Covid-19 update from GAA president

As you will be aware by now, the Irish Government yesterday published their “Covid 19: Resilience and Recovery 2021” plan. There is no immediate change for sport outlined in the plan and as per our last communication to you, it is clear that no on-field activity will be permitted – even at inter-county level – until Easter at the earliest.

We will be seeking clarity on certain aspects of the provisions on sport in the new Government document and while the document does envisage the return of inter-county games at Level 4 and of some club games in Level 3, it remains impossible to plan a revised Master Fixtures calendar for 2021, as there is no indication at this point of when these Levels may kick in. The exercise is further complicated by the need to align our plans with whatever is permitted by the NI Executive for Counties and clubs in that jurisdiction.

In the interim, and despite any speculation you may read or hear to the contrary, we would again reiterate that the GAA has not decided on what competitions may or may not be facilitated in any revised national fixture programme for 2021. Such decisions will be a factor of how much time is ultimately available to us, both for an inter-county season and for the broader participation levels that will be necessary for a meaningful club season at both adult and underage levels.

The next signpost on the road for society is likely to come in the week leading up to Easter. We will again communicate directly with Counties and Clubs at that point and once Government makes clear whether they see any further relaxing of restrictions (for example allowing inter-county training or games) being permitted.

We also want to assure you that we will publish a revised National Fixtures calendar at the earliest possible opportunity.

We thank you again for your patience and understanding of a very trying situation and we look forward with optimism to the resumption of GAA activities at all levels later in the year.

Is muidne,

Seán Ó hÓrain

Uachtarán

 

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‘Building stronger clubs – securing our future’

The Munster GAA Club Development Programme is a new and exciting initiative that recognises the pivotal role the club plays in all aspects of the GAA.

It is designed to assist and support clubs in developing a structure which empowers volunteers, delivers appropriate coaching inputs, and enhances the club structure to cater adequately for all members.

It will engage with both the adult and juvenile sections. Launching the project Munster GAA Chairman Liam Ó Loineacháin encouraged all county boards and clubs to engage in the programme stating that: “It is our plan to deliver this vitally important programme to each and every club in the Province.”

Every club participating in this initiative will receive a minimum of three visits. It is vital that all sections of the club engage in the process (adult committee, juvenile committee, coaches, officers, administrators, parents etc.).

Games Development Administrators (GDAs) will work closely with other support groups in the county and province to ensure all areas of expertise are made available to the clubs throughout the programme.

An initial audit of all clubs will provide the necessary information to deliver a programme that is suited to the specific needs of every club.

While we would prefer to deliver the programme ‘Face-to-face’, there is a specially adapted ‘on line’ version which ensures that it can be delivered during the current Covid restrictions.

The programme will examine and develop the seven pillars of a successful club: Coaching and Games Development; Volunteers and Recruitment; Communications and PR; Health and Well Being; Finance and Fundraising; Social and Community and Organisational Structures and Governance.

Chairman of Munster GAA Coaching and Games Development committee Gearóid Ó Riain stated that: “While the targets are ambitious, we are confident that we have the programme and the personnel to achieve our aims.

“Our vision is that everybody has the opportunity to be welcomed to take part in our games and culture, to participate fully, to grow and develop and to be inspired to keep a lifelong engagement with our association.”

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Online coaching sessions for juvenile teams

  1. Next Monday night at 8pm, we (Rebel Óg coaching) will host an information webinar for club coaches who may be interested in doing online coaching sessions for their juvenile players. It is proving a very popular alternative for lots of clubs around the country as a method of engaging their club players during the lockdown.
It is primarily aimed at Coaches of 5–10-year-olds, but obviously, all coaches can join as a lot of the content will be relevant.
Topics include:
  • How do we set up online Coaching sessions?
  • Are there regulations we need to be aware of?
  • What medium should we use?
  • What type of content can we actually do online indoors?
  • What are the benefits of actually doing this?
  • Live Questions & Answers.
For any mentors interested, please complete the form below and they will be sent the link Monday afternoon, in advance of the workshop.
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Cork GAA announce sponsorship deal with Sports Direct

Cork GAA are delighted to announce a five-year sponsorship deal with Sports Direct. This partnership will see Sports Direct support our men’s Senior Football and Hurling teams, as well as Minor and Under 20 teams in both codes.

As part of its partnership with Cork GAA, Sports Direct will be providing all panels with personalised access to its full range of boots, an arrangement that will also extend to all members of the backroom teams.

Today’s announcement also sees the release of our new Cork GAA jersey, designed and manufactured in collaboration with O’Neills. The jersey celebrates the three core pillars of club, school and county under Corcaigh that together form the foundation of Cork GAA. It is the clubs, schools and county teams and the army of volunteers contained within that constitutes the unique fabric of Cork GAA.

Speaking at today’s launch, Sports Direct Managing Director Leonard Brassel said: “We are incredibly proud to begin this journey with Cork GAA. Cork is a unique place in Ireland and boasts a proud history within the GAA. The People’s Republic of Cork is known for its passionate support of both football and hurling and all of us at Sports Direct share this passion for Gaelic Games. Over the past three years, we have been Official Supporters of 5 grassroots clubs and, this year, we will extend this grassroots support to incorporate six additional clubs, bringing the total to 11 clubs nationwide. We are delighted to take the next step from club sponsorship to county sponsorship and look forward to working with Cork GAA over the next five years celebrating their dedication and passion in support of the further development of Gaelic Games in Cork.” 

Cork GAA Chairperson Marc Sheehan commented: “We are delighted to welcome Sports Direct on board as the new sponsor of Cork GAA. We are really looking forward to working with them and seeing the teams back in action in this fantastic new jersey in the future.”  

Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan noted: “We are delighted to welcome Sports Direct to the Cork GAA family. We look forward to a growing partnership with them over the coming years and look forward to seeing the teams wearing their new strip in the near future. The commercial relationship with Sports Direct is part of Cork County Board’s wider One Cork initiative, which will drive future success for Cork GAA both on, and off, the field. By putting the three pillars of club, school and county together on the jersey, we want to show every player of every age that they are part of this shared future.”

The newly-launched jersey is now available exclusively through Sports Direct Ireland online https://ie.sportsdirect.com/

 until stores across the country re-open. The jersey will remain exclusive to Sports Direct for the first three weeks after stores re-open, before becoming available in sports retailers nationwide. Fans can also purchase from our kit partners O’Neills at www.o’neills.com. Customers who purchase via Sports Direct will receive a €10 voucher off their next Sports Direct purchase. 

We are delighted to work with Sports Direct as we embark on a new journey. Further exciting activation will be unveiled nearer to the championship season, enabling GAA fans across the Cork to get behind our hurling and football teams.

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Rebels’ Bounty update

Please note the following updates in regard to Rebels’ Bounty, further to consultation with clubs.
Many thanks to all clubs who are now up and running with significant uptake of online sales.
The first draw will now take place on Thursday, March 25th. This will incorporate three monthly draws, for January, February, and March, respectively. Hopefully, this will allow sales to continue in clubs where registration/membership nights might be delayed due to the current Covid-19 restrictions.
Ticket sales for Rebels’ Bounty 2021 will close at 5pm on the evening of March 25th, when the draws for January, February, and March will take place with 90 prizes to be won. There will be no further entries to the draw for Rebels’ Bounty 2021. We will be asking clubs to update their membership well in advance of this to facilitate a smooth run-up to the first draw.
Direct debits will run in early February for the January draw so it would be important to have these membership records updated by then
Following feedback from clubs and further consideration by the committee, the use of club names on tickets is now prohibited.  As clubs reach their quota, these tickets would essentially be free entries, which would undermine the ethos of the draw. All tickets must be charged at €100. In summary, all tickets must have the names of individuals/members (or two in the case of a shared ticket).
As the timing of the draw has been revised, so has the schedule for reconciliation of accounts and payment to/from clubs. This will take place biannually on May 20th and September 20th. On these dates, accounts will be settled. If there is an excess due to or from the board on May 20th depending on online sales and quotas, it will be settled at that point.
Promotion is now underway with ads in the Irish Examiner and on RedFM. Various ads etc are also available for social media.
Due to demand from clubs, a further print-run of brochures will follow and additional brochures will be available from the office.
The office team has phoned all coordinators over the last few weeks and the support team of board officers has followed up with a significant number of clubs subsequently. The office will continue to liaise with coordinators throughout the selling period.
Any queries, please email rebelsbounty@gaa.ie
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Register for Irish Tech Society and GAA Hackathon

Irish Tech Society & GAA International Hackathon powered by Microsoft
Witness history and win up to €10,000 in prizes as ITS, GAA & Microsoft join forces to deliver an ultimate online Hackathon experience.
See for full details:  https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/irish-tech-society-gaa-international-hackathon-powered-by-microsoft-registration-136923970281
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Cork minor management announced

Cork GAA is please to confirm the management teams for both the Cork football and hurling minor teams for 2021.

Following the recent appointment of Bobbie O’ Dwyer as a selector with the Cork senior football team, an appointments committee was set up to recommend a new minor football manager. Following their recommendation, the County Executive have confirmed Michael O’Brien (Ballincollig) as manager, with selectors Daniel Cronin (St Mary’s), Gary Sheehan (Carrigtwohill), Martin O’ Brien (Clonakilty) and Donnacha O’Connor (Ballydesmond). All members of the management team were involved with development squads at U15 and Fé16 level in 2020 and have been approved for a two-year term.

In October 2019 it was announced that Noel Furlong (Carrigtwohill) would be appointed Cork minor hurling manager in 2021. His selectors will be David Dorgan (Fr. O’Neills), Ger O’Regan (St. Finbarr’s), Niall McCarthy (Carrigtwohill) and Wesley O’ Brien (Carrigaline). This management team has been approved for a  one-year term as they progress from U15 and U16 level in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

New County Cathaoirleach Marc Sheehan welcomed the appointment of the new U17 football management team and wished them every success for their term at the helm. He acknowledged the involvement of the new mentors with previous development squad panels.
He also paid tribute to the work of the most successful outgoing management who achieved great success in this grade and captured the All Ireland title in fine style against Galway in 2019. Furthermore, he wished the U17 Hurling Management under manager Noel Furlong every success as they continue their progress with this group.
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Cork GAA physical education teacher support

Rebel Óg Coaching are delighted to team up with Sciath na Scol to offer Primary School teachers across the county the opportunity to provide students with remote physical education classes over the next 3 weeks. The sessions have been designed by Cork GAA Games Development Administrators (GDA’s) and cater for all students with age-appropriate activities.
The classes are aimed at getting children active through fundamental movement skills in keeping with the physical education curriculum. The classes can be done at home as they are delivered on line. To ensure whole school engagement, classes will be streamed across four levels from infants right up to sixth class.
Cork GAA Games Manager, Kevin O Callaghan noted that “children across the county are disappointed they cannot get back to school to meet their friends. For many children, the highlight of the school week is based around lunch time activity and physical education classes. Cork GAA are delighted to be able to offer some support to teachers in trying to encourage students to fit in physical activity even though they are not in school. Our team of GDA’s have put a very engaging programme of activity together and I am sure that many children will have great fun when interacting with the sessions”. Sciath na Scol Chairman, Dave Collins says that “children throughout the county are struggling with Covid 19 restrictions and having a programme of physical activity will provide huge benefits in terms their physical and mental health along with helping to improve concentration levels. I would encourage all teachers to promote these classes with their students and place on record our thanks to Cork GAA for providing this support”.
The links to the classes are listed below

https://youtube.com/channel/UC32JMu4DI-gIzJ998ZqK_dw

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Competition portal to open on Wednesday

Despite the current lockdown a lot of work is still going on in the background to make sure we can run our competitions for 2021. Unfortunately, due to the late change in main age grades in December, this process is a little behind our planned schedule.
Because of the changes to the main age grades, we are asking all clubs to resubmit their entries from Wednesday, January 6, where we will allow one week until Wednesday, January 13,  for club secretaries to re-enter all teams for 2021 competitions.
It is our aim to start competitions in March but just be aware that going forward we will have to follow all guidelines regarding Covid-19 which may have a knock-on effect on competitions for 2021. This is something no sport has control over at the moment.
We will also forward our fixtures programme to club secretaries as soon as possible after the entries portal closes.
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