Pilot of 'Ready..Steady..Play' Programme takes Place in Cooley Kickhams

Pilot of ‘Ready..Steady..Play’ Programme takes Place in Cooley Kickhams

A very successful pilot of the new volunteer recruitment
programme ‘Ready..Steady..Play’ took place on Saturday 10th September
in Cooley Kickhams GAA Club in County Louth. This course has been
designed by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association to recruit new
people to help out with teams within clubs throughout the country.
Twelve new volunteers have now been recruited in the club and are
currently in action with the various teams at juvenile level.

The programme works on a ‘Buddy’ system where the volunteer will
be introduced to the club by their ‘Buddy’, a current club mentor,
and they will guide and assist the volunteer through the programme.
As all clubs are aware it can be difficult to get help for the various
teams in the club and this course allows people with little or no
experience gain the confidence to become involved. The programme
does not require that the new volunteer becomes a mentor of a team
in the club but rather that they can assist the current mentors
of all teams involved.

To complete the course volunteers must attend the 2 ½ hour
training course in the club. They must then assist with and deliver
a section in 4 coaching sessions. The Ready..Steady..Play pack contains
all warm ups, skill breakdowns, skill drills and games required
to complete this section. The volunteer must then simply return
the completed evaluation form to Head Office in Croke Park and upon
approval they will be awarded with their coaching certificate.

The new volunteers were introduced to the basic skills of Ladies
Gaelic Football and were then given the opportunity to learn how
to coach these skills and also to try and coach some of the skills
themselves. They were also given details on the Code of Ethics and
Good Practice. The participants in the pilot programme felt that
the course was of great benefit to the club. One new volunteer,
Elaine Rogan, said: “The course helped get parents and people
not involved in GAA interested and it got them to know the basics
of Gaelic Football. These people are now willing to become involved
and help the current mentors.” Another, Catherine Magee, stated
that, “The course was very enjoyable, well presented and easily
understood. It was good to act out the actual drills.”

A current juvenile mentor in Cooley Kickhams, Donal Mc Donald expressed
his delight at the course having been run in the club. He said:
“It can be difficult if you are running late and there is nobody
that you can contact to help you out but with this programme I now
have some volunteers that can help with warm ups until I arrive
and also assist me in any training sessions necessary. The majority
of these people are at the pitch watching training or matches anyway
but now the have gained some confidence to help out the mentors.”

The overall view of the programme appears to be positive and for
Cooley Kickhams there are now more people involved in the juvenile
section that ever before.