Ladies Gaelic Football

NEWS & SHORTS www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2022 | 7 The fifth round of the Club2Gether programme drew to a close on March 12 th. Club2Gether is an LGFA club development initiative that focuses on developing areas such as volunteer recruitment and retention, governance & officer training, sponsorship and fundraising, games development as well as planning for the future to ensure sustainable structures are in place. The clubs that completed the programme were Ashford (Wicklow), Ballyporeen (Tipperary), Balyna (Kildare), Carnaross (Meath), Castlegregory (Kerry), Castlelyons (Cork), Cill Óige (Westmeath), Clann na Banna (Down), Cootehill (Cavan), Curraha (Meath), Dungiven (Derry), Keady, Killeavy (Both Armagh), Maigh Cuilinn (Galway), MKL Gaels (Kerry), Newtownbutler (Fermanagh), O'Hanrahans (Carlow) and Robert Emmetts (Donegal). Lorraine McCutcheon, Cootehill Celtic, Co. Cavan Cootehill Celtic LGFA is a newly established girls' club since April 2021. In our first year, we have started U8, U10, U12 and U14 teams. As a new club, there were many things we had to learn, so when we received the email about the Club2Gether programme, we sent in an application straight away. We were delighted to be chosen as one of the 18 clubs in the country to participate. Club2Gether has really helped us as a club, with the knowledge we have gained both from the LGFA and other participants on the programme. It was great to talk to other clubs in similar situations to ourselves. The course content was very specific, practical and real. We felt the topic on governance was very beneficial as it gave us a clear understanding of the best practices to put in place to run a good, successful club. Overall, all our members that took part in Club2Gether really enjoyed it. The LGFA were excellent at delivering each topic. We would like to thank them very much and also the guest speakers. Cliodhna Ní Scanaill, Balyna, Co. Kildare Following covid Balyna LGFA expanded from a small club to a medium club, which could now field multiple teams in multiple age groups. As a small committee, it was clear that we needed to improve our volunteer recruitment and communication structures to support and retain these additional players. We applied for the Club2Gether programme in 2021, and we left the first session 'Effective Communication' with many small actionable ways in which we could immediately improve our internal and external communication. The following sessions proved even more useful in helping us identify gaps in our volunteer recruitment and retention, fundraising and governance. We are still in the process of implementing what we've learned over the last six months, but because of this programme we now have the information to set up our club structures for long term success on and off the field. Clubs Complete Club2Gether Experience

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