Emerging Talent
The FAI Emerging Talent Programme helps identify and develop talented young players around the country with a view to helping them progress onto the international stage in due course.
As the governing body of a country with no professional underage competition/coaching/development structure there is an obligation to assist in the structured development of young players countrywide for all facets of the game
There is now a structured programme of development, which mirrors best practice in European and World standards, at League, Regional and National level to assist clubs and leagues
Emerging Talent Programme Aims
* To provide emerging talent with the opportunity to train within their own area in a more structured and quality environment
* To provide a higher quantity and quality of players for National and International teams
* To improve the quality of players across all levels of the game countrywide
* To identify, develop, monitor and evaluate players in the Under 11-15 age groups
* To enable emerging talent to develop all of their capacities to their potential
* To provide emerging talent with a more challenging level of training and development
The Pathway will now be:
League Centres (Born 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) | Regional Emerging Talent Block training (Born in 2010) | Centres of Excellence (Born in 2009) |
---|---|---|
30 Schoolboy leagues | 10 centres (one group per centre) | 10 centres (one group per centre) |
Training weekly | 8 blocks of 2 days | 27 training nights & 7 matches |
National Academy (Players born 2008 to March 2022: Players born 2009 to March 2023: Players born 2010 begin September 2022 to March 2024) |
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1 National Centre |
23 events per age cycle |
Area | Venue |
---|---|
Athlone | Athlone Town Stadium (Centre of Excellence and Regional Block) |
Carlow | Ballon FC, Carlow (Centre of Excellence) |
Castlebar | Solar 21 Park (Centre of Excellence and Regional Block) |
Cavan | Kingscourt Harps (Centre of Excellence) |
Cork | Carrigaline United (Regional Block) |
Cork | Douglas Hall FC (Centre of Excellence) |
Donegal | Ballyare (Centre of Excellence) |
Donegal | Letterkenny Community Centre (Regional Block) |
Galway | Mervue United (Centre of Excellence and Regional Block) |
Limerick | University of Limerick (Centre of Excellence and Regional Block) |
Meath | MDL Grounds, Navan (Regional Block) |
Waterford | Waterford IT (Centre of Excellence and Regional Block) |
Wexford | Bunclody AFC (Regional Block) |
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