Gaelic Games

Kerry coach Jason McGahan questions merit of under-17s age grade

Kingdom’s high performance manager believes there’s a ‘fast-tracking to adulthood’ for players not adequately physically and mentally prepared

Jason McGahan: 'I’m looking at it from an education point of view, a welfare point of view, from a psychological point of view. I’m looking at it from a growth and maturation point of view.' Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Jason McGahan: 'I’m looking at it from an education point of view, a welfare point of view, from a psychological point of view. I’m looking at it from a growth and maturation point of view.' Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Paul Keane
Thu Dec 05 2024 - 06:00

A rare interview with Jason McGahan and an hour or so of insight.

“It’s definitely new to me, this is my first,” explained Kerry GAA’s high-performance manager of his podcast debut.

He was speaking on The Mike Quirke podcast to host Quirke, an ally in recent years in Kerry set-ups and a like mind.

Quirke has stepped down from the Kerry back room for 2025 but fitness expert McGahan is retained in Jack O’Connor’s reconstituted brains trust, that includes Cian O’Neill as head coach.

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McGahan and O’Neill go back a long way, to when McGahan started a PhD in the area of training load almost a decade ago and O’Neill was a lecturer. O’Neill was coaching Kerry at that time, too, and introductions were made, leading to a role for McGahan in Kerry.

Later, when O’Neill managed Kildare, McGahan joined him before returning to Kerry in a full-time capacity in 2019 as their first head of athletic development.

The Armagh man’s remit is wide and he jumped from chats with Quirke about identifying Kerry’s culture – “what the All-Blacks do doesn’t mean you can do it in Kerry” – to catering for the 600 players Kerry GAA works with from under-14 to senior level, and accompanying 135 staff, to how athletic development and good strength and conditioning reduces injury rates by 50 per cent, to the importance of coach education.

The Tullysaran native became most animated when asked about early specialisation, young players perhaps cutting back on different sports to focus on one.

“This is one area that, Jesus, it’s something I’ve got a serious bugbear at the minute with the whole . . . well, within Gaelic football at the minute, it’s around the age grade of under-17s,” said McGahan. “For me, and even of late I’ve spoke to boys in Croke Park about it, I just feel that these athletes aren’t physically and mentally prepared, or ready for it.

“That’s not just me looking at it from a strength and conditioning point of view. I’m looking at it from an education point of view, a welfare point of view, from a psychological point of view. I’m looking at it from a growth and maturation point of view, I’m looking at it from a sports science point of view and I’m looking at it from a coaching point of view. I do believe that these athletes aren’t ready for it.

“If you look at it at the minute, some of these athletes haven’t even finished their under-16 development out yet. And in some cases they haven’t even finished their under-15 development out.”

Jason McGahan raises the Sam Maguire following the 2022 All-Ireland final victory over Galway. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Jason McGahan raises the Sam Maguire following the 2022 All-Ireland final victory over Galway. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho

McGahan has concerns around a ‘fast-tracking to adulthood’ which jars with his own work in Kerry where they are in the process of developing a high-performance model.

“I’ve been looking at this for two years now,” he revealed.

It’s a work in progress but the key word is ‘inclusive’. When completed, the high-performance blueprint will pull all of the work of Kerry GAA together and ensure best practice is directed towards players, and coaches, at all levels. Paul Flanagan, who retired from intercounty activity this year after winning an All-Ireland hurling medal with Clare, is involved.

“He’s leading the long-term athlete development plan around sports psychology at the minute, right across the spectrum [of teams],” said McGahan.

Quirke’s podcasts are all based around coaching and, instead of charging for them, the former Laois manager uses them as levers to raise funds, in this case for the Tír na nÓg Children’s Foundation in Tanzania, set up by Kerry woman Louise Quill,. There is a level of altruism at the heart of what McGahan is trying to do in Kerry too.

They held a workshop with the Kerry under-16s this year. The focus was on providing the teenagers with coping and resilience tools, to use if they don’t make it on to minor panels perhaps.

“We actually brought in Paul Murphy,” said McGahan. “Paul Murphy never played county minors, wasn’t selected for minors or under-20s, but was a late maturing player and is now one of the key players within the Kerry senior footballers.

“He spoke about his team not being selected. He wasn’t even selected for the south Kerry team. He was sharing with the players that just because this doesn’t happen now, there’s always another way of looking at things and building that resilience into them.”

– The full interview with Jason McGahan on The Mike Quirke podcast is available on Spotify.