We have two Fun Do Learning Resource Packs, worth Eur100 each, to give away. The GAA Fun Do Learning Resource Pack provides Coaches of all levels with the tools to enable young players from nursery age right up to the end of primary school level, in the basic skills of Football and Hurling.

To be in with a chance to win simply tell us who is the Director of Games in the GAA.

Send your answer, along with your name, address and daytime telephone number to: Fun Do Quiz, Lynn Publications, Kells Business Park, Kells, County Meath or email the same details to [email protected], before Friday 15 February 2008.


GAA fun do learning resource pack

When we see the top stars of Hurling and Football line out on an All-Ireland final day, generally it is our brightest talents performing at the peak of their careers.

But those brilliant players only reach the pinnacle after a lifetime of development that can be traced back to the very first day they held a hurley or kicked a football.

The secret to developing any young player is getting it right at the start but often the people who first introduce youngsters to our games are not necessarily certain what they should be doing.

It is regularly left to parents of young players or schoolteachers who may not have had much knowledge of the game to carry the responsibility of facilitating those vital first steps.

Existing frustrations at any perceived lack of knowledge are set to end with the launch of an exciting new learning resource pack in October by GAA President Nickey Brennan. The GAA Fun Do Learning Resource Pack provides Coaches of all levels with the tools to enable young players from nursery age right up to the end of primary school level, in the basic skills of Football and Hurling.

The GAA Fun Do Pack contains a state-of-the-art interactive DVD, which combines the latest technology with a practical resource that will make it user-friendly to even the least techno-minded individual.

Linking up with the GAA's Ú Can Skill Awards Passport, the Fun Do interactive DVD sets out an array of activities, which enable coaches to effectively plan and carry out child-friendly training sessions according to best practice.

This Resource Pack is the result of meticulous planning and preparation by the Association and compares favourably with anything that has ever been produced by any other sport in the world.

Filmed by professional cameramen in various locations around the country, the quality of the footage is remarkably good and the user will find it very easy to utilize the various aspects of the content.

"We wanted a Resource Pack for people who are coaching kids," explains Pat Daly, Director of GAA Games. "We decided to fuse technology, sport, education and health and bring them all together in a manner that would ensure kids were being introduced to the games in a quality way.

"There are over four hours of top class video footage on the DVD rom. This footage is integrated with over 1,000 activities between Hurling and Football all of which are complemented by a series of written manuals.

"What we are trying to do is to facilitate people who are involved in coaching kids and thus ensure they're doing the best job possible.

"We are trying to insure that the activities are referenced to childhood needs.

"We then differentiated between the kids at nursery level right through to sixth class so this is programmed for kids from the start right up to the end of primary school, whether they were within schools or clubs.

"In a nursery context, we set out a generic programme that will provide the underpinning basic motor skills (agility, balance, coordination) which will enable the kids to move onto the sports specific skills.

"Then in the sports specific skills we broke it down into under-8s, under-10s, under-12s.
"In addition to the actual skills we then provide key tips surrounding games because this is all pitched in the context of 'Play and Stay with the GAA'.

"At the end of the day kids want to play a game and the game has to be appropriate to childhood needs. It is also essential that children acquire the basic skills of Hurling and Football be they technical, tactical, or team-play - in the most spontaneous and enjoyable manner possible and we are confident that the GAA Fun Do Learning Resource Park will play no small part in bringing this to fruition.

In the final analysis, the GAA Fun Do Learning Resource Park bears out the old Irish proverb "tosach mhaith leath na h-oibre - A good start is half the job"

Each GAA Fun Do Learning Resource Pack is tailored for either Gaelic Football or Hurling depending on the coach's needs. In total each resource pack contains an interactive DVD rom, a Skills DVD, a Nursery DVD in addition to supplementary manuals on, GAA Go Games, catch and kick Coaching Classes or lift and strike

Coaching Classes, a Coach Handbook and a Nursery Manual. For further information on the GAA Fun Do Learning Resource Pack visit www.mcsport.ie or call 01 2022820.

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