How to Spot Them, Support Them, and Keep Your Season on Track

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of coaching one of the bigger Dublin clubs. These were dedicated boys on a mission—to win a championship. The coaches were excellent, the culture was sharp, and the training environment was serious. I was brought in to handle the S&C, and honestly, it was one of the most enjoyable setups I’ve been a part of.

At the time, though, I was still wearing my intercounty hat a little too tightly. I was used to having almost complete control over players. But the club world—especially when the club is successful—can be a different beast. Good, well-run clubs often become victims of their own progress.

During the most important phase of training—the preseason—we had players all over the place. Some were away playing in the O’Byrne Cup, others were wrapped up in Sigerson football, and a few were simply burned out from the year before and planned to return “when the season got going properly.” Suddenly, I was trying to build an engine without having all the parts. And that’s what you’ll find in most progressive clubs or counties.

The more talent and ambition you have, the more pull there is on the players’ time and energy.

And it’s not just a club problem. In county setups, players slip through the cracks all the time. I’ve seen it up close. You’ll always have a few lads who somehow miss the fitness testing every single time. And unless you have a proper rehab framework, injured players become ghosts—never quite returning to the same physical condition because nobody pushed them hard enough on the cardio side during their recovery.

You need to get ahead of this as an S&C coach, because here’s the harsh truth: you’ll be the one blamed for a lack of physical progress—even if the player never turned up in the first place. It's near-impossible to get someone fit off sporadic attendance, no matter how good your programming is. If I’m totally honest, I haven’t always done these things myself. I’m writing this article not just to offer advice to others, but to borderline remind myself of what I need to keep doing.

Coaching isn’t about perfection—it’s about learning, adapting, and trying to raise the standard, even when it feels like an uphill battle.

So what can you actually do about it?

6 Practical Strategies to Keep Players from Falling Through the Cracks

1. Tier Your Group: Core, Fringe, Conditional

Privately categorise your players:

• • Core: Regular attendees, key players

• • Fringe: Developing, less regular

• • Conditional: Talented but inconsistent or juggling commitments

Why? It helps tailor expectations and communication. Not everyone’s on the same path, so don’t treat them like they are.

2. Create an Accountability Map

Sit down with the head coach and ask:
“Who are your 6–8 non-negotiables this year?”
Then compare that list to your S&C attendance and performance logs.
You’ll often find key players that have barely trained. This gives you a clearer picture—and a conversation starter before the season blows up.

3. Use Floating Sessions for Part-Timers

Build optional but structured sessions for the Sigerson lads, dual players, and irregulars:

• • Saturday morning conditioning

• • Midweek individual top-up with clear goals

• • Remote tracking (even just a Strava group)

You’re not letting them off—you’re building in flexibility without compromising standards. I believe the great Mick O'Dwyer used to do catch up sessions with his teams all the time, there could be a clue there.

4. Own Your Audit Trail

Keep a simple log of:

• • Attendance - utterly crucial

• • Physical testing benchmarks - i.e. Testing, if nothing else it keeps players on their toes.

• • Rehab timelines - Don't make a 3 week injury a 5 week one.

When the pressure comes (and it will), this gives you data instead of excuses.

5. Communicate Like Clockwork

Have short but regular check-ins with the head coach.
Talk about who's progressing, who's not, and who’s being lost in the noise. If you’re not aligned, you’ll end up chasing different goals.

6. Show Players What Good Looks Like

Build a visible culture:

• • A “what to bring to training” board

• • Photos of ideal kit (boots, GPS, tape, extras)

• • Benchmarks for return-to-play or standards for preseason.

This point isn't so much about missing training, but more about standards when they are there.

You Need a Driver

All of this is just systems without one thing: a person willing to drive it.

It reminds me of something I heard years ago while working as a GPO with St. Jude’s. We were sitting down with the principal of a local school the club was targeting for stronger engagement. The club committee were being respectful, saying:
"We can send someone out to lend a hand."

The principal interrupted and said something that stuck with me ever since:
“Lend a hand? I want someone to come here and DRIVE it.”

That’s the difference.
That’s what change actually looks like.

In any county or club—especially the so-called “weaker” ones—if you want to stop players slipping through the cracks, you need someone with eyes open, sleeves rolled, and a bit of fight in them. Someone who’s not afraid to chase a player, to have the awkward conversations, to demand the standard—even when it’s inconvenient.

Final Word

This is one of those topics where S&C meets culture. The players who miss most of preseason will often be the ones you’re told to “get right” for championship. That won’t happen unless you start tracking, challenging, and adjusting early. Especially at club level, where chaos is often built into the calendar, you need to accept the unpredictability—but not surrender to it.

The players will respect it.
The team will benefit.
And you’ll have fewer regrets come the sharp end of the year.