College programmed for Collingwood success | Stephen Barry

When UCC stepped onto the field yesterday in UUJ for their first round Collingwood Cup clash with NUIG, they undoubtedly did so with a sense of readiness which stems from the Player Development Programme which all of the team will have been exposed to since their arrivals in the college. Indeed in speaking to the head of this programme, Greg Yelverton, on Friday it was easy to sense the anticipation ahead of college football’s premier intervarsity tournament.“John Caulfield, Noel Healy and Conor Uhl are the coaches and they’re very excited about the Collingwood Cup. Last year it didn’t go to plan, but this year the preparations have been good; the lads have been doing very well in the Munster Senior League Premier Division so confidence is high in the club at the moment. They’re going there as a team unit where a lot of other universities and colleges probably wouldn’t have played as much as the UCC lads have. But it’s knock out football so anything can happen. Form goes out the window when it’s a cup competition.”However through the Mardyke-based Player Development Programme, which focuses on strength and conditioning (Jeff Gomez), sport science (Trevor Woods) and nutrition (Conor O’Keeffe), Yelverton believes that the players are well positioned to battle through the gruelling four-day intervarsity.Throughout the year the squad have trained Tuesdays and Thursdays with Caulfield and his team as well as squad gym sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays. They’re tested regularly with body fat testing, 10- and 30-metre sprint tests, yo-yo intermittent tests and follow individualised diet and gym-work plans. They get recovery shakes after training and games and do performance analysis reviews with Len Browne in the Mardyke two or three times a year.“The feedback we get from the guys is great because ultimately they’re nearly full-time. They’re training four or five days a week and we’re hoping that we’ll help them develop for when they leave UCC; that they can carry on the professionalism of what they’re doing and hopefully play in a higher level, and obviously they’ll have the attributes to do it.”That higher level which Yelverton sets as a target for his players is the League of Ireland, something which has been achieved by one of the first graduates of the programme, Michael McSweeney, who lines out with Mervue United. However there are plenty more who could make that step this year: “Josh O’Shea is someone who’s going to graduate but I’m hoping that he will link in with one of the League of Ireland teams be it Limerick, Waterford, Cobh or Cork City - but he’d be someone who has great potential. We’ve Andrew Neville there that obviously has potential too.”Because of this, the links which Yelverton has developed with Cork City are hugely important as they help provide players for the programme as well as a place to graduate to after. This link has been built upon by the college as they recently became partners with Cork City who will now work with the likes of Gomez and Browne this season.“I think it’s because of our programme that Cork City have seen what we’re doing with our players and they’ve now come into the Mardyke Arena and looked to do pre-season with their first team players. So it just shows you that the programme we’ve in place is something that now Airtricity League teams are looking at and have actually looked to do.”However, while imitation is the best form of flattery, the focus for Yelverton remains on developing students as only last week the Senior team earned a place in the Donie Forde Cup final against Avondale United. “I think this year we’ve really shown, after a couple of years of being in the programme, that our players are getting stronger and better because they’re doing fantastically well in the Munster Senior League.”And while the Collingwood is the immediate focus, he is already looking to the next batch of Collingwood players: “I’m recruiting for the UCC soccer programme so I go to schools we talk about our school programme. We talk about the Player Development Programme and we’re trying to get the best young players in Cork and Munster to come to UCC because a lot of people don’t understand that they can develop as a player in college and obviously get a degree as well.”