Gaelic Football 2009

Herts. Clubs reaping rewards of School Sports Programmes

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1 P A G E 3

Oxfordshire Primary Schools kicked off Hertfordshire’s underage development for 2009. Four Schools, including St. Johns and St. Josephs in Banbury, St Marys in Bicester and Our Lady’s in Oxford took part in Gaelic football sessions during and after school hours.

An exciting festival 25th March in Banbury at Blessed George Napier School (BGN) where the Yr. 4 children to take part in their first Gaelic football tournament, show off their skills and catch the Gaelic football bug! BGN are active in their delivery of the games to Secondary pupils; specially selected students from Yr.12 are co organising the event for the Primary children.

BGN are embarking on a tour to Mayo in Easter, organised by Tara Boyle, a teacher who is committed in
the sustained delivery of Gaelic football in the school. Well done to all who took part and contributed to
the festival and well done to BGN on their successful trip to Ireland.

A coach education course was held in St. Albans in January, where over 70 coaches attended the new Foundation level course. All attendees enjoyed the day and it provided an opportunity for ideas to be shared. Coach education is imperative for the County to develop and important for teachers to deliver in Schools. Thank you to all who attended and look out for future courses in 2009.

After Easter, Luton and Watford Primary Schools will start their 6 week programme of curricular and extra
curricular lessons. To sustain a school club link, members from the local clubs will be involved in the delivery of these Gaelic sessions and teacher training for staff members. St Dympnas GAA club members are delivering Gaelic football to Secondary students in Cardinal Newman School.

The relationship between SSCO Clare Murphy and the club can only be admired and replicated by other clubs in the County yet fun spirit. The tournament was organized by the Community Development Administrators, with great support from both the County and Development committees. Teams were
divided into 4 different competitions, Munster, Connacht, Leinster and Ulster championships, ensuring that they were competing against teams of similar strength and ability.

To commemorate the GAA’s 125th Anniversary, London GAA organized a primary schools festival, which took place on Friday, April 24th at Tir Chonaill Park in Greenford. 40 teams from 18 local primary schools,