83 COACHING AND GAMES DEVELOPMENT ‘QUALITY ACTIVITY IN 2012’ The past year has been a very busy one for everybody involved in Galway Coaching and Games Development. There was a high level of activity in Football, Hurling, Kellogs Cúl Camps and Coach Education. Coach Education Activity. Coach education classes commenced on January 6th. Foundation level and Level 1 courses, as well as ‘Code of Best Practice’ courses, were held in venues throughout the county and included venues like Dunmore, Loughgeorge, Oranmore, Tynagh, Gort, Carnmore Leitir Mór and Kinvara. Moneenageisha College was a hive of activity with GAA courses taking place weekly in January, February and March. Referee and Coach Education courses for Secondary School Transition year students were held in GMIT in January. In statistical terms there were 198 completions at foundation level and 217 completions at Award 1 level. Football Coaching Development. There was a significant level of activity in under age football. The Primary Schools Coaching programme commenced in April and proved a great success in all National Schools. In addition, First and Second year Secondary School blitzes took place in Loughgeorge in May. Work with the various Development Squads also commenced in May, and continued up until the end of September. Galway had three development squads at U-14 level representing North Galway, Mid Galway and West Galway. These development squads took part in the ‘Sean Purcell’ tournament in August. At U15 level, Galway also had three development squads representing the same geographical areas as the U-14 squads. Our U-16 squads participated in the annual ‘Ted Webb’ tournament, and in an excellent final in Ballyhaunis the Galway North/East team had a narrow victory over the Galway City and West team. Our U-17 squad played Kerry in a tournament game in Ionad Peil na Gaillimhe in September. In all over five hundred players from the football clubs of Galway received coaching and development during the year. Hurling Coaching Development. Similar to football development, there was an increased level of hurling activity and related development in Galway in 2012. City schools coaching commenced in January. Gaeltacht schools hurling commenced in February and the ten week programme ‘Hurling into the Schools’ commenced in March. In addition to this there were several ‘Go Games Blitzes’ for U-8’s, U-10’s as well as the Galway Mini League U-12 Blitzs. The games were played in many venues throughout Galway including Kenny Park, Athenry. Development and training with our under age squads commenced in May with the Connacht Club Féile Tournament at the Centre of excellence in Ballyhaunis. At U-14 level Galway had three development squads with two of these teams participating in the Tony Forristal tournament in Waterford in August. Our third development squad took part in the Connolly/Cunniffe tournament in Padraig Pearses GAA Grounds, Roscommon. Two U-15 development squads travelled to Limerick to take part in a local tournament. These squads performed very well and won all their games. The Niall McInerney tournament took place in August. This was a great success. The four Galway development squads played their games in Kenny Park, Athenry while the County teams from Connacht took part in a tournament with the Liam Mellowes club in Ballyloughane. The U-16 Tipperary Supporters Club tournament took place in Moneygall and Silvermines. Both Galway development squads performed very well. Our U-16 ‘A’ team were defeated in the final by Limerick. During the year over 500 hurlers from the GAA clubs of Galway received Coaching and Development from Coaches throughout the county. Kellogs Cúl Camps. There was a considerable level of activity with the Kellogs Cúl Camps in Galway this year. There were a total of 4,471 participants, mainly from six to eleven years. The breakdown between football and hurling participation was as follows: Football participants numbered 1,690 (38%) and Hurling participants numbered 2,781 (62%). Camps were held in 33 venues in football and 40 venues in Hurling. The breakdown in participation between girls and boys was as follows: Girls 1,407 (31%) and Boys 3,073 (69%). Despite the difficult financial times, there is still considerable interest in the GAA Summer Cúl Camps. For the record, Galway Coaching and Games Development provided employment opportunities for over 100 coaches of varying duration during the summer. All coaches were employed under the PAYE system and returns made to the Revenue Commissioners to ensure compliance with legislation. Under Age Blitz (Go Games) Policy. Readers of this article may well be involved in under age games development in Clubs within Galway. It is important to re-state Galway and National policy in relation to under age tournaments. Specific regulation in relation to such games can be found on www. gaa/youth-zone/gaa-go-games/ or specific queries can be e-mailed to gamesdevelopment@gaa. ie or to our local Co Board office. In general however, the Galway Co Board GAA policy in relation to under age games includes the following: - We recognise the importance of fair play and provide for full participation, within an environment where all players are encouraged to achieve their full potential. - All players should get equal amounts of playing time. - There should be no winner’s trophies and no losers and if presentations are made to players, all players should receive the same prize. - Games should be organised in a fun environment with a focus on player development and enjoyment. - All challenge games, blitzes, tournaments etc. must be approved in advance by the Galway Co. Committee and the organising club involved is required to complete the appropriate application form and agree to the full implementation of the GAA Games Development Strategy. Conclusion. As readers will note from the above, this has been a very busy year in the development of under-age games in Galway. Galway GAA has a team of dedicated coaches, as well as a good support structure with all our under-age development teams. Club officer and parental support is critical in our on going development of Gaelic Games. The continued support of our Hurling and Football Committees, as well as our football and hurling sub-groups, are all central to the success to our ongoing development. Roll on 2013. BY; GERRY LARKIN CHAIRMAN GALWAY COACHING AND GAMES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
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