Rebel Óg had sent clubs a brief outline of the planned games programme for the year and other relevant information. As per the national decision, the primary age grades are U13, 15, and 17. There will be leagues and championships at U15 and 17, league only at U13 in accordance with rule. Championships will be run on a round-robin basis, followed by semi-finals and finals at the primary age grades.
The first teams of clubs at these age levels will be graded as Premier 1, Premier 2, Division 1, Division 2, or Division 3. There will be second-team and C3 competitions at these age levels. Second teams will be graded in Division 4 or Division 5.
U12, 14, and 16 are secondary age grades. There will be a league only at U12. There will be league and championship at U14 and U16.
U14 and 16 leagues are confined to players on the age. U14 and 16 championships will be knockout, eligibility will be in accordance with general rule.
The U14 championships will be played in May/June during the exam break, U16 championship will be played late in the year, similar to 2021.
Rebel Óg encourages clubs to enter second and/or C3 teams at primary age-grades, particularly at U15 and 17 and to enter U14 and 16 leagues only where they clearly have enough active players on the age.
Second Team competitions will be league and championship, C3 will be league only. Please note that general rule applies to second teams, 15 players must be named for the first team.
All other eligible players can play with the second team until the championship, players are subsequently tied to a team by championship participation.
C3 eligibility does not change during the season, 10 players are named for the first team (where a club enters a first and C3 team) and all other eligible players can play C3 throughout the season.
Second Team games and C3 games will be scheduled for the same day. Records show that there are very few clubs able to field a second team and a C3 team; those clubs will be allowed to move the dates of their games to avoid a clash.
There will be two competitions in each code at U12 and 13 in 2022. The first competition will be a grading competition and will consist of three or four games. The teams will then be graded for the main competitions which will have bigger groups and more games.
This is necessary as Rebel Óg has very little information about the standard of these age groups due to the disruption caused by two years of Covid. At U12, the five-goal rule will apply. This states that if a team scores more than five goals in a game, the sixth and subsequent goals are each counted as a point.
