Cork Urban Development Project

Newsletter

September 2011

John Neville

Cork Urban Development Officer

Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí

September Introduction:

I would like to welcome you to the September Report of Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí Urban Development Project. Now into its third and final month, the Cork Urban Development Project has been a huge success with players of all descriptions given the opportunity to showcase their Gaelic Game skills in urban areas of Cork. Cork City clubs have shown great support towards increasing participation rates and welcoming in new members in our communities. I believe that the performance levels of clubs have improved from child right up to adult level as a result of the urban development project initiatives.

In August, Cork people responded in droves to the new recreational Gaelic games - GAA Abú. Games we're run successfully in Delany's, Togher, Ballyphehane and at a number of public locations as well as being launched in Leisureworld -a Cork Leisure company. ‘Games on the Green' has continued to expand, with events taking place in Ballyvolane and Mahon. Cork's youth were given the chance to represent their county in Pairc Ui Chaoimh as Super-Touch games we're ran in the fourth week of August against Waterford clubs.

Perhaps the most exciting work carried out in August was the revival of underage clubs in Ballyphehane, Redmonds, Lough Rover's and Delany's. The enthusiasm of the children and coaches in these clubs is infectious and I believe establishing new underage sections will improve the performance levels both on and off the playing fields.

I believe that I have delivered the Cork Urban Development Project to the best of my abilities. I am sure that the presence of Gaelic games in Cork is stronger and more enjoyable as a result of the coaching work that has been carried out to date. I have no doubt that Cork GAA will continue to develop successfully into the future as a result of the work.

Seán PóL ó Nia

Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí

GAA Abu here to stay! -August 2011 - John Neville

In August, GAA Abú really took off with large numbers recorded at events in Dublin Hill, Churchfield, Bishopstown, Ballyphehane and at the Lough in Cork City. Leisureworld (a Cork leisure company) have adopted the games into their facilities as the popularity of these games continues to expand.

John Neville contacted Mark McManus, Cork Hurling Physical Trainer about the possibility of running such games in Leisureworld.

"The games are fast, players get lots of touches and there is a real buzz around the centres since we introduced GAA Abu on August tenth. As a Scotsman, I wouldn't have imagined myself ever actually hurling but Caman Abú has given me that opportunity. The banter it's created amongst the staff is terrific"!

Apart from the Leisureworld events, a club Peil Abu Blitz is set to take place on September third in Delany's GAA club situated in Dublin Hill. The event is set to attract ten teams with event's kicking off at 2pm. Teams are comprised of ten players, five men and five women with each team that enters getting four games. Many of the clubs that will be attending will not have experienced GAA Abú before and already interest has been shown towards bringing games to new locations.

 "Peil Abú is really enjoyable. The fun element is there for all to see and players of all shapes and sizes can come out to give their best efforts and enjoy the healthy exercise. I believe that each club has the numbers available to run fun, social Gaelic games regularly" - John Neville

Turners  Cross Hurling Blitz

Four club teams competed in the Turners Cross/ South Douglas Road hurling blitz on Saturday August 20^th. The blitz was held in the Nemo Rangers complex with the host club, Valley Rovers, Bishopstown and Carrigaline present. In total 55 children were on hand to have fun participating in hurling action.

The Turners Cross/ South Douglas Road Hurling Blitz was run as part of the GAA National Urban Development Plan which is also supported by Cork Sports Partnership. John Neville of St.Finbarr's NHF is the Cork Urban Development Project coordinator:

John Neville (Cork Urban Development Officer) had much praise for the host club:

"Well done to Nemo Rangers for hosting and promoting such a successful hurling blitz. The pitch looked brilliant, the sun was out and all supporters were well catered for. I was very impressed with the new Hurling Wall being built next to the main pitch - it will definitely help to progress the levels of hurling in the club".

Ronan Curran on Cork Teenagers Hurling

Cork Teenagers we're given the chance to hurl with their hero's at the Cork GAA Coaching Clinic in Blackrock during July and August. The event was organised by Kevin O Callaghan (Games Manager), Brian Murphy (GDA Imokilly) Paudie O' Brien, (Seandún GDA) and John Neville (Cork Urban Development Officer) in conjunction with Coiste Oiliuna Chorcai, 02 and Mycro Sport.

This event was open to all Teengers aged 13 to 15 across Cork City and County. Coaches on hand included inter-county players Ronan Curran, Brian Murphy, Eoin Cadogan, Conor Lehane, Martin Coleman Damien Cahalane and  Jamie O' Sullivan.

Ronan Curran, St.Finbarr's NHF, was very impressed with the level of talent in Blackrock

"The playing standard is constantly rising every year, especially at underage level. Skill levels have improved since I was playing underage hurling. The playing levels at this coaching clinic were very high - with 83 boys present it's a good sign for the future of Cork Hurling".

What was the standard like? Did you have to be of a certain standard to participate?

"The players here (in Blackrock) were fit, skilful, strong and agile! I'm amazed at the range of skills the boys already have at fourteen years of age, remember this wasn't a handpicked group - it was open to all Cork Teenagers".

Compared to when Ronan was a youngster, what particular areas of the teenagers hurling did he think stood out above the rest?

"Definitely the quality of guys first touch and their ability to strike comfortably off both left and right hand side. If you can't control the ball you can't do much. Once you have the ball in your hand it's important to make the right choices - do I give a long pass, short pass, take a shot? All these decisions happen so fast in a game that players must have a large arsenal of skills".

How did Ronan find coaching rather than playing?

"I definitely enjoyed the camp; it's vital that players at all levels give something back toward the development of underage players at some stage. I hope that the boys present here took home some new ideas and they continue to fine tune their skills in practice and in their own time".

Ronan was interviewed by John Neville as part of the Just Play - National Urban Development Project. The project is aimed at increasing participation levels of GAA by 20% for 2016.

Cork Coaching Education

Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí will be continuing the pursuit of coaching excellence during the winter months through the delivery of Foundation and Level one coaching courses as well as a number of workshops.

The Foundation course material has been revisited in recent years to provide a more up to date and effective education for those interested in coaching the basic skills of Gaelic games. The Foundation course covers both theoretical and practical elements of coaching a nursery and underage player.

The Level one course is aimed at developing the player in more depth; in particular looking at the material covered in the GAA OTú Interactive Coaching Model. Coaches are encouraged to develop the 3 P's and 3 T's - Technical Proficiency, Tactical Awareness, Team Play, Psychological Focus, Physical Fitness and Playing Facts.

Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí are also looking forward to hosting a number of Coaching Clinics including a newly designed workshop - ‘Teenage Physical Development'. This workshop is aimed at improving the fitness levels of teenage players through a variety of regimes such as strength work, agility, plyometrics, speed, flexibility, proper preparation, rest and nutrition. This workshop has been planned to take place in Pairc Ui Rinn in October and places are limited.

To aid in coaching education, Coiste Oiliuna Chorcai have made ‘Fun Do' Resource packs for both Hurling and Football available to clubs and schools throughout Cork. These packs provide quality visual resources for coaches to periodically plan coaching sessions. This enables coaches to progress the performance levels step by step in a well thought out and controlled manner. 

First Cork Inclusion and Integration Committee Formed

On August 20^th 2011, the first Cork Inclusion and Integration Committee was formed in Rochestown Park Hotel. Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí personnel Kevin O' Callaghan, Paudie O' Brien and John Neville were present at the historical event amongst Proinnsias Ó Murchu (an Runai, Cork GAA), Tony Watene (GAA National Inclusion Officer), John Landers (Munster GAA Inclusion Officer) and Liam O' Laochdha (Oifigeach na Gaeilge Chorcaí).  Cork Camogie, Ladies Football and Handball Associations were also represented at the historical meeting. The main objective of the Cork Inclusion and Integration Committee (CIIC) is to increase Gaelic games and cultural activity in Cork, by welcoming both new and established communities to participate.

A variety of groups were represented at the meeting from which most, were under the umbrella of the New Communities Partnership.  The New Communities Partnership (NCP) is an independent national network of 117 ethnic minority led groups comprising of 75 nationalities with offices in Dublin, Limerick and Cork.  Some of the people present were from Somalia, Ghana, Nigeria, Britain, New Zealand and Cork.

Also in attendance were Jerry O'Regan and Mairead Ní Mhaoileόin from Rebel Wheelers.  Rebel Wheelers, founded in 2008 provides sports inclusion for those aged between 5 -18 with a physical disability. The Club has achieved many accolades including Cork Sports Partnership Club of the year award, Patrick's Days Parade - Best Sporting Club and at National level, they have athletes who have achieved great heights including Alan Dineen who won IWA - Junior Sports Person of the year.

The CIIC intends to use both traditional and modified Gaelic games to attract new members. The full gamut of Gaelic games will be put in place for intending members to experience our games and culture, first hand. This message will be directly relayed to the various communities, by the community members who sit on the CIIC.

Apart from coaching and games opportunities, the CIIC aims to promote both Irish and non-Irish cultures through the promotion of traditional dance, music and drama. The committee will also look into introducing Gaeilge to its newest GAA members.  

Already, the CIIC are planning a ‘Have a Go Day' on September 17^th in the Delany's GAA club where Gaelic games and culture, mixed with new foods and sounds, will be combined to invite both new and established communities to take part.

Underage action revived in proud Cork Clubs

Delany's, Ballyphehane, Rochestown, Lough Rovers and Redmond's GAA clubs have received a needed boost with the revival of underage hurling and football clubs under the guidance of John Neville, Cork Urban Development Officer.

Hurling in the Ballyphehane club has begun for children aged 6 to 16 years of age twice a week - Monday and Friday evenings at 5 pm. Football training takes place on Wednesdays at 3pm at the pitch on Tramore Road. As well as underage action, the Ballyphehane adult section has been kept active through GAA Abú on Friday evenings. The club are running a football festival in September catering for all ages of the Ballyphehane community and in October, a Foundation level coaching course will be run by Coiste Oiliuna Chorcai for Ballyphehane members.

Also on Cork's south-side, an amalgamation of the Lough Rover's and Redmond's GAA clubs is being planned to cater for children and youths living in Greenmount, the Lough, Sullivan's Quay and Tower Street areas. Local primary and secondary schools will initially be targeted to inform locals of the underage club amalgamation as well as contacting local youth groups.

Rochestown GAA; based in the South east of the Seandún division are also set to form a fun underage youth club in the coming weeks. The club are based in the Rochestown College, famous for its outdoor hurling alleys.

On the north side of Cork City, Delany's GAA underage section has also been busy with action taking place on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings for children and teenagers aged 5 to 15 years of age. Coaching sessions are open to both boys and girls with the primary goal being to ‘have fun in a safe, respectful and friendly environment'. Delany's underage section will see plenty of action in this autumn with the Delany's ‘Have a Go Day' taking place on Saturday September 24^th, catering for children, youths and adults.  Also pencilled in for the Dublin Hill club are ‘Games on the Green', a ‘Have a Go Day' for the local primary schools and the continuation of the successful GAA Abú games on Tuesday evenings.  

Sarah Maher is coordinating the nursery coaching in Delany's:

"The club has recognised that we need to get a strong underage presence up and running again in the Dublin Hill and Kilbarry area. Delany's are taking a different approach towards how we coach the children and teenagers. Our main task is to provide the Delany's players with a fun filled GAA orientated hour twice a week; we are not going to ask the children to participate in events that they are not capable of competing in".

"Enjoyment is key- we will teach those present how to perform the skills of hurling and football and also organise fun events for the group away from the playing field". 

Cork GAA is very much up to date with modern society with the re-launch of Cork GAA social media outlets. Cork GAA information is now available through Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and the Cork GAA website.

A number of coaching and playing videos have been uploaded onto Youtube showcasing the developments of Urban GAA initiatives such as GAA Abu and action from the Cork GAA Senior Hulring Coaching Camp held in Blackrock through August. Other coaching clips that have been uploaded include sessions conducted by Denis Walsh, Keith Ricken and Donal O' Grady.

The Cork GAA Urban Development Project has been growing in popularity with 645 of followers on the Facebook page ‘Just Play Cork'. The page was redesigned in July to appeal more to the Cork public, where photos and videos are uploaded regularly to keep followers of the page in tune with Gaelic games action. Apart from ‘Just Play Cork', Cork GAA and RebelOg/Coiste Na NOg Facebook pages are regularly updated so as information regarding a specific area is readily available.

The Twitter site was also launched in August - ‘CorkGAAUrbanProject' - where event updates are regularly tweeted about as they happen on site.

Skills on Show at Super-Touch Games

On August 22^nd,Pairc Ui Chaoimh was the venue as three Cork teams competed against their Waterford counterparts in Super-Touch hurling.  Blackrock, Sarsfields and Midleton represented the Rebel county in lift and strike hurling games against De La Salle, Mount Sion and Butlerstown. Great fun was had by all involved; many players had never hurled in an inter-county ground before and there was a great sense of excitement throughout the whole day. The event was coordinated by John Neville with Paudie O' Brien (Seandún GDA) and Eoin Morrissey (Waterford Urban Development Officer) was also on hand to oversee the hurling action.  

The following day, a Cork Super-Touch Hurling Blitz was held in Pairc Uí Rinn with club sides Mayfield, Brian Dillons and St. Finbarr's taking part. Again, great fun was had with every player present getting a full game and plenty of touches of the sliothar.

The Super-Touch games allocate for teams of eight to eleven a side. Games last thirty minutes - fifteen minutes a half and the goals are brought in 21 meters from the end-line. The width of the pitch is also reduced with the sidelines being moved ten meters infield either side. The games are based upon the lift and strike principle with handling of the sliothar being allowed from a clean puck. Players are not permitted to roll or jab-lift the ball into the hand.

I hope you enjoyed the September edition of the Cork Urban Development Project Newsletter. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí, the Cork GDA's, clubs, communities and the people of Cork over the past three months in promoting Gaelic games. I look forward to seeing Cork GAA being successful on and off the playing fields.

Is mise,

Seán Pól ó Nia

Coiste Oiliúna Chorcaí

Cork Urban Development Officer

urbancoordinator.cork@gaa.ie

Facebook ‘Just Play Cork'

086-3605344