciting initiative in KCFE,” stated Tim Murphy, Chairperson Kerry County Board. “This course will further enhance GAA coaching in the county and offers the opportunity for young people to gain a professional coaching qualification that will be hugely welcomed at club and county level.’’
.Jack O’Connor, will be looking to add to his impressive haul of All-Ireland titles as a manager on Sunday. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
IT’S hard to know how much of a masterstroke Jack O’Connor has pulled by reversing the fortunes of the Kerry minors, who went 20 years with nothing to now being 60 minutes away from back to back titles.
Jack is a shrewd man and some would say he took it on because he saw a good crop coming. Given there are only a three players who who played in in 2014 final that are involved on Sunday maybe Jack spotted two good crops.
Two of the three, Tralee men Andrew Barry (Na Gaeil) and Jack Morgan (Austin Stacks) and captain, Mark O’Connor, who has undoubtedly been the side’s most important player in the campaign. The Dingle midfielder missed the quarter-final against Sligo because of a knee injury and was only introduced late in the semi-final.
With a rebuilding process on his hands, Jack brought in his neighbour, Declan O’Sullivan, to impart his wisdom to a forward line that has progressively become more potent as the year unfolded.
On the run to the final, Kerry first stuttered against a poor Clare side that came and parked the bus in Tralee. This set up a semi-final date with the old enemy in Austin Stack Park that turned out to be as thrilling a Kerry v Cork encounter you could wish for.
Under lights, in extra-time, Kerry dug deep in the final moments to snatch a victory with Spa’s Micheal Foley being the hero.
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Kerry’s, Mark O’Connor, in the Munster Semi-Final against Cork. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Kerry then went on to beat this weekend’s opponents, Tipperary, in the Munster Final by six points. Despite a late surge by Tipp in the second half, the game was never really in doubt. The manner of the victory has has many people expecting a handy Kerry win this Sunday.
Jack, an All-Ireland championship winning manager at all grades, has been putting dampeners on such talk.
“Usually teams that get beaten learn more than the teams that win,” he said during the week. “This is a dangerous Tipperary team. In many quarters this team is actually seen as being better than the team that won the All-Ireland in 2011 in Tipperary, and we know what those fellows did,” he told the Irish Examiner.
Jack has also spoken about the depth the class of 2015 has, where as last year’s team was sprinkled with some sublime talent, this year is more of a team unit. No other player embodies this work ethic than Na Gaeil’s Andrew Barry, who along with midfielder, Mark O’Connor started last year’s final.
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Kerry’s, Brian O Seanachain, fires a shot towards goal in the Munster Quarter Final against Clare in Austin Stack Park. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
In the face of a Derry blanket defence in the semi-final, Andrew was a constant driving force in midfield, being one of the strongest players in the side.
He was dynamic around the middle, but also a calming influence, sweeping back to cover any danger.
Austin Stacks’ Jack Morgan is an inside forward in black and amber, but in Kerry colours he occupied the left corner back position in the campaign, but has been named as wing back for the final, though he had been in the corner throughout the campaign. Showing a forward’s flair, he has sprung up with scores and important runs in the games so far, without belying his defensive duties.
In the full forward line, Billy Courtney and Conor Geaney will be the main root to the danger zone. Courtney scored 1-3 in the semi-final, while Geaney, who is a cousin of Paul and Mikey in the seniors, clocked up 1-5 in the Munster Final against Tipp.
Two players to look out for are the Ballydonoghue pairing of Jason Foley at full-back and Brian Ó Seanacháin at wing forward.
Tipperary were not expected to defeat a Kildare side who dispatched Dublin on the run to the semi-final. But being Kildare they capitulated on the big day in Croke Park and Tipp pounced. The bookies have Kerry as 1/4 to favorites and they usually get it right don’t they?
JACK O’CONNOR was last night appointed the new Kerry U21 manager, taking over the reins from Darragh O’Se who spent three years in the role.
The Dromid Pearses man has previous experience with the Kerry U21s, having spent time as a selector on All-Ireland winning side in 1995. In 1996 he took over as manager winning the title that year and again in 1998.
Jack O’Connor managed Kerry to their first All-Ireland minor title in 20 years last year. He will be looking to bring that midas touch to the U21 setup which has been enduring a barren few years of late.
It’s 2008 since Kerry last claimed an U21 All-Ireland title. For five years in a row Cork have beaten Kerry in the competition, most recently last March. That defeat pulled the curtain down on Darragh O’Sé’s tenure.
Jack O’Connor’s impressive pedigree as a coach has seen him win three All-Ireland senior titles with Kerry, first in 2004, then 2007 and 2009. He also tasted Hogan Cup success with, Coláiste na Sceilge, in 2009.
O’Connor’s management team is expected to be announced as soon as his time as Kerry minor manager comes to an end.
The Kerry minors face Tipperary in the Munster Final on July 5.
Kieran Donaghy playing in the All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo. Photo by Dermot Crean
THERE was a sense of deja-vu when Kieran Donaghy caught his first ball of many over Mayo’s Ger Cafferkey in the drawn semi-final.
It was almost a decade ago, in a qualifier match in 2006 against Longford in Killarney, when Donaghy announced himself with a typically simple, but devastating display. Kerry had a new answer.
His intervention in that season where he went from being a relative unknown to ‘All Stars Player of the Year’ in a matter of months is one of the great meteoric rises of Gaelic games.
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Tomas O’Se once remarked of the Tyrone team of the mid 00’s that “if Tyrone were out set dancing five nights a week every other team would be out doing it as well.”
Donaghy’s arrival was similar. In 2007, the year after he burst on the inter-county scene, half the teams in the country seemed to have a big man around the square.
It wasn’t long before these teams put the experiment to one side, not because the tactic of getting it into a big man wouldn’t work, but because no one had a big man with his ability. The greatest trick he ever played was that he made it look easy.
The backdrop of 2006 was Kerry had lost the All-Ireland final of the previous year to Tyrone. This was the second final defeat to an Ulster side in three years, which also included that infamous semi-final exit to Tyrone in 2003.
When Kerry lost the 2006 Munster Final to Cork, manager Jack O’Connor, was starting to feel the brunt of some of the less savoury aspects of the Kerry GAA supporter.
It could be argued that O’Connor’s plan to put a midfielder, who at that point was more famous for his basketball skills, in full-forward was the move that saved his inter-county management career.
If the Longford game sent murmurs across the country about Kerry’s new full forward, the quarter-final sent shockwaves. Up against, Francie Bellew, one of the most storied full backs of his generation and a classic full-back in every sense, Donaghy was the catalyst for victory.
A man for the big occasion right from the beginning, he struck for his first championship goal for Kerry in that 2006 quarter final against Armagh and it was as emphatic a strike as you could imagine.
Kieran Donaghy in action in the All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo. Photo by Dermot Crean
Donaghy’s arrival was also the beginning of a beautiful relationship with Colm Cooper who found the perfect foil for his genius, feeding off Donaghy with magnificent effect.
‘Star’ scored another goal in the 2006 All-Ireland final mauling of Mayo on the way to picking up his first of two All-Stars. In 2007 he secured another All-Ireland medal along with an another All-Star. He also scored two goals in that year’s final against Cork.
He would go on to win another All-Ireland in 2009, but teams were beginning to deal with him. Most notably Tyrone’s McMahon brothers, who’s sole job was to take him out of 2008 All-Ireland Final.
If Donaghy is doing damage it can crush the opposition’s spirit, likewise if a team gets the better of him, they puff their chest out and get the roar of their support firmly behind them. This can all shift momentum and momentum shifts games.
On Sunday, expect some of the loudest cheers of the day to come from either Kieran catching a high ball, or him being turned over.
You can draw a parallel with the battles he faced with the McMahon brothers of Tyrone with the one he will likely face against the equally as formidable McGee brothers on Sunday.
It’s one of those juicy subplots that makes the lead up to a final so enjoyable.
Donaghy is 31 now. When he won player of the year in that incredible season of 2006 he was 23.
Struggling with consistency and injuries over the last couple of years, many people began writing him off – there really isn’t much room for sentiment when it comes to football in Kerry.
This meant Donaghy had to announce himself all over again with those catches against Mayo. When he caught the ball over Cafferkey and fed the ball to O’Donoghue like he did Gooch before him, all those memories came flooding back, so simple, so brilliant.
