CASTLETOWN AND THE VOLS JOIN HEALTHY CLUBS PROJECT
TWO WEXFORD GAA clubs have reaped the rewards of joining up to the Healthy Club Project and focusing on the subject of Healthy Eating.
St John’s Volunteers in Wexford town and Castletown Liam Mellows GAA Clubs took part in the initiative.
The Healthy Club Project began in 2013 and aims to make every GAA club in Ireland a hub for health, capable of providing its members and communities with programmes that support their physical, emotional and social wellbeing. So far, 58 clubs have delivered 350 initiatives, covering phsyical activity, healthy eating, mental fitness, gambling, alcohol and drug addiction, training and personal development, anti-bullying, anti-smoking and community development.
Over 12,000 people have benefitted from physical activity programmes while 50% of Healthy Clubs are smokefree zones. 1,000 people have engaged with mental health and emotional wellbeing programme while over half of Healthy Clubs delivered healthy eating programmes targeting teenagers in particular.
As part of the programme, St John’s Volunteers in Wexford town took part in the ‘Recipe for Success’ event, a nutritional performance initiative run by Croke Park, in conjunction with St Angela’s Home Economics Department in Sligo. Targeted at minor players, it saw 15 young men from the club join forces in the Presentation School to educate themselves on the importance of healthy eating and fuelling their body correctly before and after training, games and exercise in general.
Although it is was aimed at minors, two 25-year-olds (who weren’t confident with their cooking skills!) also got involved. All participants enjoyed the practical aspect of the programme, developing confidence and competence in areas of nutrition and health. It increase their awareness of healthy eating while some of the older participants got some great tips and ideas for student cooking.
Each participant received a copy of the ‘Recipes for Success’ booklet which is filled with performance enhancing delicious recipes, as well as pre/post meals and snacks. This can be downloaded at gaa.ie/my-gaa/ community-and-health/.
Up the north of the county, Castletown Liam Mellows GAA Club also took part in the Healthy Club programme, adoping the GAA’s Healthy Eating guidelines and continue to make great progress raising awareness and promoting healthy eating through a range of initiatives. The introduction of fruit at half time for all underage teams has been the biggest success with the kids becoming more aware of the benefits of healthy eating and fuelling properly for games. Parents were also delighted to see the kids’ positive reactions. The club said they have built on this initiative in 2017 considering it took ‘minimal effort’ but had a ‘huge impact’.
Speaking recently about the initiative, GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghail said: ‘Health and wellbeing is core to what the GAA is all about and the Healthy Club Project aims to build on this by making our clubs hubs for health that everyone can experience and enjoy. We look forward to growing the project from 60 to 150 clubs in this new phase.’
Clubs are encouraged to get involved and enjoy the numerous benefits, including exclusive access to Healthy Club resources. Clubs can apply to participate in the Healthy Club Project by completing the online form at gaa.ie/community/. The closing date is Monday, January 29.