North Derry Primary School Camogie Blitz

On Thursday 21st January the Derry Coaching and Games department organised and ran a very successful primary school indoor Camogie blitz @ Roe Valley Leisure Centre. 16 teams took part in the blitz, over 80 girls in total. Thanks to Richard Ferris for the smooth running of the day, the teachers for supervising the girls and Limavady district council for the use of their facilities.

Derry Under 16 Buncrana Cup Winning Team Presentation Night

On Thursday 21st January members from Club Derry and the Derry County Board formally congratulated and thanked the 2009 Under 16 team who won the Buncrana Cup for their efforts, tribute was paid to the players parents for their contibutions and to the coaches Karl Conlan, Martin Boyle, Martin McWilliams and Jason Muldoon who put in a lot of good quality work with the players.

Tony Scullion praised the 2009 for their achievements but suggested with the talent in the squad this group of players shouldn't be settling for a Buncrana Cup Medal. The messgae on the night was loud and clear, "Well done on what you've achieved in 2009, but no one should be happy or satisfied to be remembered as a good Under 16 team, every player needs to get focused and become the best they can be"

All of the players got a jersey sponsored by Club Derry. Chris Collins was keen to emphasis the importance members from Club Derry had this year and will continue to have for the years to come in the development of our young players, "Without you none of this would be possible, young people now are getting a tremendious opportunity to excel within the clubs, schools and County."

Gaelic Start @ Dungiven

Claire Devlin last night was in Dungiven Club delivered the Gaelic Start presentation to almost 30 coaches and parents. Dungiven have 70 under 8's registered and we will begin their programme this Saturday.

Primary 5 Blitz @ Swatragh GAC

Today the South Derry P.5 blitz took place in Swatragh GAC. 41 players from St Brigids Tirkane, St Johns Swatragh, St Patricks Glen and St Marys Glenview took part. Thanks to Swatragh GAC for the use of their hall.

Primary 5 Blitz at Back Row Draperstown

Diarmuid Scullion continued his series of Primary 5 football blitz's todays in the Backrow hall, Draperstown. 41 pupils from St. Marys Draperstown, St. Columbs Straw, St. Eoghans Moneyneena, St Columbs Cullion and Knocknagin primary took part. An enjoyable day was had by all.

Primary School Football Blitz at Lavey GAC

Today Diarmuid Scullion organised a Primary 5 football blitz in Lavey GAC from 10am to 12 noon. 55 pupils from St John Bosco's Ballynease, St Marys Bellaghy, St Brigids Mayogall and Anahorish took part in the 36 games played. Thank you to Lavey GAC for the use of their excellent facilities.

Oak Leaf School of Excellence Saturday 23rd January @ Limavady GAC

56 players from 12 different clubs attended the Oak Leaf School of Excellence at Limavady GAC on a chilly Saturday morning. The focus was skill technique. They were put through their paces by the very capable coaches under taking their level 1 football course, overseen by Chris Collins and Richard Ferris. The morning went really well, the children were tired at the end of it but they seemed to really enjoy it from the feedback they gave.
The following players have taken their first step to earning the new Club Derry Jersey:

Dungiven: Fintan McGilligan, Conor Granliss, Seoine O' Donnell, Ronan O' Kane, Rory Ballard, Michael McCloskey, Oran McGonigle, Cahir Mullan, Ciaran Steele, Conor Owen, Oran Downey, Martin Henry, Paddy McCloskey and Padraig Judge; Faughanvale: Jamie Gamble; Greenlough: Ryan Henry, Matthew Bradley, Paul Tohill and Caolin Diamond; Limavady: Emmett Fenlan, Matthew Magee, Dillon O' Brien, Liam Boyd, Declan Clancy, Finbarr O' Brien, Conor G, Paul Aitken, Conor Hartin, Dillon McDermott and Cormac Quigley; Ballymaguigan: John Bradley, Liam Cassidy and Martin K; Foreglen: Padraig Morghan, Ruairi McFeely and Liam O'Hara; Glen: Shane Turner, Cathair Glass, Conor Glass, Cathal Mulholland, Danny Tallon and Tomas Convery; Ballerin: Bobby Mullan and Pearse McIntyre; Slaughtneil: Padraig McMullan, Donal Purvis and Conor McAllister; Desertmartin: Eunan O'Kane; Swatragh: John Walsh, Joseph Grant, Cathal Quinn, Sean Quinn, Patrick Kearney, Francis Kearney and Patrick Turner; Drum: Gabriel Farren.

Thanks to all the coaches for doing their bit, to Limavady GAC for hosting the event and providing refreshments and to the players for attending. The next Oak Leaf School of Excellence is on Saturday 27th February 10am – 12 noon @ Castledawson GAC

Unfortunately the City Oaks had to be cancelled on Saturday morning due to Celtic Park health and safety team deeming the pitch unplayable due to frost. The next City Oak’s will also take place on Saturday 27th February @ Celtic Park.

CPD Course: Strength and Conditioning for Young Players

On Wednesday 20th January Richard Ferris and several other tutors rolled out a Coach Education course around strength and conditioning for young players at Roe Valley Leisure Centre, Limavady. It was a slightly disappointing turn out of coaches (22) but the night was first class, great variety. There was various stations; Cardiovascular, Core Stability, Total Body, Legs, Back Chest Shoulders and Arms with various ranges of equipment to preform the exercises using proper technique. Thanks to the followings tutors Kevin Kelly, Francis Scullion, Dairmuid Scullion, Paul Simpson and Eamon Ferris. Also a big thank you to the Derry Vocational School team for participating. Each player left with a 6 week programme.

Foundation Course for Derry City Clubs

Derry City Council provided funding to roll out a Foundation GAA Coaching Course on Saturday past. The Course was held at Steelstown GAC, despite the terrible weather conditions 35 coaches done the course delivered by Paul Simpson and Kevin Hinphey

Club Underage Structure Night @ Owenbeg

On Wednesday 13th January we held a Club Underage Structure Night to give all the underage coaches in the County an idea as to what direction Coaching and Games was taking in 2010. Over 100 coaches were welcomed by County Chairman John Keenan who praised them all for the excellent work they have been doing with our underage. Chris Collins and the other full time coaches presented the format for 2010.

A copy of the presentation can be found on the Derry Website

Glenullin Road to Croker

Glenullin recently ran their "Road to Croker" tournament in the Club Hall. County Players Gerard O'Kane and Brian Mullan attended the event to give their support to the young players. The programme included P.5, 6 and 7 children. The teams were split up into Armagh, Dublin, Cork and Kerry and they played against eachother every week.

Kerry and Cork played in the final with Kerry coming out the stronger. The most improved player with young Joseph O'Hagan. Glenullin are now entered into the free prize draw sponsored by Club Derry for a trip to Croke Park

New Foundation Coaching Course @ Swatragh GAC

On Saturday 9th January despite the heavy snow Swatragh GAC hosted a new GAA foundation course for their coaches. Chris Collins and Richard Ferris delivered the course to 24 coaches. Thanks to all the coaches who attended, they certainly applied themselves very well!

Gaelic Start @ Ogramore

During the month of November and December, coaches Ronan Devlin, Ruairi Convery and Diarmuid Scullion delivered the Gaelic Start Porgramme to the children from Ogramore. There was an increase of 50% in terms of children taking part from the start of the programme to the conclusion of it. Well done to everyone involved

Gaelic Start @ Desertmartin GAC

This morning Ruairi Convery, Ronan Devlin and Diarmuid Scullion were in Desertmartin club hall to introduce the Gaelic Start programme to the clubs Key Stage 1 children and the parents that arrived to help out. Despite the heavy snow there was an excellent turnout and everyone really enjoyed the session.

St. Pius Lower 6th Enrichment Programme

Diarmuid Scullion, Magherafelt GPO recently delivered a fundamentals session to young coaches studying at St. Pius, Magherafelt as part of their enrichment programme.