THE LIMERICK District Schoolchildren League (LDSL) has come in for criticism by one of its coaches for spending in excess of €23,000 on ‘elite’ competition while many young players are walking away from the sport because they can’t get a game.
Volunteer coach Dave Walsh, who has years of experience working with young players in Limerick and Waterford, told the Limerick Post that he believes money spent on competitions for the league’s top players would be put to better use encouraging the less experienced youngsters to improve their skills and get more games.
“The point is supposed to be encouraging the young players, all the young players. You have kids coming every week who never get a touch of the ball. They get a few games over the whole season because the better players are out there – they’re not going to keep coming to training every week to stand there and not get a game,” he told this newspaper.
The volunteer coach says that the current rigid emphasis on winning is ruining the love of the sport for the average players, who make up the majority.
“They don’t get a look in. The focus is all on brining on the good players, winning cups. That’s not what families are paying their membership fees for,” he says.
Mr Walsh points to the Gaynor and Kennedy Cup costs, which according to the Limerick District Soccer League accounts were €47,500 in 2023, a sum accounting for two seasons of the cups, leaving the spend for one season in excess of €23,000.
This is in comparison to costs of just over €10,000 for the previous year and a cost of €10,000 last year for the Waterford league, which is of similar size but, the frustrated coach points out, had to incur travel and accommodation expenses to bring teams to Limerick for those competitions.
“It seems a very large amount of money in comparison. I don’t know why Limerick should spend so much more, but that’s not really the issue,” he says.
“The issue is that if there is that amount to spend, why not spend it on sending professional coaches into all the clubs? Even for one session each?
“All the league does for clubs is provide a referee. The coaches are volunteers but the difference a professional coach can make is amazing. What we do as volunteer coaches is not a patch on what a professional can do.”
Mr Walsh said that “a lot of people involved, including parents, would prefer to see some of that money spent on encouraging the weaker kids and letting them get out and get a game”.
“This whole focus on glory and winning is destroying the chances of keeping the majority of kids interested and coming to play and train. And when they’re coming to play, they’re not out there on the streets getting involved with the wrong things.”
The Limerick Post asked for a response on multiple occasions from the board but none was forthcoming at the time of going to print.
