Munster Cadets Reach Milestone

The first group of Munster Cadets were presented with certificates of achievement from Munster Ian Dowling on Tuesday.

Having come together in February of this year, the first batch of Munster Cadets received their certificates on Tuesday from Munster star Ian Dowling on the completion of the first year of their two year skills programme. They also benefited from the expertise of Munster Fitness Coaches Fergal O Callaghan and Tom Comyns who were on hand on the day.

The Munster Cadets have spawned from a development initiative to tap into young rugby talent from non traditional rugby areas, and identifying this talent at an early stage. This Munster Development initiative is a programme focusing on U.14 level players, and is designed to improve skills levels in the area at club level, identify elite youth players and provide an appropriate development pathway towards representative rugby for them. The programme is backed by the Munster Branch and the IRFU Munster Rugby Development Office.

This programme is the brainchild of a group of like-minded people which includes Pat Whelan, Nenagh Ormond (Project Coordinator), John Lacey (Regional Development Officer) and Pat Collins (Technical Adviser), Paul Collins (Youth Development Officer) and Region Coordinators Sean Devaney Fethard (Mid-region) and David Bowe Waterpark (Southern region).

The current crop of Munster Cadets have come from clubs in the East Munster region, where the programme was introduced earlier this year. The players were identified through skills clinics which took place all over the region. The skills programme at club level has been implemented at three levels. Players who complete the skills courses are awarded merit badges, with the bronze and silver badges presented after assessment within the club. Players wishing to attain the gold badge are assessed regionally by the Technical Advisors. Players who achieve the gold standard will then be invited for screening for the Munster Cadets. Phase 2 involves the development and mentoring of the young players who make it into the elite programme and will involve specialist coaching and training camps.

The current group of Munster Cadets will have one skills session a month until February before they begin Year 2. The Cadet programme will shortly be launched throughout the province and run in North, South, West and East Munster. It is estimated that this will be up and running within the next 2 months. A new intake of Munster Cadets, which will encompass all four Munster regions, will begin Year 1 at the same time.

Munster Cadets 2006/7

Photo

Back Row: John Lacey, RDO; Paul Collins, RDO; Fergal O Callaghan; Michael Long (Nenagh Ormond); Anthony Collins (Nenagh Ormond); Tony Cantwell (Clonmel); Ross Mullane (Clonmel); Stephen Hoare (Cashel); Brian Kissane (Clanwilliam); Jack McCaffrey (Waterford City); Ian Dowling, Patrick Collins (RDO)

Front Row: Robert O Donnell (Kilfeacle); Roger Peters (Kilfeacle); Matthew Fitzgerald (Fethard); Michael O Dwyer (Carrick on Suir); Ian Smyth (Waterpark); Declan White (Carrick on Suir); Andrew Kelleher (Cashel); Brian O Rahilly (Clanwilliam); Mark Deegan (Waterpark)

Project Lead Team: