When do you promote gifted minors?

An intermediate club manager is in a bind: "We have two lads on the county minor panel this year. They are very good footballers. Both are minor next year. Any views on whether or not it would be right to play them on our intermediate club team this year? We've actually a good chance of winning a county championship."

We put the question to Peter Dobbyn, who has coached at junior, intermediate and senior level in Kildare, with Kilcullen, Two Mile House and Grange, who won the county JFC in 2005 before making it to the intermediate semis the next year.

He has a lot of experience of this issue and he is also currently dealing with it at "The House". "I never have a problem playing talented young fellas, as long as it's done properly," he says. "We're blooding a couple of county minors this year. We don't just throw them in at the deep end. They know they're not going to be playing full games, they know they're not going to be involved in every game and they know there is no pressure on them. We bring them in slowly so that it doesn't become a burden to them."

Dobbyn believes training with adult teams is almost as important as playing matches at that level. "It depends on the individual," he says, "but you have to make sure they don't get blackguarded. The captain and vice-captain have an important role to play here; they need to take them under their wing, give them advice and watch out for them really."

With precocious young talents, burnout is an ever-present danger. Dobbyn believes his slow and gentle introduction to adult football helps guard against this unwelcome phenomenon. He also thinks the club should never be cut out of the loop by county commitments.

"It can be a funny situation – some lads can go flat-out from age 17 to 34 at all levels and never get tired, while others can get burned out and suffer from a lot of injuries. In general, I would say that if you're good enough you're old enough. It's just a case of using common sense and not rushing anyone into situations they are not ready for, and always leave a night aside for club training. You have to find that happy medium."

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