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30 | SPRING 2022 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie BUA GRADUATION What is the LGFA BUA Programme? It is a leadership development programme aimed at 16 –19 year old females. What does the programme consist of? When you sign up to the BUA programme, you participate in expert-led workshops and continuous self-reflection. These developing leadership skills are then tested in a planned club action project. What do some of the first graduates think of the BUA programme? Alannah Brennan, Ballyroan Abbey, County Laois I can still remember applying for the BUA programme and wondering what it would involve. I did not expect it to unravel as it did. Had you told me a year ago that I would have a coaching qualification, a refereeing qualification, an extensive knowledge and understanding into how to train and play with the current and rising stars of Ladies Gaelic Football, I would have probably told you to keep on walking. The programme involved a wide range of talks and courses about being not just a player but also an active club member. Modules on building self-awareness, becoming resilient, delegation, coaching, refereeing, nutrition and recovery, strength and conditioning, volunteering in your club and photography were included. The modules were delivered by experts in the field such as intercounty referee Maggie Farrelly and All-Star Lyndsey Davey. I set myself the goal going into the programme that I wanted to be a leader in my club and community but I had no idea how I was planning on achieving this. One of the first things we were then told on the course in the first lesson was: 'Be the change you want to see in the world'. We learned as a group through talking with the other girls on the course and the guest speakers such as Orlagh Farmer, Vikki Wall and Aisling Nig Ruairc stressed that playing football was so much more than football, but it was just up to us to work out what that was. A process, not a straight line measurable by wins or losses, it is a continuous improvement process where you build a mindset of GRADUATION FROM THE INAUGURAL BUA PROGRAMME Above: Leinster LGFA President Trina Murray, centre, with participants during the graduation day of the LGFA's inaugural BUA Programme, at Bonnington Hotel in Dublin