League announce new coaching link with Bolton Wanderers FC!

A major development announced this week, will see the SDFL establish Coaching links with Premiership (& UEFA cup last 16) club, Bolton Wanderers. The previous deal with Stoke City had come to an end, and other clubs in the Premiership and Coca Cola Championship had expressed an interest in agreeing a deal with our League. However even with 3 different managers in the last 10 months BWFC were always the keenest, and after visiting their Academy recently, the officials of the SDFL were suitably impressed to agree a 3-5 year deal with them.

for our development squads. Our Coaching staff will also visit their academy a couple of times each year, to see how they operate, and to take some ideas back home which we can then implement. BWFC also run their own Coaching courses which our staff will be free to attend.

Playing wise we will also send teams over to Bolton to play games against their Academy teams, with the under 12s & 13s already penciled in to visit next season. BWFC will also send teams to South Dublin to play against us.

Another aspect of the deal will see us sharing contacts with the other Leagues & clubs in the BWFC “Family”. As they also have links all across the U.K. Europe, and even Canada, this could prove to be an exciting dimension. Indeed in an early show of this potential development, this years under 12s & under 13 squads, will visit Ballymena in April, to play against Bolton’s linked club in N.I.

Director of Coaching at the SDFL, Tommy Carberry said, “I am absolutely delighted with this development. It has been the culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people, and the Committee deserve great credit for bringing it to fruition. This agreement with Bolton opens up so many possibilities for the players in our League, and the terms agreed mean that it will be a more proactive partnership than the one before”

BWFC Academy

The Academy was created in 1998, & is designed to bring boys through from the junior sides, to the first team squad. All Coaches are qualified to UEFA standards. The Club has recently submitted planning permission to build a new complex, with state of the art facilities including residential accommodation for trainees.

Manager Gary Megson said “We have the best and the largest back room staff in the Premiership, so it is a natural progression that we endeavor to have the best International Academy”

Kevin Nolan, Nicky Hunt, and Joey O Brien (from Dublin), are all products of their academy who have gone on to play for the first team, as is Ricardo Vaz Te, who arrived as a 16 yr old from Portugal.

Coaching Demonstration Night part 2

Joe Donoghue talks to some of the gathering during his Goal keeping session

A night of Champions League football did not deter a good turn out for the second demonstration night run by the SDFL Coaching staff. The aim of these sessions is to provide the managers within the League with some drills & practices, which they can then implement in their club training sessions.

Alban & Dave explaining their session

In the first demonstration night the sessions were kept simple, but tonight the Coaches stepped things up a notch. D.O.C. Tommy Carberry welcomed those present to begin proceeding, and thanked them for braving the cold to be there. Shay Cunningham then began with a warm up session using lots of equipment. The session designed to improve speed, agility & quickness, was demonstrated by some of the under 11 squad, and they enjoyed their circuits of ladders, hurdles, poles, hoops, etc

After that Martin Kavanagh and his under 12 moved up from a 3v1 with transfer as demonstrated in the previous night, to a 3v1 with transfer to a 4v2.

The DOC himself then took his under 13 Kennedy cup hopefuls, into a session of “Creating space” in a 7v7 game, in which he offered those present the opportunity to go in and Coach themselves. This was followed by our Goalkeeping Coaches Joe Donoghue and Mark Connors. With a blend of youth and experience, Joe & Mark have a lot to offer to the keepers of the SDFL squads, and they put on a session of footwork and handling skills.

 Two of our new Coaches, Alban Hysu & David Heard, put on a defensive session with the under 14 squad. This was a bit of a “baptism of fire” for the pair, but they rose to the challenge. Finally Kenny O Toole & Dave Mc Gilavary demonstrated some shooting & Finishing skills with their under 15 squad.

As with the first session, all those present will be sent copies of the sessions in the near future. On behalf of the Coaching staff we would like to thank all of those who attended the 2 nights. We can only hope that things were picked up during the sessions which will aid the young players in the South Dublin Football League, and we will continue to provide any assistance we can, to all those interested in the Coaching of young people.

John Devine's Coaching session

On Wednesday 16th of January, John Devine (pictured far right) put on a coaching session for the benefit of the Leagues coaching staff. It was a session he has developed himself, and has given him great success with the Manchester United youth team among others. The session was well attended by the Coaches, & other invited guests. Tom O Connor (FAI), and pictured above, Jim Crawford & Barry Ferguson (FAI Development officers) were among those present.John Devine is a very experienced coach, and gave a great demonstration not only of what to coach but also HOW to coach.His encouragement to the kids was enlighten to listen to.

The League are very grateful to John for coming out to Peamount. Indeed John has been a good friend to our league over the years and the coaches will endeavour to put his ideas into practice, as they work with the development squads.

John Devine (center) with the SDFL Coaching staff, and the players from the under 13 Representitive squad