Wednesday 11 November 2009

Key Stage 2 Primary School Indoor Hurling Blitz

On Wednesday 11th November Kevin Hinphey organised an indoor hurling blitz for primary school children at Meadowbank Sports Arena, Magherafelt. 8 Schools took part with 12 teams playing eachother. Below are some of the pictures from the teams that took part:














Thanks to all the teachers who helped out with the day!

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Ballinascreen GAC Cubs Club

Ballinascreen GAC "Cubs Club" takes place every Saturday morning. Over 50 boys and girls from P1/2 attended the session last week in the Back Row hall. The kids went through 40 minutes of FUNdamentals before finishing off with some games. It was a very impressive session. The hall is also in use during the week for Under 8, 10 and 12's training. Well done to Eunan Murray and his team of coaches for putting together an excellent programme, keep up the good work!


Ogramore Indoor Winter Coaching Programme Begins!

On Saturday, Diarmuid Scullion and Rurai Convery assisted OgraMore in implementing they're Gaelic Start programme as part of their winter training. The boys really enjoyed the FUNdamentals and games as did the coaches from the 2 clubs who were there to help out. Well done to all involved.


Magherafelt GAC Indoor Winter Coaching Programme

On Sunday Diarmuid Scullion attended the Rossa's underage training. Over 100 Children attended what was the first of they're indoor winter coaching programme in the Meadowbank Arena. Marty D, Colm, Ciaran and Diarmuid took the youngest 30 kids and put them through the Gaelic start programme and finished off with some games. For a number of these kids it was their first time to attend Gaelic football training and they really enjoyed the session. Also the interaction of the childrens parents throughout the session was very impressive and is surely an example for all clubs. Well done to Marty and his team of coaches involved with Rossa Ógs, keep up the good work!

Monday 9 November 2009

Hydration

Drink Up!
During training and games, players naturally generate heat leading to a rise in body temperature. A rise in body temperature can be both detrimental to performance but also contribute to fatigue. Our bodies attempt to compensate for rising temperature by sweating. When players do not consume enough fluids during training and games to compensate for these sweat losses, dehydration can quickly occur. As loss as low as 2% of body weight has been shown to affect performance—in a 13.5 stone player, 2% is as little as 3.75lbs. This may not sound much but in a single training session or game a player can easily lose up to 4% of their body weight. Many players do not deal adequately with dehydration, and in fact never fully rehydrate after training or a game. This leads to players taking part in further training sessions already in a dehydrated state exposing themselves to a greater risk of injury. When you are dehydrated, you will feel thirsty, however, thirst is not a good indication of needing to take fluids on board. By the time you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. Some other symptoms of dehydration include:
There are a number of things that an individual player or the coach of a team can introduce to training and games that will provide a relatively accurate indication of a players hydration status, and how much fluids need to be consumed to get back to normal hydration levels.

Establishing Hydration Status
Knowing how much fluids have been lost is important in rehydrating the body. There are a couple of easy ways of monitoring hydration levels. Known as the WUT method, these tests will provide a simple and accurate method of monitoring hydration status:
W eigh players before and after training and games. Wearing as little clothing as possible — the difference will be weight lost due to sweating.

Use a U rine Colour Chart to monitor the colour of your urine. Generally, the darker the urine, and the less you urinate, the more dehydrated you are.
T hirst — the absence of thirst does not mean that you are not dehydrated.

If you are thirsty, it is likely that you are already slightly dehydrated. Monitoring the colour of urine provides a good indication of being dehydrated. The target is to achieve numbers 1, 2 or 3. Numbers 4 and 5 suggest dehydration, with colours 6, 7 and 8 indicating severe dehydration.


Urine Colour Chart, used to monitor hjydration status

Rehydrating
For each kg of weight lost through sweat replace with 1.5 litres of fluids. Remember that along with water, electrolytes are also lost through sweat — water alone will not replace these electrolytes. Sports drinks contain both carbohydrate for energy and electrolytes. Ensure that your sports drink has a carbohydrate level of 6 — 8%. To help reduce the muscular damage caused by training and games it is best if you consume a source of protein along with your sports drink. Some sports drinks contain a source of protein, however if yours does not, try to consume something light prior to your post-training meal such as a chicken or turkey sandwich. If you do not have access to sports drinks, your post exercise meal can help replace lost electrolytes. An easy way to make your own sports drink is to combine:
200ml of orange squash (concentrated orange)
1 litreof water
A pinch of salt (1g)
Mix all the ingredients together and keep chilled — drinks are absorbed more quickly if they are cool rather than ice cold.

What can a coach do to encourage good hydration habits?
For each game and training session, encourage players to bring their own drinks bottle.
Make time for regular fluid breaks during a training session.
Fluid bottles must be washed out after each use and made up from scratch every day for food safety purposes.
Have a supply of extra fluid bottles in a cooler after training and games.

Combating Dehydration
Monitor hydration status using the WUT Chart above
Aim to drink 2 litres of fluids each day as part of your regular routine
Drink additional fluids before, during and after training and games
Aim to drink 200 - 50ml of fluids 2 hours before a game - remember many referees begin training or games already in a dehydrated state
Try to sip 125 - 250ml evey 15 - 20 minutes to top up fluid levels
Begin to replace any fluids lost during training or a game immediately afterwards by drinking at least 500ml of fluids
Electrolytes, such as sodium or potassium will help rehydration
To completely rehydrate, consume 150% of the amount of fluids lost - for each 1Kg of weight lost, consume 1.5 litres of fluids
Avoid alcohol or caffeine containing drinks until you have completely rehydrated as they can increase urine output

Source -www.medicalwelfare.gaa.ie/drinkuphydrationforplayers.html

Losing Weight - For GAA Players

Excess fat can hinder performance in football, so losing body fat is often high on the wish list of many football players. You may have gained some excess weight following an injury or during the off-season period when your exercise levels dropped. It can be hard to respond to a sudden drop in exercise levels immediately with an equal reduction in food energy intake. In fact, many players are tempted to eat more however, the result is a rapid gain in body fat. Whatever the reason for your weight gain, the key to losing weight is to achieve a long term scenario where energy intake is lower than energy output. It is important not to become obsessed with dieting or embark on faddy weight loss methods.

Guidelines for Losing Weight

Set a Realistic Time-Frame
Organise your program so that fat loss can be achieved in a reasonable time frame and during a period where any side-effects or pressures are unimportant. For example, start at the beginning of pre-season training (or even before) so that it is not an issue during important competitions.

Examine Current Exercise and Activity Patterns
Exercise is the other half of the weight loss equation. The best way to manage your weight permanently is to combine a programme of regular exercise with a balanced, low fat diet.
If training is primarily skill or technique-based, or you live a sedentary lifestyle between training sessions, you may benefit from scheduling in some aerobic exercise activities to help burn the fat. This should always be done in conjunction with your coach. If you live a ‘couch potato’ lifestyle between training sessions, try increasing the energy cost of day-to-day activities such as walking and cycling to college, work or the shops etc.

Keep a Food Diary for a Week
Many players who feel that they ‘hardly eat anything at all’ will be amazed at their hidden or unintentional eating activities. Simple changes to cut out unnecessary eating or unneeded portions sizes can make a long term difference.

Lose Weight Slowly
If loss of body fat is required, plan for a realistic rate of loss of about 0.5kg-1kg/1-2lb per week. Any more than this and you risk losing muscle and depleting your glycogen reserves (fuel for the working muscle). To lose 0.5kg/1lb per week, you need to create an energy deficit of 3500kcal. So, by eating 500 fewer calories per day, you will lose 0.5kg/1lb per week. Increasing your energy expenditure will increase your weight loss further. It is a good idea to set short term and long term goals.

Reduce your Fat Intake
Remember that fat contains more calories (9kcal/g) than carbohydrate or protein (4kcal/g) so cutting down on high-fat foods quickly reduces your calorie intake. Swap high fat foods for low fat, nutritious alternatives.

How to Reduce your Fat Intake?
Start your day with fruit, yogurt, wholegrain cereal, porridge or wholemeal toast.
Include five portions of fruit and vegetables in your daily diet – eat fresh fruit as a snack, pile salad into your sandwich or add a side salad to your main meal.
Make vegetables and grains the base of your meals – pasta, potatoes, rice, cous cous, bulgar wheat.
Flavour salads and vegetables with herbs, lemon/lime juice, fruit vinegar
Add extra vegetables to pasta and curry sauces, stews, soups, bakes, shepherd’s pie and lasagne.
Make fresh fruit the base for dessert – add yogurt, fromage frais, custard or half fat crème fraiche.
Minimise added fats and oils in food preparation (e.g. dressings, added butter and margarine, cream, fatty sauces).
When cooking, opt for lower fat cooking techniques such as baking, steaming, boiling and grilling instead of frying.
Reduce saturated fats e.g. butter, pastry, biscuits and puddings. Choose lean cuts of meat and substitute skinless chicken, white fish and beans for some of the meat in your diet.
Avoid foods made with animal fats or hydrogenated vegetable fats as they contain larger amounts of trans fatty acids i.e. margarine, biscuits, cakes and bakery items.
Low Fat Snacks
* Sandwiches/rolls/pitta/bagels (filled with salad, tuna, chicken, turkey, ham, marmite or banana)* Low fat yogurt and fromage frais* Fresh fruit (e.g. apples, bananas, pears, peaches, nectarines, grapes)* Scones, potato cakes, crumpets* Dried fruit* Rice cakes/ bread sticks

What about Carbohydrates?
Eat enough carbohydrates because carbohydrates fuel all types of exercise. If you eat too little carbohydrate, you will experience fatigue, lack of energy and your training will suffer. Low carbohydrate diets can result in muscle loss. Sugary foods and drinks may be useful to meet carbohydrate goals in some situations – for example, using a sports drink during exercise. Take advantage of these uses, but otherwise focus on bulkier and more nutrient-dense carbohydrate-rich foods.

Fill up on High-fibre foods
High fibre foods will help to fill you up and feel satisfied for longer, keeping hunger at bay. The following is a list of high fibre foods which you should base your meals and snacks on:
* Wholegrain breakfast cereal
* Porridge
* Wholemeal bread and pasta
* Brown Rice
* Beans and lentils
* Potatoes
* Fresh fruit
* All kinds of vegetables

Eat Little and Often:
Aim to eat 5-6 small meals and snacks each day at regular intervals. This will help maintain energy levels, prevent hunger and avoid fat storage. Avoid leaving long gaps between meals as people often over-eat when they are hungry or are ‘eating on the run’. A well-chosen snack before training or in the afternoon can take the edge off evening hunger. Take time to slow down and eat, even when you are busy. Your brain and your stomach both need to enjoy the experience of eating.

Alcohol
Cutting down on your alcohol intake can help you lose unwanted body fat. One pint of beer is equivalent to 182 kcal so if you cut out five pints per week, you’ll save 3640kcals per month, that’s 0.5kg in body weight! Since alcohol is associated with relaxation, it is often also associated with unwise eating. From a sports performance point of view, alcohol can interfere with post-exercise recovery. It acts as a diuretic and may slow down the process of re-hydration after a match. Alcoholic drinks are low in carbohydrate content and will not fuel up your glycogen stores.

Fad Diets
Be wary of diets and supplements that promise weight loss. There are no special pills, potions or products that produce safe and effective weight loss. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Consult a Dietitian if you are having difficulties with your weight-loss goals or you would like a supervised, individualised program. Expert advice is needed for those who are struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating behaviour.
Dara Morgan,
MINDI
Source - http://www.medicalwelfare.gaa.ie/losingweightforgaafootballers.html

Nutrition - General Advice

There are 3 key time frames for sports nutrition

· Pre-Training/Game
· During Training/Game
· Post Training/Game


Pre-Training/Game Nutrition
Pre-training or game nutrition does not start in the hours before the game or session, but in the days and weeks before hand. Adequate nutrition over a prolonged period of time will lead to an improved performance.The major part of every meal consumed should consist of a source of carbohydrate — such as pasta, rice or potatoes. Added to this is a good source of protein such as lean meat, chicken or fish. Vitamins and minerals are important to ensure that the body can make the best use of the carbohydrate and proteins ingested, so a good range of fruits and vegetables should be consumed at meal times and throughout the day as snacks.
In the week leading up to an important match, there should be a gradual increase in the amount of carbohydrate consumed to ensure that stores are topped up. If the increase is sudden the benefits will be lost, and this, in fact, can prove detrimental.

Match Day
Any meal taken on match day should be taken 2—4 hours prior to throw in to allow for digestion. If you suffer from nerves or anxiousness before a game, it is possible to replace a meal with a liquid meal.The match day meal should again consist of a good source of carbohydrate, such as pasta, as well as a source of protein, such as lean meat or chicken.You can also have some fruit available to maintain the carbohydrate intake.Fluid intake is important at this time, see Hydration Fact sheet for information on how to assess your hydration status and maintain your fluid intake.

During Training/Game
During training or a game, replacing fluids and fuel lost is the most important element of nutrition.You should have access to a sports drink and water during training and games. More information on sports drinks can be found in the next section.
Players and coaches should use every opportunity possible to get fluids into your system — injuries, substitutions, stoppages in play, half time.

Post Training/Games
After training and games it is important to start refueling the body as soon as possible.Fluids lost through sweating must be replaced. Monitoring of hydration is important to refueling. For each kg of weight lost due to sweating, replace with 1.5 litres of fluids. Sports drinks containing 6 — 8% carbohydrate, some electrolytes and a source of protein are important in the initial stages of refueling,Keep some fruit, such as a banana or some dried fruits along with water or a sports drink in your gear bag to ensure that you can begin refueling as soon as possible.Your post training/game meal should mostly contain a source of carbohydrate, such as pasta or rice, to replace lost carbohydrate stores, and some protein such as chicken or lean meat as a source of protein.Maintain a high carbohydrate intake in the days after a high intensity training session or game to ensure that carbohydrate stores are maintained in preparation for the next session/game.

Source - http://www.medicalwelfare.gaa.ie/generaladvice.html

Foundation Coaching Course at St. Patrick's Maghera


A team of Derry Coaching Development officers recently spent a full day in St. Patrick’s College Maghera when the Sixth Form Exam PE pupils undertook the practical component of the GAA Foundation Coaching Award. The College offers two different PE and Sport exam courses to Sixth Form pupils with the A Level PE class and the Vocational BTEC Sport Development class and, despite a few absentees, the development officers still had 60 pupils to work with on the day.
The five strong coaching team was lead by Chris Collins and with the large number of pupils involved it was a very busy day for all as the group worked from 9.30am to 3.40pm. Theoretical components of the course were delivered in the College Lecture Theatre before moving to the Sports Hall for the Fundamentals and finishing off with the practical coaching component outdoors. Unfortunately the weather turned miserable for the final session but the delivery throughout the day was excellent and ensured that the entire group were kept very busy and well motivated throughout. The group will now progress to the Child Protection aspect of the course which will be delivered within the next few weeks.

St. Patrick’s would like to thank Chris Collins and his team of Richard Ferris, Paul Simpson, Kevin Hinphey and Kevin Kelly for a tremendous day’s work and an excellent opportunity for the College pupils to enhance their sporting development. Perhaps some of these pupils will soon be coaching others in their local clubs in the not too distant future.

Thursday 5 November 2009

Child Development and Gaelic Football

Last night in Swatragh GAC 30 coaches attended the latest of our Coach Education Workshops, "Child Development and Gaelic Football". The course was delivered by expert Football coach, John Morrison, and the feedback from the coaches who attended has been extremely positive. Thanks again to John for delivering the course and to Swatragh GAC for the use of their facilities. Please keep an eye on the website for any future courses.


Banagher Gaelic Start Programme

Banagher Gaelic Start has successfully started. It has been introduced by Ben McGuckan and Clare Devlin and the Banagher Club coaches. 45 Boys and 18 Girls from nursery to P4 took part Tuesday night. It is running for 6 weeks on Tuesday nights between 7pm - 8pm. All the children found it brilliant fun and they all seemed to be buzzing about it after. 18 men and 13 women helped out, the majority were the children's parents and some club coaches. Thanks to the parents and club coaches for making it a successful night. Lets keep it going next week.



St. Brigid's Hurling Competition

St. Brigid's Primary school, Derry receive weekly hurling coaching from Derry GPO, Shauna McCallion. As part of their school programme Shauna organised a games week for them to take part in approx 60 children were involved. It was a great day to show the skills they have learned over past few of weeks.

Under 14 Hurling Wall Ball Competition

On Saturday 31st of October Kevin Hinphey launched this winters under-14 hurling wall ball competition. Clubs will hold their own internal competitions over the next few months with the respective champions coming together to play in the County finals series in March. The game is based loosely on the rules of racket ball and handball. Players will develop touch, striking and speed through the programme. Good luck to everyone.


St. Patrick's Pennyburn Gaelic Football Blitz

Shauna McCallion, Derry City GPO organised a Gaelic Football blitz for four of her classes in St. Patrick's Primary School, Pennyburn recently. The games were conditioned to small sided hand passing games to show off their skills. All the players had great fun!




Monday 2 November 2009

Coach Education Courses and Workshops

On Wednesday 4th November well respected coach John Morrison will deliver a Coach Education workshop titled: “Child Development and Gaelic Football”. The course will be held at Swatragh GAC at 7.30pm. All coaches are very welcome to attend and the course is free of charge.

On Thursday 5th November the first Derry hurling coaching course will take place at 7.00 in Dungiven Sports Pavilion. The course will be on “Hurling Nursery” programmes for 4-7 year olds. This course would be ideal for parents who have children starting hurling and would like to get involved and for coaches who are working with young players. All welcome, £2 per head to pay for facilities.

As well as the CPD courses we are also running National Governing Body Awards. The next course is the New Foundation Award:

Fri 06 Nov: New Foundation Award @ Creggan, Derry City 7.00pm
Sat 07 Nov: New Foundation Award @ Creggan, Derry City 9.30am

Anyone wishing to take part must register with Chris Collins on chris.collins.gm.derry@gaa.ie as a matter of urgency. There will be a maximum of 20 allowed to participate on this course.

Once coaches have done their new foundation course which incorporates the child protection course they will be eligible to progress onto a level 1 course. The new level 1 course is as follows:

Level 1 Children award, details below:

Fri 20 Nov: Level 1 Children Wk 1 @ Owenbeg, Dungiven 7.00pm
Sat 21 Nov: Level 1Children Wk 1 @ Owenbeg, Dungiven 9.00am
Fri 04 Dec: Level 1 Children Wk 2 @ Owenbeg, Dungiven 7.00pm
Sat 05 Dec: Level 1 Children Wk 2 @ Owenbeg, Dungiven 9.00am

The maximum for this course is 24 and I have a good few names already so please register with me as soon as possible if your club has anyone interested

Kind regards,
Chris

Criostóir Ó Coileáin / Chris Collins Derry Coaching & Games Development Manager Guthán 1 / Tel 1 : +44 (0) 28 777 42990Guthán 2 / Tel 2 : +44 (0) 78 432 32208
chris.collins.gm.derry@gaa.ieDerry GAA, Owenbeg Centre of Excellence

New Website for Derry Féile Peil na nÓg

As I'm sure anyone who reads this Coaching Blog is aware Derry are hosting the All Ireland Féile in July 2010. Derry County Board have just announced a new website set up to keep people up to date with all the Féile activities:
www.Feiledhoire2010.ie

Well done to everyone involved in creating the new website, I'm sure it will come in handy.

Oak Leaf School of Excellence visited Foreglen G.A.C.

The weather was great for this Oak Leaf School Of Excellence on Saturday 31st October, 24 Under 14's took part helped out by 7 club coaches, the topic was conditioned games. All coaches and players took full part in the days activities
A word of thanks to a few people:
Richard Ferris for coordinating the day
Foreglen GAC for use of their ground (Micky Kelly for opening)
To all the club coaches would not have happened without you.
Finally to the young players for coming along looking forward to the next day:
Saturday 21st Nov at Banagher GAC

Sean Dolans and Steelstown Spooky Friday

On Friday 30th October Sean Dolans and Steelstown both held a Halloween Fun Day. They invited children from the local primary schools down for a days craic!
Sean Dolans operated at the Old Library Trust from 10:00am - 12:00 noon approx 40 children participated.


Steelstown had their funday from 12:30pm - 2:30pm approx 30 children attended. The weather was terrible but everyone managed to have an enjoyable day.
Ashleen McCaul, Derry City GPO coordinated the Halloween fun day's but a special mention must go to both sets of club coaches who helped make it a really enjoyable day for those taking part.