SOME of the finest coaching minds will be in attendance at a coaching clinic organised by Steven Poacher on Saturday, ready to pass on some wisdom to club people who want to take their teams to the next level.
The St Joseph’s School GAA – innovative coaching event, which is in its 15th year, will see sessions being taken by former Mayo manager James Horan, Derry’s All-Ireland Minor Championship winner Damian McErlain, and Tyrone Sam Maguire winner Kieran McGeary who won footballer of the year in 2021.
The coaching course has grown from having 57 participants in its first year to attracting 440 last year.
The event will be held at St Joseph’s High School from 10am to 12.30pm on Saturday and promises to provide fascinating insights for all coaches.
Steven Poacher told the Mourne Observer, “We have got James Horan, that is a massive pull. He will be doing a talk about behaviours associated with high performance environments. The experience that he has had will make it a very good session.
“Damian McErlain is an Ulster and All-Ireland minor winning manager from the past two years. He is doing a talk about the challenges of coaching minor players, their mindset and the different challenges that they have in their lives.”
Steven Poacher said he is delighted that the coaching event has grown as big as it has in the past 15 years.
“People are sponges for education,” he said.
“One of the greatest resources that we have in our clubs are our coaches. The more educated that we can be, the better prepared our players will be.
“We want to bring more coaching into the club, that is the bottom line.”
So why has the course become so popular?
Stephen said, “Word of mouth. People realise that it has value.
“It has grown that big because so many people desire for more coaching.
“It is also a fundraiser for the school and people realise that the funds go back to sport in the school.
“For a school to build that over time into one of the biggest coaching days in the year, that is important.”
He added that it is good value for money. The course cost £10 when they started 15 years ago. Now it has only risen to £20.
The coaching event takes place on Saturday from 10am to 12.30pm at St Joseph’s High School, Newry.
Following introductions, Damian McErlain will take the first indoor session ‘challenges of coaching young players’ from 10.10am to 10.50.
From 10.50 to 11.30 James Horan will coach ‘behaviours associated with a high performance environment’.
Kieran McGeary’s ‘transitioning with pace and purpose’, an outdoor session, will last from 11.30 to 12.30 when there will be refreshments for those in attendance.
For more information contact Steven at stevepoacher@hotmail.com .
