Finlay relishing new role behind teen programme
FORMER Dublin footballer Bernie Finlay says the emphasis on enjoyment is one of the key reasons behind her becoming an ambassador for the 2024 edition of the LGFA’s ZuCar Gaelic4Teens programme.
Launched in 2017, the scheme seeks to help clubs retain their current playing bases while also recruiting players in the 13-17 age bracket, where there is a high drop-out rate. Educational webinars for coaches, players and parents, club coach observation visits and a festival day in April are incorporated into a programme that has doubled in size.
Finlay in one of 13 ambassadors — all past and present inter-county ladies footballers — and 20 clubs will be taking part. Given she lives in Enniscrone, Co Sligo, Finlay’s primary focus is on the Connacht clubs — St Mary’s (Leitrim), Mayo Gaels and Carnacon (both Mayo) and St Molaise (Sligo).
‘I’m going to learn a lot from it and I have my own ideas too that I can bring to it,’ said Finlay. ‘The programme appeals to me because they’ve really nailed it. There are different areas they’re focusing on, but the fun element comes through all the time. What we have to recognise is that teenagers are different to adults, and girls are different to boys, and men are different to women.
‘As coaches, we can’t coach them all in the same way. The way they’ve gone about it is that they’re trying to educate the coaches in the clubs. That was the clincher there because you could go out and do a session with a team, but unless you’re coaching the coaches in the clubs, it’s not going to be sustainable.
‘That approach to coaching won’t grow within the clubs. I think the way they’ve devised the programme and the webinars that are available to the coaches, that’s really, really important. That’s what I think will make it work.’
Originally from Tullamore and a member of the nearby Croghan club, Finlay represented her native Offaly at underage level before progressing into the adult grades. She subsequently moved to Dublin at 21 to work as a pharmaceutical technician in Beaumont Hospital.
Finlay dabbled in coaching with Na Fianna and Maynooth University before moving to Sligo after almost two decades in the capital.
That was a few months prior to Covid-19 and Finlay opted to bring her career in a different direction.
‘I was on maternity leave. When it came to going back to work, during Covid, Na Fianna contacted me and asked me to do a strength and conditioning online programme for their junior team.
‘That programme ignited something in me. I just knew I had to work in this area. So I contacted the Sligo Sports & Recreation Partnership and I’m working with them as an exercise and fitness coach.’
She has also been working with the Castleconnor GAA and Eoghan Rua LGFA clubs, so Finlay brings plenty to the table for Gaelic4Teens.
She is also able to draw on her experience of the Dublin senior panel and in particular under Mick Bohan during his first stint as Jackies’ boss.
She was left half-forward on the team the Clontarf man brought to an All-Ireland SFC decider in 2003 — they lost to Mayo — and she has tried to bring his level of organisation and detail into her own coaching.
‘He respected us as footballers and he didn’t look at us as girls. His sessions were so organised.
‘That’s one of the biggest parts of training under Mick that I enjoyed the most, that it was so organised. You try and bring those things with you.’
Having also been on the side that fell short to Galway in the 2004 Brendan Martin Cup showpiece, Finlay looked like she had missed out on the chance to win an All-Ireland with her adopted county after stepping away. But she eventually returned and appeared as a substitute for their maiden SFC triumph of 2010.