New Developement plan proposes changes to Derry championship structures and introduction of new District teams

The steering committee’s five year development plan would see the link between league and championship broken, with promotion and relegation introduced into a revamped group stage. This would be expanded at senior level to include new district sides made up of players from Intermediate and Junior clubs. A separate district championship would also be played with the league becoming standalone competitions.

“We fully understand there may be problems in the early stages,” explained Cassidy, who chaired the Development group, “The truth is you could have a two, three or four year period when it just won’t go that well. That’s why there is a recommendation that the district teams are introduced at U17, that’s to start building a culture of representing your district in the ‘A’ competition.

“There’s no getting away from the fact that coaching has progressed considerably. I keep using this term, and it is not meant to be derogatory, but people don’t know what they don’t know. You may think what you’re doing is at the level that’s needed but the evidence wouldn’t support that.

“Our view on it is that it might be tough enough in the beginning for those district teams. Come the start of August, when the Junior and Intermediate championships will be completed, from that period until the end of the championship, about a six week period, district players will be exposed to a higher level of play, coaching, intensity in training, focusing on quality decision making on the ball. That’s what makes good players, their athleticism and their decision making on the ball under pressure.

“After that senior championship, they will have a District Championship of their own, also on a round robin basis. That will be into November so we are looking at a two to three and a half month period in which those players will be exposed to a higher level of expertise, intensity and decision making.

“If that is accumulated over a two, three or five year period those players coming through at 19, 20 or 21 will have those consecutive years when they are getting that exposure and therefore a pathway through to becoming a better player. This will make their clubs better as they take that learning back down into their own environment.

“The other bit that’s going to complement it is the GPO within each club to drive that underage structure and the level of coaching that’s needed to ensure that you are producing quality players.”

The Derry All Ireland winner said he had already received favourable feedback from current players.

“Another significant bit about the districts is that currently your championship status is linked to your league position and we have separated those two so the senior, junior and Intermediate championships are exclusively linked to your performances in those competitions.

“If we use the senior championship as an example, you have four groups of five, four clubs and one district. The recommendation is that the top two qualify for the quarter-final. The bottom club in each of those groups will play each other in a championship relegation play-offs with the two losers meeting in a championship relegation play-off.

“That format applies to the Intermediate Championship as well, the loser of the play-off final being relegated from senior to Intermediate and from Intermediate to Junior. That means the round robin format, which people have complained about in the past because of dead rubber matches, this should mean there are no dead rubber matches.”