School work doing wonders

National school is often a period in a child’s life where the foundation for their future academic successes is laid; and the same can now be said of their Gaelic Football and Hurling careers.

Through participation in the Sligo GAA-IT Sligo coaching initiative, schools right across the county are taking advantage of high level coaching on a week-to-week basis, working on fundamentals right through to participating in county-wide blitzes.

The 12-week programme, which is set to conclude shortly, is overseen by county games manager and coaching figurehead Liam Óg Gormley, and he explains that the work being done is absolutely vital in the development of Gaelic Footballers and Hurlers across the county.

“It [coaching programme] is fantastic. We’ve 18 coaches out across the primary schools, in their last week this week and blitzes next week so there’s 11 weeks of work done.

“It’s great to see the kids coming out enjoying themselves, the kids love it – they love to see the coaches coming in every week - and we’re very lucky with the programme we have.”

The pupils and teachers of the respective schools are also keen to stress just how beneficial the programme is to their team’s development.

“The coaches come in regularly for a period of six weeks, then a blitz, then another period of six weeks,” said Jacinta Gormley of High Park National School in Skreen.

“The blitz is excellent as it’s for the third and fourth classes and gives the junior classes a chance to shine, whereas generally it’s the senior classes that the priority is on in Cumann na mBunscol, so that’s excellent.”

Evident too is the fact that children are now being coached the basic fundamentals from a young age, and that is providing them with a solid base from which to build their personal skills around.

“That’s where it’s having the most impact because the older students are having a lot of club involvement and there’s a lot of input into the older students, naturally, and it is good for the child who wouldn’t normally choose to get involved – it helps them as it is there for them.” Jacinta added.

With the Sligo Minor team having captured the Connacht Minor League this year for the first time in 31 years – adding to the Fr Manning Cup success at under-16 level in 2014 – it is abundantly clear that the trojan work being done in schools and clubs around the county is beginning to bear fruit.

Speaking of the standard of the players now coming into county development squads and teams, Liam Óg Gormley argues that the players are now coming in with a far greater skills base.

“It [standard of player] has gone up to a new level. When I first came into the job, it was very hard to find a player that could kick with two feet , now if you look at any of our development squads at the moment, the players are very skilful off both feet and on the ball so that has improved a good bit over the last eight or nine years.

“I suppose the big thing is the work going on at under-8 and under-10 is complemented by the work going on in the schools. When you get comfortable off both feet at 10, they will naturally bring that through with them and that’s the big difference. We’re only really beginning to see that at under-16 and Minor level now, the progress we’re making,” the Bunninadden native added.

The same view is shared by teachers in the respective schools. Joseph Fogarty, who teaches at Corballa National School in Castleconnor, spoke glowingly of the standard of coaching from the IT Sligo students and the skills-based approach they advocate.

“They [children] certainly benefit from the coaching over the 12 weeks,” Mr Fogarty commented.

“The IT Sligo coaches bring a rigour and a method to it and we’re very happy with it – not only because it improves the children who go to football coaching and play passionately for their teams but also because it’s a skills-based approach and the children who are not as much into football get as much out of it too,”

“You can definitely see an appreciation for the skills and that the children realise it’s not just about banging the ball into the net, but that only comes about from practicing their drills and skills. The focus is always on movement, possession and play and that’s the way it should be.”

Mr Fogarty also said he noticed a constant improvement in the standard of the coaches going out to schools each year.

“I would say the standard of coaching coming out of IT Sligo has really improved in recent years, the coaches know their business and set up their own drills and teachers learn from that too.” he added.

The coaches themselves also benefited from the programme. Speaking prior to her last coaching session at Kilrusheighter National School in Templeboy, IT Sligo coach Fiona McCann outlined the challenges she faced throughout the course of the 12 weeks.

“I’ve learned that you have to have a lot of patience and you’ve got to be full of fun and energy with them, otherwise you’re going nowhere!” she commented.

“The programme was good. I think I learned a lot from it myself more so than anything with the kids in general, such as what they need and don’t need,”

She also explained how noticeable progress was among the children over the course of the three-month stint.

“Starting off, we just did the fundamentals with them such as running and jumping. Then we brought the skills into it as well and some of the kids didn’t even play before, but towards the end they were playing with no problem at all, so that was great to see.” Fiona concluded.

With progress evident throughout – and with such a ringing endorsement from those involved – it’s clear to see that the future for this programme, and the GAA within the county in general, is in safe hands.

Cathal Mullaney