Cumann Pheadair Naofa coaches and Games Coaching Development Committee have had a very busy September to December preparing for the new season. Without doubt, every club has a look at their coaching policies and education in the off-season and strives to find the next step. They devised a plan that we believe will be of maximum benefit to any young person who wants to join our club. We understand that not all will stay for life and become senior players, however, our aim is to give any young person who wishes to start their sporting life with Cumann Pheadair Naofa the best possible guidance and start to their athletic life.

Our club coaches, who had only just put their feet up after a hard 2018 season, have been attending informative interactive classes over the past 3 weeks.

The second week in January saw this programme launched! In St Mark’s fantastic facilities our underage season kicked off with our lead coaches showing proper techniques and form and helping out with the drills. Averil Campbell finished the sessions off with 15 minutes of flexibility. Flexibility is a vital part of these sessions and the expertise and knowledge in this area that Averil brings mean that our young Gaels leave the session fresher and more flexible, than when they arrived.

Hopefully the message being sent out from the “Games Coaching Development Committee” that “Quality supersedes Quantity” and “Technique achieves Speed” will resonate with these young Gaels.

A massive thanks to our coaches of each team, who are the heart and lungs of a vibrant underage multi-coded club. These men and women give freely and unconditionally of their time to put others first. Thanks also to section chairpeople Shane Carr, Noreen Kelly, Colette Lock and Yvonne McFerran, their work in getting this up and running has been invaluable.

By michelle Mon 14th Jan