A Player Centred Approach to Welfare My background Employed by Ulster GAA since March 2007 My Current role; Player Welfare A Player Centred Approach to Welfare Ryan Mellon – Ulster GAA

Ladies Gaelic Football Our Games GAA Gaelic Football Hurling Ladies Gaelic Football Camogie Rounders Handball There are a range of games in the Gaelic Games family.

Performance Pathway County u21 Academy Provincial National County Brock Rannafast Forrester U17 School Academy U16 School Academy U15 School Academy U14 School Academy FE Academy HE Academy U15 Club U14 Club U16 Club U18 Club U21 Club Senior Club Technical Education Club System Support: Fitness Testing Protocols, Skills Test Protocols, Player self assessment, Coach Assessment, Service Support Sigerson Fitzgibbon Markey Ward MacRory Mageean County u21 Academy County Senior County Minor Provincial / County County U17 McGuigan Cup County U16 Buncrana Cup County U15 Provincial / National Blitz The GAA Performance Pathway has 3 strands; Club, County & Education At the core of the pathway we have our County and Provincial Structures at each age group. Supporting and supplying talent to these County Academies we have our clubs (February to October). On the other side we have our competitions in schools, FE and HE (October to March). This works extremely well with clubs and county working in the spring and summer and the schools and colleges working over the Autumn and winter periods with the performance athlete.

Club Elite Players County School A small percentage of elite players will be selected to play for all 3 of the above. Players are very loyal to their club, school and county. They desire to play for all 3 teams in the same season. At times, conflict may arise between Club, School and Club Coaches. The player at times may be subjected to overuse and potentially be at risk of developing injuries or burnout. Club County

Recent Interventions Also mention the minor review group.

Gaelic Groin

Support Network for the Player Parents Coaches Schools County Squads County Committee Welfare Officer Elite players may a times have extremely busy schedules. We are currently working with stakeholders to protect the players as much as possible. The approach is player centred.

Player Role Talk to Parents Plan Season Communicate with managers Manage Lifestyle and make choices Monitor and record commitments Work with County Player Welfare Manager Role of Player ROLE OF PLAYERS Discuss challenges and issues with parents and coaches Plan the season to include commitments outside GAA Communicate commitments to managers /coaches Make hard choices Manage lifestyle to maximize performance Monitor and record training commitments Liaise with the County Player Welfare Mentor

Support and Ask Questions Parent Role Challenge Coaches Support and Ask Questions Take an Interest Parent Role Take and Interest: Be aware of your child’s overall commitments in sport, education, work and social life Challenge Coaches: Monitor and challenge training programmes with the coaches concerned Support and Ask Questions: Continue to support by asking questions and taking an interest in your child. Step In: Step in and take the decision out of their hands. Step in if required

Role of the Parents Dad, What do you know about Football? Nothing, but I know a lot about parenting Dad, What do you know about Football?

Explain to Others Respect the Player Implement Activate Role of the Coach Explain to Others Manage Take Overview Allow focus on next event Avoid conflicting training Recognise current training Rest Players Respect the Player ROLE OF COACH Nurture and manage the talented players Take an overview of their total commitments Allow them to focus on their next competition Avoid unnecessary and conflicting training regimes Recognize current training designed to help peak for imminent competition(s) Rest players from your training when your competition is not imminent Communicate resting players to other teammates Take decision making out of the players hands and work with parents Implement Activate Warm up. Monitor and make contributions to the players training diary Respect the player as a person and individual Implement Activate

Role of Fixture Makers Make decisions on full information Avoid fixture clashes where possible Schools, Colleges & County fixture makers committee Legislation to control the length of time for preparation of teams pre competition Role of CCC Make decisions around fixtures based on full information Avoid fixture clashes where possible Schools, Colleges and County fixture makers communicate Legislation to control the length of time for preparation of teams pre competition.

Role of Player Welfare Mentor Be Available Mentor Build Relationships Mediate Monitor Activity Player Welfare Mentor Be available as a source of support and mentoring to young players on county Squads Monitor training and playing regimes Be accessible by telephone to players Build a relationship with key stakeholders Mediate as required

Questions