Rebel Óg’s app-liance of science to eradicate burnout in players

Cork GAA officials are hoping to rid burnout issues among their most talented youngsters through the use of a new computer program.

Rebel Óg, the body formed as part of the Cork GAA Strategic vision and action plan 2010-2015, has been working with sports scientists in UCC to develop a system which will prevent young players picking up injuries due to heavy training loads.

“One of the first things we noticed when we started Rebel Óg was the ease at which a young player could pick up an injury from playing too much as good players usually play football and hurling with their club, school and county,” said Rebel Óg chairman Marc Sheehan.

“So we sat down with some of the sports staff in UCC and discussed it and they devised an app for us. Each player inputs data into the app on their phone at the end of each day detailing the physical activities they have undergone. The sports scientists analyse that and are able to feed it back to the coaches so they know which players need a rest and which ones could do with more training.”

The Team Performance program is currently being rolled out to every Cork development squad now from U15 right up to senior level where it was used last season and Sheehan hopes the data they receive can help players develop in the long term.

“As opposed to hearsay and speculation we’re relying on this for exact details. Each player has a secure log in which can record injury information and other appropriate data. That information will be there for a player’s entire career and can help in the treatment of injuries and the structure of a training session.

“We’re embracing modern technology through this. It’s an aspect which we’ve been considering over the last year or two and we are looking at injury prevention and treatment methods.”

The Rebel Óg awards take place tonight in the Rochestown Park Hotel at 7pm where Cork hurler Anthony Nash is guest of honour.