Galway set for coaching centre of excellence

THE concept of the coaching course has been propelled to a new dimension with the establishment of the GAA’s first centre of excellence for coaching in Galway.

Galway Community College has been approved as a the first educational body that will host the GAA’s foundation level and level 1 coaching programmes, and will have the Connacht Council’s directors of hurling and football, Damien Coleman and John Tobin, as tutors.

A 12-week evening course aimed at standardising the training of coaches has recently begun at the college. It is unique in that not only does it encompass both the foundation level and level 1 programmes, but it also endeavours to cover all the best coaching practices, ensuring that they are universally taught.

The response to the course has been impressive, with almost 60 registering for the programme, from Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Clare.

“Galway Community College has been approved to be a centre of excellence for the GAA, in conjunction with Connacht Council and with the support of John Tobin and Damien Coleman, Galway VEC and Galway Community College itself” said Director of adult education at the college, Jeffrey Lynskey.

“We are now a centre of excellence for the GAA in coaching. We are a provider. We are the only one in Connacht; indeed the first provider in Ireland.

“Basically, we have everything you need here to run a course like this. We have the equipment, the facilities, the whole lot.”

According to Lynskey, the initiative is an integral part of the GAA’s Strategic Plan, as the association aims to have every coach holding an award one qualification, which those who take this course will receive.

And it is the association with the GAA which is likely to ensure the initiative’s enduring success.

“It is great for us to be endorsed by the GAA; that we can use the GAA logo in our prospectus and in conjunction with our evening classes” Lynskey acknowledged.

The GAA is currently rolling out a coaching education programme called the OTú model, which is the brainchild of Croke Park’s Games’ Administrator, Pat Daly, and this course complements that process.

Galway CC’s career guidance teacher, Shane McClearn, is also a hurling tutor.

“The course we are running at the moment is specifically aimed at youth and adult level, although we also cover the code of best practice for children in sport as well.”