Ladies Gaelic Football

52 // Ladies Gaelic Football Association GAELIC4TEENS PEIL Autumn | Issue No 3 | Volume 14 KEY FINDINGS FROM COACHES FOCUS GROUPS The focus groups conducted had three main sub themes: 1) Coaches thoughts and viewpoints on Gaelic4Teens 2) Coach Development 3) The Teenager COACHES THOUGHTS AND VIEWPOINTS ON GAELIC4TEENS Coaches described how the Gaelic4Teens programme helped them to adopt a 'player – centered' approach and how they learned how to use questions to encourage players to engage during training sessions. Coaches also suggested that the programme target an even younger demographic than the 15 – 17 year olds, and perhaps run the coach education sessions during the off season. COACH DEVELOPMENT Coaches described how they were encouraged to embrace going outside of their comfort zone and try new things. They also described how they themselves and the players benefitted from advanced preparation and giving themselves more time to interact with players as their session was already set up when players were arriving. THE TEENAGER Coaches described an increased awareness of the importance of variety for their teenage players and also encouraging their players to feel comfortable expressing their opinion within the team environment. Coaches also described a deeper understanding of the teenage lifestyle and the challenges of peer pressure and other social distractions. 5. BARRIERS TO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY At the start of the programme 49% of participants felt that not having enough time was a barrier to their participation in physical activity, at the end of the programme that fell to 21%. 6. OVERALL CONFIDENCE IN COACH BEHAVIOUR AND MANNER At the start of the programme only 25% of participants were confident in their coaches ability to 'come up with new ideas for training', this number rose to 41% by the end of the programme. 49% 21% 25% 41%

• Cover