What: Gaelic Athletic Association Certified Foundation Level Coaching course for parents, players, teachers, volunteers and sports coaches
Purpose: Learn coaching skills that will enable parents, players, teachers, volunteers and sports coaches to introduce and develop Gaelic football skills to children (12 and younger); youths (13 to 18 yr olds); and Adults (19+)
When: Weekend of 7/8th October.
Foundation Course consists of both theory and practical modules.
Theory: Fri 7th Oct 6pm to 9pm or Sat 8th Oct 9am to 12noon.
Practical: Sat 8th Oct 1pm to 5.30pm.
Participants must attend Sat afternoon and choose either Fri evening or Sat morning.
Where: Camana Bay International School (CIS)
Who: Colm Egan, full-time coaching development officer from the North American GAA, has kindly offered his time to deliver the Foundation Level course here in Cayman.
Cost: Free of charge!
Sign up by registering online here.
About Cayman Islands Gaelic Football Club Kids Development Programme
In May of this year, the Kids Gaelic Football Committee was established and set one of its strategic goals to be the introduction and development of Gaelic football within the youth community (4 to 18 year olds) across the Cayman Islands.
Over the summer months, a number of coaching sessions took place in an attempt to gauge interest in Gaelic football at the youth level:
1. Two training sessions took place for children of Club members in May and June. Over 35 children attended both sessions.
2. Challenge fixtures for U9s and U14s took place on the Club Finals Day
3. The Club provided 6 Gaelic football coaching sessions at two summer camps:
- Camana Bay Multi Sports Camp in July. Over 150 children participated
- YMCA Summer Camp in August. Over 90 children participated
Feedback was excellent and there is a lot of interest amongst the kids for further coaching sessions in the future. In fact, the YMCA wishes to add Gaelic football to its after school programme and to their Halloween Sports Camp at end October. Gaelic Football is also part of this years after school programmes at St Ignatius and Cayman Prep primary schools.
As our Club looks to develop Gaelic Football and coaching skills for parents, players, teachers, volunteers and sports coaches, the Kids Committee has reached out to the Gaelic Athletic Association for guidance on next steps to take.
To develop the type of coaching skills that we need in our Club, the GAA has developed a model of Coach Education that caters for the age groups we are targeting (4 to 18 year olds). The Kids Committee plan to roll out this Coach Education programme within the Club over the coming 24 months.
As a first step, we have been extremely fortunate to secure the services of Colm Egan, full-time coaching development officer from the North American GAA, to deliver the GAA certified Foundation Level course.
This course is for parents, players, teachers, volunteers and sports coaches who wish to learn the coaching skills required to introduce Gaelic football skills to all ages. It is an 7 hour course consisting of both theoretical and practical (on-pitch) modules. Colm has delivered this course in clubs across North America to great success. We are privileged to have him come here to Cayman.
The Foundation Level course will take place over Fri 7th and Sat 8th October. Participants are asked to attend either the theory class on Fri 7th October from 6pm to 9pm or the theory class on Sat 8th October 9am to 12noon. All participants must attend the practical (on-pitch) module on Sat 8th October from 1pm to 5.30pm.
On completion of the theory and practical modules, participants will be Foundation Level certified.
For more information, email kids@caymangaelic.com or click here to register for the course.
For more informational about the GAA Coach Education programme, click here.
Yours sincerely,
Youth Development Committee