Conference Theme: Optimising Playing Performance - Nurturing a culture of Skill and Will The GAA Games Development Conference - "Optimising Playing Performance - Nurturing a culture of Skill and Will" - will take place on Friday November 20th and Saturday November 21st, in Croke Park. This is the 7th annual Conference, and aims to address issues that are of most concern and interest to members of the GAA community. It is expected that the event will attract a full attendance. Since the Conference was launched by Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Criostóir Ó Cuana there have been a number of additions to the Conference Programme: Former Tipperary All Ireland winning hurler and manager Nicky English and former Roscommon footballer and All Star Paul Earley have been added to the Friday Night Forum. Former Cork All Ireland and All Star hurling corner John Considine has been added to the programme on Saturday November 21st and will make a presentation on the development of Tactical Ploys in Hurling Registration There are a few remaining places available for delegates to attend. The cost of attending is 75 and further information on registering to attend the conference can be obtained by phone at 01-8658625, by emailing [email protected] or by registering online at www.gaa.ie. It is anticipated that these places will be sold out before the weekend meaning it will not be possible to register new delegates at any stage over the weekend. Those wishing to attend should book immediately. Web Streaming In conjunction with the RTÉ website - www.rte.ie - the Games Development Conference will be streamed live over the internet on Saturday November 21st. Internet users around the world can watch the conference on RTÉ.ie's GAA Media Player on www.rte.ie/gaa. Exhibition Zone In addition to a comprehensive conference speaker programme, delegates will also be given the opportunity to view some of the key products and services within the GAA marketplace. This will form part of an extensive purpose built exhibition showcase involving 20 companies which is designed to meet the needs of GAA conference delegates. Services and products include coaching equipment supplies, synthetic pitches, GAA analysis products, floodlighting systems, injury management advice, hospitality services, sport nutrition advice and cardiac defibrillator systems. For more information visit: http://www.gamesdevelopment.gaa.ie/page/games_development_conference_2009.html For media accreditation contact: Education Officer Peter Horgan (01 865 8625) or GAA Communications Manager Alan Milton (01 8658615). GAA Games Development Conference 2009 Conference Theme: Optimising Playing Performance - Nurturing a culture of Skill and Will The GAA Games Development Conference is the largest Conference of its kind; in 2008 the Conference attracted over 800 delegates from throughout Ireland, Europe and North America. Conference Dates This is the 7th annual GAA Games Development Conference, and the 4th to be held in Croke Park stadium. This years Conference will take place on Friday November 20th and Saturday November 21st. Conference Structure The 2009 Conference will be a combination of Key Note, Parallel Break Out sessions and practical Pitch Based sessions, involving noted speakers from Ireland and overseas as follows: Friday, November 20th 7.30pm - 9.45pm Key Note presentation and open discussion forum Saturday, November 21st 9.30am - 4.45pm A mixture of Key Note and Parallel sessions Partnerships Sessions are being delivered in association with our sister Associations - Camogie, Ladies Football, Handball and Rounders. Sponsors Sponsors of the event are Lucozade Sport, who will be represented by Elizabeth Reynolds, General Manager, Consumer Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline Exhibition Village The Conference exhibition village will be home to 20 top GAA suppliers. GAA Exhibition Zone There will be a dedicated GAA Zone where the GAA Associations - GAA, Camogie, Ladies Football, Handball, Rounders will have exhibition areas (Lucozade will also be in this space) Speakers include: Pat Daly Pat Daly is the GAA Director of Games. A native of Tallow Co Waterford, Pat is a former Hurler and Footballer with Waterford, winning County senior Hurling championships with Tallow in 1984. A Primary School teacher by training, Pat joined the GAA in 1981 as Youth Officer. He has since held positions as Coaching and Games Development Manger, Head of Games and now Director of Games. In that time Pat has authored a number of books on GAA Coaching, including the Hurling and Gaelic Football Coaching Manuals, the Complete Guide to Coaching Gaelic Games and produced other resources such as the OTú Model CD ROM and Fun Do Resource Pack. Pat will deliver a presentation on the updated OTú Coaching model and how it can be used to guide coaches and players in the achievement of each players true potential. Liam O'Neill Liam O'Neill is Chairman of the GAA National Coaching and Games Development Committee. Previously chair of the Disciplinary Task Force, Liam is a former Chair of the Leinster Council and Secretary of Laois County Board. From Trumera Co Laois, Liam is Principal of his local Primary School and has the distinction of being one of the few Primary School Principals to change to a Gaelscoil. Liam will deliver a presentation on the GAA Games Development programme, and how coach education fits into the greater scheme of things. Liam Sheedy Liam Sheedy is the manager to the Tipperary Senior Hurling team, Munster Champions 2008 and 2009, and defeated All Ireland Finalists 2009. A native of Portroe Co Tipperary, Liam represented the county at minor, U21, Junior and Senior level - reaching All Ireland Finals at all levels, winning All Ireland medals at U21 and Junior level. Liam took over as manager of the Tipperary Intermediate team in 2000, winning the All Ireland Championship that year. He followed this up with success with the Tipperary minor team, winning an All Ireland title in 2006. In 2009 Sheedy guided Tipperary to their 2nd consecutive Munster Senior Hurling title, before being defeated by Kilkenny in the All Ireland final in September. Along with Caroline Currid, Liam will deliver a presentation on how communication impacts on playing performance. Caroline Currid Caroline Currid is a performance coach who works with a number of individual players - such as Paul O'Connell and international national kickboxer Aisling McDermot and teams including Tyrone Senior Football (All Ireland Champions 2008), Tipperary Senior Hurling (All Ireland Finalists 2009), Mayo minor squad (All Ireland Finalists 2009) and various senior hurling and football clubs across the country. Caroline is a native of Grange Co. Sligo and played football for the County between 2003 and 2007, captaining them to the All Ireland Junior Final in 2005. Along with Liam Sheedy, Caroline will deliver a presentation on how communication impacts on playing performance. DJ Carey DJ Carey is generally recognised as one of the greatest hurlers to ever play the game. A native of Gowran Co Kilkenny, DJ played for the Young Irelands team. Carey's status as one of the greats is self-evident. In a senior inter-county career that lasted 15 years he won five All-Ireland titles, ten Leinster titles, four National Hurling League titles and two Railway Cup titles with Leinster. His tally of 34 goals and 195 points from 57 championship games mark him out as one of the top five scorers of all-time. Carey has also been the recipient of many awards and honours. In 1993 his hurling prowess earned him the prestigious Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Seven years later in 2000 he received this honour for the second time as well as being presented with the Eircell Hurler of the Year award. He was also named in the left wing-forward position on the Kilkenny Hurling Team of the Century. In 2002 Carey equaled Pat Spillane's record by collecting a ninth All-Star award. Along with Tony Healy, DJ will deliver a presentation on how the skills of handball are transferrable to hurling and Gaelic football for both men and women. Tony Healy Tony Healy is one of the major stars of Irish Handball. Alongside Paul Brady, they have dominated the 40 X 20 scene for almost a decade. The Ballydesmond clubman has won every title possible in Ireland in the small court, and has won a USHA Collegiates crown and reached two world finals and a US Nationals final on the international stage. Healy recorded the biggest victory of his handball career when he defeated Seattle's Sean Lenning in the US Open of Handball final at Fountain Valley, California in 2008. Tony is also a qualified Coaching Tutor, and delivers Coaching courses nationwide. Along with DJ Carey, Tony will deliver a presentation on how the skills of handball are transferrable to hurling and Gaelic football for both men and women. Enda McNulty Enda played for the Armagh senior football team from 1996 to 2009. He has played with the team right through their development to being All Ireland Champions in 2002, winning Ulster Senior medals in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and an All Star award in 2002. Enda received a degree in Psychology and completed a masters in Sports Science, however he continually reminds people that he got the majority of his education on the playing fields of Queens University or while in action with Armagh. Enda currently advises a number of world class athletes and rugby players, including World Athletics 200m finalist David Gillick and Leinster and Ireland rugby International Luke Fitzgerald providing them with the necessary mental skills to achieve their potential. He now advises some of Ireland's most successful business people in the area of performance excellence. Enda will deliver a presentation on how a players' psychological skills combine with their playing abilities in ensuring top performance. Gary Keegan Gary Keegan is the director of high performance management in the Irish Institute of Sport. Previous to Gary's current role, he spent 5 years as high performance director with the IABA's (Irish Amateur Boxing Association) High Performance Boxing Programme. There, Gary devised a world class talent management programme. Over a 5 year period Gary's programme achieved major European, World and Olympic success including 1 Silver and 2 Bronze at the Beijing Olympic games. Gary will deliver a presentation on his experiences of developing performance with the IABA, including up to the Beijing Olympic games, and the role of the High Performance Unit of the Irish Sports Institute in the development of sport. Rod Thorpe Rod Thorpe qualified as a Physical Education teacher in 1964. After 4 years teaching he returned to the then Loughborough College (now Loughborough University) as a lecturer, training teachers. His teaching experience had already convinced him of a need to change the way games were taught and together with others at Loughborough, most notably David Bunker, but including practising teachers, began to develop the TGfU approach in the early 1970s. Rod completed a research masters in Experimental Psychology in 1975 and taught skill acquisition, sports psychology, leadership, teaching and coaching studies in the University. Clearly these aspects influenced the nature of the final model. Rod coached University rugby and tennis teams in his spare time. He contributed to the development of national sports leaders programmes and was one of the first NCF (now sports coach UK) tutors writing workshop material. Rod has been awarded the biennial IOC Presidents Award - for Services to Sport, was inducted to the UK Coaching Hall of Fame (Dyson Award). He received the Munrow Award, given for his services to University Sport in the UK. Finally he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Loughborough for his contribution to the development of teaching and coaching of young people and the development of a world class training facility at the University. Rod will deliver a presentation on how the use of various types of games can be used to develop decision makers and encourage the importance of team work with individual players. Paul Potrac Paul is one of the leading researchers in the area of coaching and coach development. A graduate of Brunel University he obtained his Ph.D. from the same institution in 2001. After holding teaching positions at the University of Otago, Brunel University, and Unitec New Zealand, Paul returned to the UK to take up the position of Lecturer in Coaching and Performance within the Department of Sport, Health and Exercise Science at The University of Hull. Paul's main research interest is concerned with developing a sociological understanding of sports coaching, an aspect of practice which, to date, remains a little understood and under researched topic of inquiry. Currently, he is engaged in research projects that not only focus on how top-level coaches attempt to manipulate the working environment and cope with the multitude of variations that exist within it, but which also seek to probe athletes' subjective experiences of their coaches and performance development. A further related research interest is that of examining coaching practitioners' perceptions of the relative strengths and limitations of current coach education provision. It is envisaged that such research could conceivably result in improved practice by sports coaches, employers and administrators alike, to the greater benefit of all. Paul has contributed to a number of the most widely read books on coach development including Understanding Sports Coaching and Sports Coaching Cultures both released in 2004. Paul will deliver a presentation on the development of coaches, outlining various ways the coaches can improve their own performance. Cian O'Neill Cian O'Neill is a Lecturer in Physical Education and Sport Science at the University of Limerick. A native of Moorefield, Co Kildare, Cian is the trainer to the Tipperary Senior Hurling team, Munster Champions in 2008 and 2009 and defeated All Ireland Finalists 2009. As a footballer, Cian represented Kildare at all levels, also excelling at Basketball. Cian teaches on both the Physical Education and Sport and Exercise Sciences degree programmes, where his interests are broadly based in the areas of Coaching Science and Performance, Health Related Fitness, as well as Applied Practical Studies (APS), particularly in games and gymnastics. He also teaches a variety of modules on both the Certificate and Diploma in Health and Exercise Fitness programmes. Cian will deliver a presentation on the physical requirements of the modern day hurler, and how these can be best developed on the training field. Aidan O'Connell Aidan O'Connell was involved as trainer to the Cork Senior Footballers in 2009. From Ballyclough Co Cork, Aidan is employed as a strength and conditioning coach with Munster rugby. Educated at Sacred Heart College Carrignavar, Aidan has a Bsc in Sport Science from the University of Limerick and a Msc in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Edinburgh. Now beginning his sixth season with Munster he previously worked with Leinster Rugby and prior to that in Yale University, Connecticut, USA. Aidan will deliver a presentation on the physical requirements of the modern day footballer, and how these can be best developed on the training field. Mickey Ned O'Sullivan Mickey 'Ned' O'Sullivan is manager of the Limerick senior football team. O'Sullivan was born in Kenmare, County Kerry, where he still lives and works as a secondary school teacher in Scoil Gobnatan in Ballyvourney. As a player Mickey Ned captained Kerry to win the All Ireland Senior Football title in 1975, and won an All Star award that year. O'Sullivan also captained Kerry to the All Ireland U21 title in 1973. Mickey Ned was appointed manager of the Kerry Senior football team in 1990, winning the Munster Senior title in 1991. O'Sullivan was also manager of the U21 team at this time, guiding to the team to three Munster championship successes. Mickey was appointed manager of the Limerick Senior footballers in 2005. Mickey Ned will deliver a presentation that will examine Tactical Ploys in Gaelic football, and how coaches can develop these on the training field. Peter Canavan Peter Canavan is regarded as one of the most accomplished Gaelic Footballers ever to play the game. Playing for a total of sixteen years on the senior inter-county scene, Peter won two All-Ireland Senior Championship Medals, six All Stars (more than any other Ulster player, and joint third overall), and four Ulster Senior Football titles. Alongside these honours, Peter was nominated as the Player of the Year in 1995. Peter won Ulster Minor honours and captained Tyrone to All Ireland U21 success in 1991 and 1992. He also represented Ireland in the International Rules Series from 1998 until 2000. Peter is a member of the Errigal Chiaran Club, with whom he won 6 Tyrone Senior Championships. Peter is employed as a Physical Education teacher in Holy Trinity College, Cookstown. Peter Canavan retired from Inter-county football in 2005, after scoring the crucial goal in that year's All Ireland Final. Peter will be part of the Conference Forum that will look at the optimisation of playing performance on Friday November 20th John Considine John Considine is a former Cork Senior Hurler and will manage the Cork Minor Hurling team in 2010. John previously managed Cork to their last All Ireland Minor triumph in 2001 as well as managing the Cork Senior Camogie team and Cork U21 Hurling team. A member of the Sarsfields Club, John won an All Ireland medal in 1990, winning an All Star as corner back the same year. John is a lecturer in Economics at UCC. John will deliver a presentation that will examine Tactical Ploys in Hurling, and how coaches can develop these on the training field. Paul Earley Paul Earley is a former Roscommon footballer, that also played in the Victoria Football League (the fore-runner to the Australian Football League). The All Star Full Forward in 1985 - at the age of just 21 - Paul had previously played for Melbourne in the VFL. Paul represented Ireland in the International Rules series in 1987, and won Connacht Championship medals with Roscommon in 1990 and 1991. A brother of Dermot Snr - another former Roscommon great - and uncle of 2009 All Star Midfielder Dermot Jnr, Paul took over as caretaker manager of Roscommon Senior Footballers in 2008. Paul is a commentator for Gaelic games on TV3. Paul will be part of the Conference Forum that will look at the optimisation of playing performance on Friday November 20th Nicky English Nicky English is an All Ireland winning player and previous manager of the Tipperary Senior Hurling team. A member of the Lattin-Cullen club, Nicky played and with the Tipperary senior inter-county team from 1982 until 1996. In his senior inter-county career he won two All-Ireland titles, four Munster titles, one National Hurling League title and two Railway Cup titles. His tally of 20 goals and 117 points from 35 championship games marks him out as Tipperary's third highest scorer of all-time. In 1989, English won the prestigious Texaco Hurler of the Year award. He was later honoured in 2000 when he was named, by popular opinion, in the right full forward position on the Tipperary Hurling Team of the Century. English has also won six All-Star awards. As a manager Nicky has had much success with his own native county. In 2001 he guided Tipperary to All-Ireland, Munster and National Hurling League titles. Nicky will be part of the Conference Forum that will look at the optimisation of playing performance on Friday November 20th Tweet

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