Geraldines GFC held their first 'Coach the Coaches' workshop to implement good coaching practices for their coaches.

This is one of the recommendations coming from our Coaching & Games Committee chair by Colm Gartlan and the Gers want to build on this going forward. The day was kicked off with Chairman Brian Cafferty opening the workshop & welcoming everyone in attendance especially our guest coaches Gavin McGilly (St. Mary's University College Belfast) & Ciaran Murtagh (Ulster Ladies Development Officer).

These coaches are well renown throughout Ulster & bring vast amount of experiences. It was straight into a short presentation delivered by Coaching Officer Vincent Baldwin on the importance of creating the right environment for player development, setting the theme "As Many As Possible For As Long As Possible".

Proceedings were then handed over to our guest coaches who spoke about their coaching experience on player development and how coaches should network together to get this right for themselves and the players of the club. Then it was onto the 1st workshop pitch sessions were Ciaran delivered a session with our boys U10s on "As many touches and skill refinement" for our ÓgSport coaches and Gavin delivering a session on "First touch, from small activities to Game Sense" with our Girls U16s to the clubs Youth coaches followed by Q&A with coaches.

After that back into the hall were our Club Coaching Officer Paul King gave an presentation on GAA compliance with Safeguarding/Garda Vetting & Coaching courses for all clubs and how he is working to help the club become compliant here. But also highlighting the importance these requirements can also help give confidence to our coaches.

Again back out on the pitch for Gavin to deliver a session on "Passing - the importance of making connection between the Giver and the Receiver" from drills to Game Sense. The day was then wrapped up with a well deserved curry.

The club want to thank all the coaches who attended & the club players especially on a miserable morning. We also like to thank our guest coaches Gavin and Ciaran who passed on valuable knowledge. Better coaches will ultimately mean better players!