Issue link: http://digitaleditions.uberflip.com/i/1473445
16 | SUMMER 2022 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie COUNTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE A s a result of this year's Congress, a new rule change has been brought in to help facilitate the development of Ladies Football within all counties. So, what does this mean? Here is an explanation of the rule. Rule 180, states: "The Executive of the County Board must appoint a county development committee comprising of at least four people, each with a responsibility for either Coach Education, Volunteer Development, Participation and Referee Education." While it is recommended that the new county development committee will comprise of 4-8 people, there are 4 primary areas within the committee, as outlined below. COACH EDUCATION The person responsible for coach education will ensure a communication plan is in place to liaise with all club coaching officers, organise coaching courses annually and create awareness of the Gaelic Games Player Pathway. Other key aspects of this role include recruiting coaches and coordinators for the delivery of successful Player Development Programmes in the county and encouraging clubs to apply and take part in coach development programmes, such as the Gaelic4Teens programme. VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT The person responsible for volunteer development will analyse the needs of volunteers at club and county level and ensure full awareness of role descriptions for volunteers within the county. The volunteer in this role will also assist in developing and maintaining structures within the county to support volunteering and promote and encourage attendance on the LGFA County and Club Leadership Series and training events. A key part of this role will include linking with GAA representatives within the county for delivery of the Club Leadership Development Programme and encouraging clubs to apply and take part in club and volunteer development programmes, like the Club2Gether programme. They will offer support to participants from LGFA leadership initiatives within the county and promote the Currentaccount.ie National Volunteer Awards. REFEREE EDUCATION The lead person on referee education will have responsibility for recruiting referees and referee assessors and organising education courses through the LGFA for new and existing match officials. They will have a role in supporting newly trained referees and appointing new referees with a buddy/mentor. It is recommended that this person could be the Referee Support Coordinator as COUNTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEES: A NEW PATH TO IMPROVE OUR GAME they play a key role in ensuring education and support is in place for all referees. They will liaise with the referee co-ordinator/ fixtures committee to ensure new referees are appointed to age and competition appropriate games as quickly as possible and ensuring they are added to the county referee list. This person has responsibility for encouraging the further development of referees to progress within the county and on to provincial and national programmes. A key part of this role will be identifying a key contact in each club in relation to referee recruitment and development. PARTICIPATION The person on the committee leading on participation will work with existing clubs on initiatives like Glenveagh Homes Gaelic4Girls, Sports Direct Gaelic4Mothers&Others and GAA Cúl Camps to increase participation. They will aim to contact GAA clubs in which there is no LGFA section to offer support to start teams if required, and link with the GAA in county and Cumann na mBunscol to ensure awareness of activity for girls and offer support and promote the LGFA Club-School link Programme. This person should also encourage post-primary schools in the county to get involved in competitions and initiatives like Transition Year/ AS Level Programmes and create awareness of all avenues of participation within Ladies Football in the county as coach, player, officer, referee and more. This officer should communicate with teachers to ensure they are aware of TEACH Programmes being organised by the province and organise Go Games and development blitzes for clubs within the county. The formation of this committee breaks down the previous role of the County Development Officer, there are some clear benefits to this: • This allows for the recruitment of individuals with specific interests in each area. • It lessens the demands on a single person. • It encourages both individual responsibility but also support and collaboration across the committee.