Munster’s €1.7m spend on coaching worth €30m in social value

FOR EVERY euro invested in coaching Gaelic games in Munster in 2019, there was a return of almost €17.

That was the headline finding in the latest analysis of investment and return in coaching and games development in the province, conducted by Repucon Consulting, who used Social Return On Investment (SROI) methodology to come to their conclusions.

It’s an increase from a previous analysis in 2015 when the return was €15 and in 2011 when it was just €12.

The measurement, conducted through surveys with players, parents, coaches, schools and clubs, seeks to put a monetary value on what the coaching outputs in the provinces are.

Munster spent €1.7m on coaching and games development in 2019 and for that they got a return of €30m, using SROI instruments. The valuation focuses not just on a sporting return but what the mental well-being, individual development and social and interpersonal development benefits are.

The analysis estimated that the loss of coaching interaction through the Covid-19 emergency was in excess of €600,000.

Analysis

The analysis finds that parents are receiving a €9.61 return on investment for every euro they spend on their children’s GAA membership based on the health, social and sports benefits they receive for their children. This is an increase from the 2015 value of €9.15. The value of an hour of GAA activity was placed at €7.63. The report calculates that there were 2.15 million playing/training/coaching hours generated by Munster clubs last year.

The overall annual value of a year of child’s participation and coaching in Gaelic games was estimated by parents, using the SROI methodology, to be €349, what they would pay in the private sector for the same return.

Some of the other key findings were:

Over 2,880 weekly underage training sessions are held across the province during the playing season generating 3,900 hours of GAA coaching time for underage players.

37 per cent of Munster clubs have experienced growth in the playing numbers while 37 per cent of clubs have retained the same playing numbers in the last three years.

Over 26 per cent of clubs have witnessed a decline in their playing numbers in the past three years.

Meanwhile, one concern for Munster clubs was the degree of difficulty in attracting new people to get involved with their teams with 42 per cent describing it as “very difficult” and 11 per cent seeing it as “very easy.”