In September, we started back the Primary Schools coaching programme. A workshop was held in Pairc ui Rinn which gave the Club School Link Coaches a few new ideas to assist their coaching in the schools this year. In association with the clubs, who are the main stakeholders and the primary schools, we hope that every school will have some amount of coaching throughout the year. If your childs school does not receive regular coaching assistance, then let me know and i will work with the school and the local club to provide some assistance.

In October, every school will be invited to attend the Primary Schools Football Skills competition. The schools in the city are invited to send 3 players to represent their school in the City regional final. These players will then take part in the competition of various Football skills, which can be obtained from me and also seen on the video in the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL_XhqloDoE&list=UU32JMu4DI-gIzJ998ZqK_dw 

 

The City regional final will take place in Pairc ui Rinn on Thursday 16th October at 3.30.

Schools are asked to contact me in advance to confirm attendance.

Since the middle of September, I have been running a number of Transition Year coach education programmes within the city, Nagle CC, Deerpark CBS and Gaelcholaiste Mhuire. Plans to do the programme in other schools later in the year are in place and it is hoped to cover most of the Post Primary Schools in the city who wish to take part.

An example of the positive effects of this programme are evident in Mon AG, where on a Monday from 2.30-3.20 the Sciath na Scoil team from North Monastery primary school are currently being coached by the first crop of TY students.  The students will also in time coach in other primary schools in assistance with the Club School Link coaches. Another project that is ongoing for the TYs, is the organisation of internal 1st Year Blitzes. More information on these below.

Munster Council have kindly given us t-shirts to promote GAA in schools. From these, we are running internal First Year Football blitzes. These blitzes will be 6-8 a side and will take in at least 3 matches for each team. St Francis, Rochestown were the first school to complete these. Over 40 first years turned up for a morning of hurling in the school pitch. 6 teams played a total of 6 games each which took place over 150 minutes. The level of Hurling on display was excellent and this has been echoed elsewhere. The transition year students, managed (Bragging rights were on offer) refereed and coordinated this event. Elsewhere, John Holly, Billy Byrne and Denis Murphy will assist other schools to run the blitzes.

We are into the final rotation of Blitzes. We have 6 Blitzes left to run within the city. They are kicking off this weekend with the U8 in St Finbarrs and U9 Hurling in Carrigtwohill and Mayfield and will finish on Saturday 25th with U10 Football in Nemo Rangers. There will be medals presented to all the players and a Cork player will be on hand to present them on each occasion.

Overall, the blitzes have been a fantastic success this year, with over 8,500 children taking part in blitzes in the city alone and we expect to cater for over 1,500 in the coming 4 weeks, which is a tremendous testament to the work being done by each club in the city.

I will give an attendance list for the leading performers at the end of the month.

Club workshops will be available for all clubs from mid October onward, in areas where a need is identified.

We are also running a Foundation Course, open to all clubs in the City. Contact me on colm.crowley.gda.cork@gaa.ie for more details. 

Over the past 6 months, we have been working away with over 50 Hurlers and Footballers, in an effort to expose a large number of players to the higher levels of playing and coaching. Panels are currently being finalised for the upcoming Regional Tournaments which will kick off over the Halloween holidays. We expect to have two very competitive squads in both codes. We have a trip planned for a part of the Hurling panel, along with a team from the other 3 regions to Dublin for the middle of October. 

Challenge matches in both codes have taken place over the summer and more games are planned for the coming weeks.

If you have any queries, about any of the topics highlighted in this issue, feel free to contact me and i will be happy to assist.

Colm Crowley

GDA Seandun

086 3687799

colm.crowley.gda.cork@gaa.ie