All Saints GAC

Club meeting to discuss football coaching in the club.

Meeting For:
Football Coaches
Past/ Present/ Future
When: Tuesday 12th March (Please note change of date)
Venue: St. Brigid’s P.S.
Time: 6.30 – 8.30 pm

The juvenile committee wish to canvas opinion widely amongst all club members who have been, currently are or wish to coach football in the club. This is because we want to share experiences, discuss present club coaching issues and develop an agreed approach to coaching within All Saints.

This is an important issue and central to developing each player to their fullest potential and all opinions are needed.

Please reply directly to Jim Brady at jamesgbrady@hotmail.com to confirm attendance

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 5th, 2013, under the Coaching category.

Following the recent discussion session, we look at an update of the All Saints GAC Juvenile Action Plan.

Progress So Far:
As part of our club strategy to ensure that we meet the present and long-term needs of our young members the Juvenile Committee has embarked on a process of consultation and decision aimed at developing all aspects of our juvenile structures. This is the second time that we have embarked on this “Action Planning” process and to date this has involved several juvenile seminars, discussions with external support facilitators including Antrim County Board and Ulster Council officials and much discussion among those involved in coaching within the club. This process resulted in the development of an action plan covering the next 3 years.

Recently club Juvenile mentors met to discuss the draft plan and ratify the main items we wish to take forward and themes explored included coaching development for mentors, when does competition start in All Saints, competition v participation, resourcing the games, promotion of the dual player, support for under-represented codes and developing codes of conduct across a range of areas of juvenile club life for coaches, players and parents. We also explored the need for defined roles and responsibilities for those holding a variety of positions within the youth structure eg: School Liasion Officer/ Coaching Officer.

What’s Next?
The juvenile committee/ mentors will be presented with a summary of the ideas from the last discussion. This will hopefully lead to the proposals being adopted as club policy and provide the direction that the club will travel at juvenile level for the forseeable future. If one single thing needs to be taken from all of the discussions so far it is that our club concentration should clearly be on developing our young players for the future to ensure a steady stream of participants through to all senior levels.

A constant theme emanating from the work has been the recognition that success at juvenile level does not necessarily involve winning trophies (although that is nice!) but rather will be seen in the development of all All Saints juvenile players through to all senior levels of the club.

Maybe we could learn from the experience of the greatest club football side of all time, Crossmaglen Rangers. In a recent interview with the Irish Independent the reporter provided the following insight:

“They seem to retain almost every player they produce, bringing them through from underage ranks to senior playing level and then into a coaching role just as they wind down their careers. Very few ever leave the family.

“They only win a minor or an under 16 county championship every 10 years or so because the targets set for youngsters are not determined by success or medals”.

… and the club coaching officer commented:

“As we’ve said, we’re not hung up on winning everything at underage level which is a good thing, so players enjoy coming through the ranks with us”.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2013, under the Coaching, Underage Football, Underage Hurling category.

An opportunity has arisen for a number of All Saints GAC coaches to be put through Foundation Level Coaching and Child Protection courses.

As part of the Peace III Programme, a number of club coaches will be able to avail of the following courses free of charge.

Saturday 9th March 2013
Foundation Level Coaching Course – 10 places available.
@ Slemish Park
Time TBC

Monday 11th March 2013
Child Protection Course – 24 places available.
@ St Brigids PS
Time 7pm

To register an interest in these courses contact Hugh Killough on hughk@talktalk.net / 07707 553712.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2013, under the Coaching category.

The next phase of the Juvenile Action Plan will continue with a meeting on Monday 11th February.

As members will be aware, the juvenile section of the club has been working hard at developing a way forward in respect of youth development in the club and youth Gaelic games in general. Following much thought and discussion we have developed an action plan to take us forward for the next 3+ years. The action plan was circulated amongst juvenile mentors etc some months ago and we would now like to move forward on its recommendations.

To ensure that this valuable work and planning is successful we invite all members to a meeting on Monday 11th February 6:30pm @ St Brigids PS. By the end of the meeting we hope to have prioritised the issues for development and agreed a way forward.

You don’t have to be coaching juvenile teams to contribute to this valuable work and the meeting is open to coaches, members, parents and everyone with an interest in developing the club further.

To assist with seating etc we would ask that those intending to attend contact Jim Brady (07719798099 / jamesgbrady@hotmail.com) asap.

Many thanks.

Juvenile Committee

This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2013, under the Coaching, Underage Football, Underage Hurling category.

Juvenile Development Discussion

Nineteen juvenile coaches covering all 4 codes attended Monday night‘s discussion led by Terence McWilliams from Ulster Council. The session looked at developing quality coaching structures within the club from under 6 through to senior and Terence outlined the process required to achieve this. While it was accepted that the task would be difficult it was recognised that a lot of good coaching and development has been/is currently ongoing within the club.

Terence was impressed with our continued promotion of the FUNdamentals programme, our participation in Go Games (particularly our commitment to maintaining the small sided nature of the games and rotation of players) and our links with local schools. He suggested that success as measured by continued player involvement and championships at senior level in all codes is built on quality structures at all youth levels. This requires the club to spend time developing an overall coaching plan that sees planned progression from the youngest to at least minor (and beyond).

Development of the coaching plan will only lead to success if all coaches are signed up to it and more importantly implement it in full. He outlined an overall Coaching Structure to include roles such as:

• Overall Head Coach,
• Lead Coaches at each age group,
• Coaching Officer,
• School Liaison Officer,
• Equipment Manager etc.

Terence then invited each group of coaches to detail their average coaching session and all participants joined with him as he spent time discussing each one during which time he highlighted good practice while also offering useful advice on possible improvements. He ended by reminding all that the Ulster Council Coaching Courses continue to be available during the year and that all coaches should have Foundation Level and then Level 1 to ensure the above success occurs.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2012, under the Coaching category.

All Saints GAC Juvenile Development Discussion:
Consolidating Good Practice/ Developing Coaching Further

Venue: St. Brigid’s P.S.
Date: Monday 26th November
Time: 6.30pm-8.30pm
Facilitator: Mr. Terence McWilliams (Ulster Council, GAA)
Who Should Attend: All club members involved in/ interested in future Juvenile Coaching

The Juvenile Committee has recently developed its 2nd Juvenile Action Plan. One of the objectives detailed is the desire to provide the best possible coaching strutures and programmes we can for our young members.

To begin that process we have been fortunate to engage the services of Terence McWilliams to support us with this work. As many of you will know Terence has been involved in sports coaching and development at a high level for many years. He has worked in supporting sport in schools and clubs and currently works in Ulster Council GAA as Ulster Games Development Manager. He is the author of many GAA coaching programmes and articles and curently manages the Ulster Council Primary School Coaching programme which places Dept. of Education N.I. coaches in primary schools during the school year.

In short, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

If you will be attending please forward your details by E-Mail to jamesgbrady@hotmail.com before next Friday, 23rd November 2012.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 16th, 2012, under the Coaching, Underage Football, Underage Hurling category.

All Saints GAC will be hosting a Foundation GAA Coaching Course on Saturday 16th June at Slemish Park.

The course will be run off in one day and will be part practical and part lesson. Participants will receive their Foundation GAA coaching award as a result.

The course is free of charge and everyone is welcome.

To book a place on the course, contact Hugh Killough on hughk@talktalk.net / 07707 553712.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012, under the Coaching category.

Na Naomh Uile – Iománaíocht na n-Óg

(All Saints – Juvenile Hurling)

Feile Uladh

All Saints are hosting a group stage of the Ulster Hurling Feile this Saturday when we will welcome teams from Antrim, Armagh, Down and Monaghan to Slemish Park.

Feile Uladh is a mammoth event with fifty eight teams from all over Ulster scheduled to play at twelve different venues. Teams are divided into six divisions; each division is then split into two groups. Teams in each group play in a round robin blitz with the winner of each group qualifying for the divisional final.

All Saints will play against Castleblaney, St Peter’s Warrenpoint, Crabh Rua Camlocha and Gort na Mona.

Things kick off with an 11:00 throw in. The last games of the day are scheduled for 2:00pm. Players should be at the pitch for 10:15 and should bring a packed lunch and rain gear.

 Our U14s have had mixed fortunes over the past number of weeks. An encouraging start to the season was derailed somewhat when a number of players became unavailable due to injury. Nonetheless the lads have been putting in great effort during matches and at training and with the return of the wounded, spirits are high. We encourage everyone to come along on Saturday and support the boys in their campaign to win an Ulster title.

This Week’s Fixtures    

U14 Feile Uladh

Date – Saturday 28 April

Venue – Slemish Park

Time – 11:00 – 14:30

Players to be at pitch for 10:30

U8 Blitz

Date – Saturday 28 April

Venue – Antrim – St Comgalls

Time – 12:00

Transport – cars will leave gates of St Patrick’s at 11:30

Hurling Training Times

Wednesday nights at Slemish Park:

P1 – P3 – 18:30 – 19:15

P4 – Y10 – 18:30 – 20:00

Cluichí agus Comórtais

(Games and Competitions)

This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2012, under the Coaching, Underage Hurling category.

All Saints players and coaches were very fortunate to take part in an interactive workshop with former All Blacks high performance coach Paul McKinnon tonight.

The theme for the workshop was ‘Talent is Never Enough’ and it focussed on a number of elements including teamwork, courage, toughness, initiative, passion, coachability and belief.

Paul challenged those in attendance to relate all these key themes to their own personal experiences, and it certainly encouraged some healthy debate and thought.

All the players and coaches involved certainly took a lot from the workshop, and All Saints senior football manager Hugh Killough presented Paul with an All Saints shirt as a token of appreciation at the end of the session.

The workshop was preceded by an on-field coaching session with former Antrim footballer and Derry coach Kevin Madden, so hopefully these will stand the Saints in good stead for the year ahead!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2012, under the Coaching category.

Na Naomh Uile – Iománaíocht na n-Óg

(All Saints – Juvenile Hurling)

Match Reports

U12s Narrowly Beaten in Airborne Final

Our U12 hurlers travelled to Dunloy on Saturday to play in the final of the U12 indoor airborne tournament against Glenshesk. Having gotten through to the final unbeaten over the previous 2 weeks the players were optimistic despite only having the minimum 8 players. With 2 points for a catch from over 10m and 1 point awarded for scores, both goals and points, the boys had to learn how to play smart and go for the catch.

Things started very brightly and Ballymena took an early lead before Glenshesk got into the game. It was nip and tuck but the boys probably shaded the first half as a result of some good catching. With 10 minutes hurling each way, the game was fast and furious and there was some great scoring of points from both sides. Glenshesk hit a purple patch midway through the second half and racked up some good scores. However the boys rallied and took some fabulous scores as well as some excellent catches.

At the final whistle, everyone knew there was little in it but no one was sure who had won. Unfortunately when the final score was added up Glenshesk were pronounced the winners on a score of 26 to 24. Ballymena did outscore Glenshesk in the number of catches 7 to 5. On the day it just didn’t go our way, but all the players put in a great show.

The team was made up of Conor O’Rawe in goals as well as James O’Boyle, Ryan McCann, Alex O’Boyle, Ryan McGarry, Eoin McNally, Owen Daly and Rory McAllister and everyone of them did themselves proud with their chasing and their commitment.

U14 Challenge – Na Naomh Uile v Eire Óg

Our U14s had their first taste of outdoor action on Sunday when they played Eire Óg at Slemish Park where the sun beamed down in an unseasonal heat wave. Like the euphoria of young bulls let out to grass for the first time after winter housing, the boys kicked their heels and played with abandon. This was a superb team performance, hallmarked by some fine passing and support play throughout. Although Eire Óg played with spirit and determination they could not withhold the All Saints’ tsunami.

Both teams had reduced panels and the game was played with eleven players each. Special credit is due to James Murphy who volunteered to line out for the visitors and played with aplomb in goals and again when moved to mid field.

Thanks to Eire Óg for a competitive encounter which was played with great sportsmanship displayed by both teams.

Na Naomh Uile 6:14 Eire Óg 4:04

Na Naomh Uile

Daire Hasson (0:01), Rónán Ward, Conor McCormick, Ryan McGarry, Calum McGarry, Eoin McGuigan (0:02), Aaron Reid (0:01), Ciarán Neeson (1:06), Eamon Elliott (1:04), Sean O’Rawe (1:00), Sam Riley (3:01)

Weekend Fixtures

U14 Challenge – Na Naomh Uile v Sarsfield

The U14s have another challenge match away to Sarsfield on Sunday at 12:30.

Antrim play Limerick at 14:30 in what is effectively a semi final of the Division 1b National Hurling League at Casement Park. Sarsfield’s pitch is close to Casement and the Sarsfield club have offered refreshments to anyone who wants to fuel up before going to Casement to support the county hurlers, – kids go free!

Date – Sunday 01 April

Venue – Sarsfield

Time – 12:30

Transport – cars will leave gates of St Patrick’s at 11:15

Hurling Training Moves Outdoors

Hurling training for all age groups moves outdoors to Slemish Park this week. The times for each age group are detailed below.

We would like to thank Mr Rafferty, principal of St Louis for allowing us to use the school hall for hurling training during the winter. Thanks also to the cleaners and security staff for their courtesy and help on Wednesday and Friday nights.

At All Saints we are proud of the strong links we have with local schools and are always glad to help schools to promote Gaelic games in any way we can.

Hurling Training Times

Wednesday nights at Slemish Park:

P1 – P3 – 18:30 – 19:15

P4 – Y10 – 18:30 – 20:00

Well Done to Loughguile

Congratulation to Loughguile on their victory in the Club All Ireland Final played on St Patrick’s Day against Coolderry of Offaly.

With the county team securing Division 1b status and now focussing to qualify for the premier 1a Division things are looking bright for Antrim hurling. Hopefully this tide of achievement will encourage more of our juveniles to pick up a stick for All Saints.

One Club – Two Codes – All Saints  

All our juvenile hurling teams have made impressive starts to the 2012 season.

At All Saints we are proud that we provide opportunities for children to play both hurling/camogie and football and we encourage our juveniles to play both codes.

This policy was recently given a ringing endorsement from perhaps the greatest hurler to ever play the game. Henry Shefflin writes:

Events Calendar

Visit: All Saints website: http://www.allsaintsgac.com for all the latest club news

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2012, under the Coaching, Underage Hurling category.