The GAA National Hurling and Camogie Development Centre (NHCDC) plan was officially unveiled on Monday, March 5 in Waterford at its site at the WIT Sports campus in Carriganore.
The new centre which will be the home of Hurling and Camogie development for all clubs across Ireland will become a mechanism for providing Sport Science Support to teams at both Club and County level through fitness assessments, Diet and Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning.
The Centre will draw on the expertise of staff in Waterford Institute of Technology as well as contracting other specialists throughout the country.Initially, the sport science support will be provided by the NHCDC at the Centre in Carriganore and also via the NHCDC mobile unit.
In welcoming the announcement President of WIT Dr. Ruaidhri Neavyn said, "We are delighted to welcome the GAA National Hurling and Camogie Development Centre to the WIT Sports campus here at Carriganore; the facilities here are state of the art and WIT GAA club itself is no stranger to hurling success having won no fewer than eight Fitzgibbon Cup titles since 1992 and also the Ashbourne Cup for four years in a row.
WIT Health Science and Sports departments add scientific and sporting expertise to this collaboration which will be beneficial not only for sporting development with the GAA but also for educational purposes here at the institute."
Commenting at the launch in Carriganore, CEO of WIT Campus Services Eugene McKenna said, "At Carriganore the supports will be provided through the use of the Elite Fitness Suite and the Laboratories and Training Suites will be second to none. The centre will be housed in the state of the art WIT Sports Campus which is currently mid-way through construction. We have invested over 18.5million in the multi-purpose arena to date, undertook alot of research resulting in the most modern of sports facilities on offer including a sports pavilion, changing facilities and outdoor pitches all completed since 2010. Our new centre which will open at the end of this year, will include an indoor sports arena, an elite athlete gymnasium will also be provided on two levels overlooking the impressive all-weather pitch;
6 Individual Lab/Tutor Suites for Performance Analysis and an E-Learning Centre which can accommodate up to 180 people."
Unveiling the plans at the Waterford event GAA President Christy Cooney said, "It is a great achievement by the GAA to be here in Waterford today to officially launch the new NHCDC. I believe this centre will mean great things for the progress and future of our national games and facilitate in delivering on the objectives and aims of the national hurling development plan which was recently launched."
In additional to the Centre, the Mobile Unit will also compliment this as it can be transformed into a fitness testing lab and will be fully equipped with state of the art technology to enable research and analysis countrywide." Christy commented.
President of the Camogie Association Joan O’Flynn said, "Today is a mile stone for the future of the game of Camogie in Ireland. The more we understand about players as female athletes the better we can improve on fitness, playing and coaching performances in Camogie; advance player welfare and expand involvement around the country even more.
I look forward to the Centre providing new insights to these issues.
Camogie’s inclusion in this visionary project is a very welcome sign of an, increasingly, more inclusive sports culture and we look forward to contributing to, as well as benefitting from its technical knowledge and support."
Picture below: Camogie President Joan O’Flynn speaking at yesterday’s launch
