Our Club Newsletter concentrates on issues and information of interest and direct relevance to our wider club network. It is issued monthly to all club secretaries and previous issues can be found here https://www.gaa.ie/downloads/newsletters/
We would love you to share this with your members. So perhaps if you don’t have a members’ mailing list now would be a good time to set one up through your official GAA email address, which would facilitate its distribution and enhance general communication in your club.
More information about how to set up such a list can be found in the attached PDF.
Cuireadh tús, freisin, le hiris nua Ghaeilge CLG, ‘Cuaille’, le gairid a bheidh ar fáil uair sa ráithe.
Bheadh muid buíoch díbh dá mbeadh sibh sásta an iris seo a roinnt le bhur gcuid ball freisin.
From webinars, skills challenges & virtual training sessions, it's been a busy few months for the GAA community. Our Games Development Department has been busy providing assistance to coaches, players, teachers and parents to make this difficult time easier.
The GAA Learning platform at learning.gaa.ie is host to a series of Games Development initiatives building on the vast array of resources and courses published in recent years that are now providing a very valuable outlet for Coaches, Players, and Teachers without the opportunity to perform their usual roles in the promotion and playing of our games.
Some of these initiatives include:
-GAA Primary Challenges – Lesson Plans & Physical Activities for Primary School Children
-Coaching Webinars – Live and recorded webinars with leaders in Coaching and Coach Education
- Online Courses and Workshops for Coaches, Players, Referees and Administrators
- LGFA and Camogie Resources and Programmes
The #GAAPrimary Challenges is a series of learning & physical activities for children in Primary School. During these particularly challenging times for families, the #GAAPrimary Challenges are designed to help teachers and parents to work on the cross-curricular lesson plans with children to meet their learning needs. Gaelic games-themed lessons are across all curriculum subjects and are for children at every class level, based on the GAA Céim ar Aghaidh/Step Ahead resource. For some fresh air and physical exercise, inter-county stars set Skill Challenges weekly that can be done at or near your home. There are also fun competitions and prizes to be won on the @GAAlearning twitter page. Primary teachers are encouraged to share lesson plans, learning material and ideas by email to gamesdevelopment@gaa.ie or on social media using #GAAPrimary.
To help coaches through this difficult period, the GAA, an Cumann Camogaíochta & the LGFA have created a series of Coach Development Webinar sessions taking place on Tuesdays & Thursday at 7.30pm. Information on future sessions can be access through our twitter '@GAAlearning' and past sessions can be viewed on our Youtube Page 'GAALearning'
National Hurling Development Manager, Martin Fogarty, is hosting Hurling specific webinars every Monday on various aspects of the game and how best to coach it. For more details, visit out twitter @GAALearning
The Coach Survey was launched this week with the GAA, LGFA & Camogie Association joining forces to help shape the future development of Gaelic games. The aim of the survey is to get to know more about coaches involvement, their role, experiences and how they envisage their coaching future. The form can be accessed through the link below. If you have any queries about the survey, you can email gamesdevelopment@gaa.ie
Our pitches have seldom been quieter than they have been for the last two and a half months. However, when we do return, it’s likely they will be in high demand by various club teams.
Many clubs have been maintaining their playing facilities over the course of the pandemic.
Our National Pitch Maintenance Working Group have prepared a document (see attached) to assist clubs in maintaining their pitches and can be contacted at the following email address with any queries: nationalpitchmaintenanceworkgroup@gaa.ie
Please share this document with those who look after your playing facilities.
Amid all the stress and strain and sadness of these uncertain days there is also the realisation that these are historic times. In that vein, the GAA History Committee is encouraging clubs and counties to actively record the experience of clubs during this pandemic - for the benefit of future generations to review and learn from.
As Colin Regan, the GAA Community Manager, said: "When our games stopped, our people didn't." This is an opportunity to record and time capsule the work done by the GAA in our communities. Get thinking about those in your club who might be interested in documenting memories from this time for future members and keep an eye out for more on this in the time ahead.
In the coming weeks, the GAA in association with Ballpoint Press Ltd, will launch a project to try and capture engaging and amusing stories from around our wider club network, both at home and abroad.
It is planned to publish the stand-out stories that are collected in a new book and all stories recorded will be added to the GAA archive at Croke Park.
The intention is to capture part of our shared folklore through stories that may be well known in given localities but not to wider audiences.
Look out for more information in the coming weeks.
Many of our units will face challenges in the coming months after the long closure. A large number of our clubs have been involved in incredible fundraising initiatives since the outbreak of the pandemic built around sporting endeavours, including long distance team cycling and running.
Might some of these same initiatives be re-purposed by members to raise funds for our clubs?
Other opportunities which will present themselves in the weeks ahead should include the return of our Club Lottos and the annual GAA National Club Draw.
We may not have a schedule of live games to cover, but we have been working to bring our members and supporters the best of our games from bygone years. Every week we are showing a whole host of full games and highlights from the GAANOW archive.
From County Glory Days to All-Ireland Finals to Hall of Fame highlights, all of these videos can be shared across your Club’s social media accounts.
Club officers and administrators no longer need to remember different URLs for membership, insurance, transfers, etc - you'll now find everything on the GAA Club Dashboard.
The Club Dashboard allows you to navigate to the site or portal you need in one click.
It will also post reminders and important notifications so that you don't miss a deadline or update.
You can create your own 'favourites' section with the pages you visit most.
GAA.ie/Clubs is fully functional on desktop and mobile.
For both younger and older kids, we’re creating lots to keep everyone occupied. From weekly activity packs for juvenile members, to information on organising online sessions and learning-focused Primary School activities, the Activities at Home section of GAA has lots available for you to share with your members. Visit the site here
The temporary postponement of our games and training sessions has undoubtedly impacted on many of us including our underage teams and the children and young people in our clubs, i.e. those under 18 years of age and their families.
It is however always gratifying to hear of coaches and clubs who have recently contacted us seeking permission during these restricted times to deliver live online exercise and coaching sessions for our underage teams. With the correct safety guidance and good practices in place, we wish to support such initiatives.
For the safety of all of our members, please ensure you do not organise or participate in sessions that do not follow the GAA's guidance on this area. For more visit GAA.ie here