On Monday, April 19th a Camogie Development Squads workshop took place with over 130 registered attendees.
The topics of the workshop were “Communication” and “Understanding and Mentoring the Female Athlete”. The speakers on the evening included Ray Harris Wexford GAA Games Manager, Ursula Jacob Wexford Camogie All Ireland winner and Dr Ailsa Stott Scottish Lacrosse.
The first topic of the evening on Communication was delivered by Ray and Ursula. Ray emphasised the importance of good communication between all stakeholders when organising development squads. He also discussed how maintaining this communication through the pathway of a player was key to the success of the development squad pathway and how it would also lead to a positive experience for the player. Ursula gave some key insights into good communication practises especially when dealing with different personalities and differing development rates of underage players. The learnings and insights in these areas will be very beneficial when players get back to the training pitches.
The next part of the workshop on Understanding and Mentoring the Female Athlete was delivered by Dr Alisa Stott. Alisa gave an excellent overview on some key considerations for coaches to consider when coaching teenagers through puberty. One of the most informative pieces of the session was the learning around the female menstrual cycle and how this can impact on sporting performance. Alisa highlighted the differences between coaching male and female players and used practical examples from her own playing career on how these can be transferred to the Camogie pitch.
The session concluded with a brief Q & A session facilitated by Camogie staff member Stuart Reid who posed questions to the three panellists that had been submitted by the many attendees registered for the workshop.
