2,500 players in 14 Cavan soccer clubs

Empowerment makes a team player

“I don’t want to hear you scored 600 million goals today,” says Ciaran Gilmour to the drove of children shuffling their feet eagerly on the grass. They want to get going. “I’d far rather see you set up 6 goals and score 2.”

Cavan's FAI Head Coach lets them loose to their coaches on the Ballyjamesduff AFC pitch with the sentiment that embodies the spirit of the game: show they are real team players and enjoy themselves.

185 children are taking part in the two summer camps in Ballyjamesduff this year. Boys and girls between 7 and 14, some are already part of the club, and some will probably join, once the season gets going in September. 9 FAI football camps have run over the past weeks at 6 of the 14 football clubs in Cavan.

With currently 2,500 football players, the numbers have exponentially increased in the past years, tells Thomas Heffernan, FAI Development Officer in Cavan: "Especially with the growth of the female game, the girls game in Cavan has just gone mad.” Everyone knows Katie McCabe and Bailieborough native Leanne Kiernan for Liverpool is a local hero, as well as Ballyhaise defender Lucy Jayne Grant who plays for Galway United.

“These ladies are just stars, you know, they’re role models for the young girls playing the game. We see kids turn up for camps now with Ireland jerseys and names on the back of them.”

On the development side, the FAI supports clubs with advice on facilities and grants, explains Heffernan. For young players, there are numerous opportunities to get involved - summer camps, school programs, futsal in the yard, and ‘FAI Primary Fives’ which this year saw 59 out of 76 Cavan primary schools enter 178 teams - more than 1,500 children.

This national five-a-side competition for 4th–6th class students typically runs over a couple of weeks. Split into divisions, based on their pupil numbers, schools across Cavan compete locally before advancing to Ulster and national finals – in the Aviva Stadium itself.

St. Felim’s from Ballinagh reached the final two years in a row, finishing second both times. Heffernan is certain: The excitement and structure of programs like these are key to football’s growing popularity among kids.

To make sure this enthusiasm is met with the right opportunities, Heffernan’s job is to facilitate the clubs with the right tools so that “everybody can play the game”. This year, the FAI launched a new coach development pathway tailored for grassroots clubs and volunteers.

“It offers age-specific courses, so coaches can train for the exact age group they work with.

“For example, an under-10 coach can take a course designed specifically for that level.”

The focus is on practical, relevant training rather than high-level UEFA licenses, making it more accessible and useful for those involved in grassroots football. Michael Metcalf, Underage Chairman at Virginia FC, is fully convinced of the recent developments: “The new coaching pathway is brilliant, and people are stepping up across the board to help out.” His coaches praised the age- and skill-specific programme. “Especially when the kids are younger, it’s not about winning, we want to give everyone the space to develop.”

Elements of the sport are fun, engagement, mixing with other kids and learning to make mistakes.

The latter being one of the most important traits according to Ciaran, because it doesn’t only make you a better player – it helps you grow as a person. Learning how to evolve is a very important and an empowering skill.

Larry McGinn, AFC Coach, confirms: “Player empowerment and taking responsibility is a big part of becoming a team player.

“We want to empower the children to make their own decisions.” After you’ve lost the ball, go through the options: Where do I run, where do I pass, how long do I hold on to the ball? Learning from mistakes means, embracing them and rethinking the process.

Ballyjamesduff currently have 400 youth members in their club. Started on various fields around the town in 1989, the club were able to secure a pitch in 2008. Now they have 16 teams competing in the winter league from ages five to U19.

The success of Ballyjamesduff AFC is mirrored by the many football clubs in Cavan who have increased their numbers in the past years.

Facilities are the biggest challenge football clubs face.

While some clubs like Cootehill Harps, Ballyhaise, Bailieborough, and Kingscourt Harps have their own pitches - with Kingscourt recently developing impressive new facilities - others rely on shared or council-owned spaces. Currently, four clubs in Cavan Town share the Astro Park, creating pressure on resources.

While some clubs do excellent work securing grants and funding, the lack of dedicated facilities remains a major hurdle, confirms Michael Metcalf from Virginia: “It's certainly is the biggest challenge that football clubs have, especially growing clubs.

“Some clubs have a couple of pitches others have to rent space from other sports clubs.” Virginia FC currently have 7 boys teams from U7 to U18. To Michael the reasons for kids joining are clear: “We are fair, you give all a chance, and they can be there with their friends, it's a very inclusive sport.”

“Football can be played by everyone,” is the opinion and the drive of Cavan’s Head Coach Ciaran.

“You have the recreational player who is there for fun, enjoyment with their friends.

And then you have the maybe more skillful player that can go a little bit further, and maybe eventually even with the aim to play for the Irish league.” Creating a pathway for all players is what he aims to do.

This does not only mean different skill-levels, but including differently abled people. Ciaran is involved in the ‘Fooball for All Programmes” for players that are deaf, visually impaired or in a powerchair. His son Dan coaches the Irish Amputee Squad.

Ciaran simply wants to share his love for the game and he wants to “teach a child to fall in love with the sport”.

By his own account, Ciaran has won loads of trophies, has “medals galore” stuffed away in a drawer, but the memories he really cherishes are the personal touches that football has awarded him over the years.

While the Ballyjamesduff kids practise their passing, he tells the story of an autistic non-verbal boy who was taking part in one of the 'Football for all Programmes'.

After a couple of weeks, he was being dropped off and the father jumped out of the car crying and went up to Ciaran to hug him.

He asked what was going on, and the father responded: “He said his first words, and it was ‘Dada, bring football’”.

This experience has stuck with Ciaran and inspired him to continue on, teaching kids how to pass the ball and give everyone a fair chance to play and to grow.