2014 was a successful year for youth football for both male and female codes for our club Drumragh GAC.
We continued to grow as a club with our youth membership touching nearly 267 boys and girls. On the pitch we competed at all age groups very well and a good marker for the future of the club was that we competed very well at Grade 2 level in Under 13 and Under 14 boys. Our girls led the way with success on the pitch with our Under 16 girls completing the championship and league double and our Under 16 boys followed suit by winning our first boys title since 1998 by claiming the League title.
To enable the above success the existing coaches and parents have played a vital role. The youth season ran from early March to mid November 2014 and it is still ongoing with Gaelic start on a Saturday morning. This takes up 1000s of hours of peoples own time to help coach and help the teams so we are indebted to these volunteers. Parents have a huge role to play, continually transporting their children to and from training, transporting them to matches and supporting their children during games and continually supporting the club in any way possible.
To build on this continued success, we will need continued assistance from everyone past and from as many new individuals as possible.
If anyone is interested in helping out with coaching teams or assisting in any way from Gaelic Start to U18 level in both male and female codes please let Fiachra know by Friday 21st November. (Fiachrawoods@hotmail.com). It is hoped to have all 2015 coaches in place in December 2014 so we can hit the ground running in 2015.
In terms of coaching all coaches must have their foundation coaching course, child protection and access NI checks. There are numerous foundation coaching courses over the next couple of months to enable new coaches to get the process started. For existing Coaches there are level 1 coaching courses ongoing for people to further advance their coaching qualifications. Again if anyone is interested in either course please let Fiachra know and he will register your name.
Foundation Award Courses
29th November – Errigal Ciaran GAC
6th December – Donaghmore GAC
24th January – Melvin Sports Complex Strabane
31st January – Ardboe GAC
7th February – Castlederg GAC
Feb – Online course (practical date 21st February)
7th March – Garvaghey GAA Centre
Child Protection Courses
26th November – Garvaghey GAA Centre
27th November – Donaghmore GAC
30th January – Ardboe GAC
11th February – Melvin Sports Complex Strabane
18th February – Castlederg GAC
25th February – Garvaghey GAA Centre
Award One Coaching Course
16th/17th/18th January – MUSA, Cookstown
6th/7th/21st February – Garvaghey GAA Centre
Award Two Coaching Course – Football and Hurling
16th/17th/30th & 31st January – Garvaghey GAA Centre