The quality of Gaelic games coaching in county Monaghan is reckoned to be second to none. But far from resting on its laurels, the County Coaching Committee is set to instigate an expansion of its programmes in the coming year.


In the dizzy ferment of underage football, having players razor-keen at your disposal is one thing but having the coaches on tap is another. But which is more important?
For County Games Development Manager Paul O'Connor, such a query is redolent of the chicken and egg conumdrum.
"Really the more coaches you have on the ground, the more players can be looked after but getting more and more youngsters involved in playing Gaelic games is the key."

Peter McKenna's job in Croke Park may well be about getting bums on seats but for Paul it's ultimately all about getting boots on the pitches of county Monaghan.
A hugely respected figure among the Monaghan GAA hierarchy, the passion brought to the table by the former 'blayney SFC medallist clearly indicates that his is a labour of love.
While many within the GAA sigh at the plethora of paid employees now embedded in the Association's fabric, O'Connor's reputation as a disciple of Cusack et al brooks no debate.

Ask him what he feels his role is in the greater scheme of things and he talks about being a "facilitator" who is there to help clubs cultivate young players and nurture their potential.
He is pleased with the way 2009 panned out on the coaching front. In the year gone by, Monaghan County Board was able to increase its capacity to look after its fledgling gaels.

"We increased our coaching capacity from having three in 2008 to having six now, including myself. Three of the coaches are full-time and two of them are part-time," he explains.
"The coaches we have are excellent, well motivated, highly capable and are there doing their jobs for the right reasons. They are fortunate in having great back-up and support too.
"Our coaching officer Eamonn O'Hara and his committee have been very supportive and everyone is singing off the same hymnsheet which is essential if progress is to be made."

Progress to the extent that Monaghan can deem itself now on a par with the province's long-time underage standard-bearers i.e Tyrone and Armagh?
"Let's say we're not a million miles away from where we want to be. Certainly there's no doubt that Tyrone and Armagh have raised the bar over the years but we're getting there.
"We want to make the clubs in Monaghan stronger in terms of educating their coaches about new ideas and practices and all the new developments that may come on stream.
"Helping make the links between schools - primary and secondary - stronger is a target too. The county coaching committee has been working on an initiative to that effect.

"The idea is to develop the skills of the players already at the club and to help recruit more young players by means of winter programmes, summer camps, open days etc.
"We will be rolling out a new pilot scheme in early 2010 where we will adopt one club, possibly one based in an urban setting, and help make it a more vibrant organisation."
Gaelic games activities at primary and secondary schools levels is very close to Paul's heart. He doesn't begin to underestimate the importance of schools' coaching:

"We work closely with Cumann na mBunscoil in terms of helping them achieve their goals and that includes games for the children throughout the winter.
"Then there's the secondary schools. In most counties, there's a serious need to develop Gaelic games in our secondary schools but we're making progress in that regard.

"Because of the increase in our coaching capacity, we have been able to provide coaching assistance in all our secondary schools, seven of them boys football schools, two girls football schools and one hurling (Patrician High School, Carrick).
"2009 was the best year ever for our secondary schools and we were very pleased in particular with the success, working in tandem with the VEC sector, of our Super-Touch blitzes.

"They were geared towards helping nurture the skills of the first and second year students and we would like to continue to expand on the Super-Touch idea.
"Our hope is that we can form a distinct link between what the youngsters learn at national school and the drills that are taught at secondary school."
In 2009 the aforementioned schools development project was broadened to include the Gaelic games' skills of the less able in our society.

In an unprecedented fashion, Monaghan GAA, via the offices of Paul and his assistants, worked very closely with children of special needs and disabilities.
The coaches' work saw them liase with organisations such as Castleblayney Youth Reach and Monaghan Neighbourhood Youth Project in developing a programme of games for the aforementioned groups of children.
"We set down our plans for after Christmas whereby we would launch 'Farney GAA for All' which would consist of a programme of games for all children and youths with disabilities."

Truth to tell, the coaching masterplan in Monaghan is an ever-changing one and one designed to maximise participation among all children and youths countywide, year on year.
The plan in '09 saw an explosion of coaching courses in the national schools across the county, for instance. More blitzes than ever were organised too during the winter months.
The go-games were never as popular and numerous as they were in the past year too. The new indoor Fun-Five in December proved a real hit also.

This January, more indoor hurling blitzes will have gotten underway as well as two more Fun-Five events and another day of go-games in Cloghan. It really is all-go for Paul and co!
Like all other counties, Monaghan are obliged to achieve the Key Performance Indicator as laid down by the Croke Park and Ulster Council authorities so as to avail of funding.
Thanks to the good work of Paul and his team, the KPI has been achieved each year and important and necessary funding has been drawn down as a result.

Such funding helped make it possible for the county coaches to roll out their programme of skill development among club coaches working with 6-8 year olds.
"Basically it was about coaching the coaches," Paul explains. "We showed them the kind of exercises they should be doing with children at those age groups and how to do them.
"Last February and into March we divided the county into four regions with a centre in each region and from last September, we targeted four clubs in rolling out a winter programme.
"It doesn't make any sense to have a close season for youngsters running from maybe October to February. We're all aware of the problems with obesity.
"In Monaghan, GAA clubs are the hub of the community and if they close down during the winter, what have the youngsters got to occupy themselves?
"We need to encourage every club to stage indoor training sessions at least once a week during the winter. The good thing is that the majority of clubs have indoor facilities."
On the question of the promotion of hurling specifically, Paul says the introduction of an U14 development squad during the past year and its participation at provincial and all-Ireland levels was a big plus for the small game and its promoters in the county.
Pointedly, he feels that the way forward for the development of the ancient game in Monaghan is for available resources to be steered towards the seven existing hurling clubs so as to make them even stronger, rather than investing in the establishment of new hurling clubs going forward.
He is keen too to see indoor hurling taking root in five secondary schools in the coming year.
Also looking ahead, Paul is excited by the prospect of the number of summer camps increasing from fifteen in 2009 to nineteen in 2010.
In addition, he is also upbeat about the positive move to introduce two easter camps (Scotstown and Ballybay) in the coming year.
"Similar camps have been staged in Dublin and they've been a big success so we're hoping that they will be similarily successful here in Monaghan next year.
"The idea has emerged from a proposal which came via the Youth Forum and involves setting up a games' programme for under 8s and under 10s.
"In the past year, we held three blitzes for each of those age groups. In 2010 we plan to have five under eight blitzes and six under ten blitzes.
"We are also looking at getting similar blitzes up and running for under 12s and under 14s.
"Also under consideration this year is a proposal to have under 12 competitions run on an 11 aside basis for divisions one and two and for under 14 competitions, for all divisions, to be run on a 13 aside basis.
"It's all to do with promoting a player centred approach to games; organising child-friendly games, small-sided games which allow players to have more touches of the ball."
Seems like Monaghan's Games Development Manager is himself very much on the ball!
Hats off to all involved in the coaching game in the county. Tweet

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