Hes its strategic plan ss seven areas in detailed document
ervers of the under-age scene nty’s youth forum ‘highlighted s as a key factor in drop out’. pects of ‘Ar Aghaidh Le Chéile’ n dates for all identified actions. evelopment documents ended ecause of the lack of emphasis t the work done. ng to see that every plan has cific time. ng targets for the first quarter publication of a skill developrks for coaches and children, ord GAA player development wed annually. it is envisaged that the Wexford ve been developed by the High ence committee. w of all games activities, led by usins (Kilmore) and Coiste na oreswood), will be done by the e as its goal the development programme which puts player the game at its core’. tic development programmes nd inter-county teams is penend of the third quarter of 2021. Coaching and Games Develcentrally involved in the roll-out gramme in all clubs to achieve nimum target of 1,000 new Une period of this strategic plan. clubs fully operational in this regard in 2021, 30 in 2022, and all 49 in 2023.
A longer-term goal, again under the remit of the Coaching Officer and the Coaching and Games Development Manager, is to expand the current GPO scheme to cater for 75% of the clubs in the county by quarter one of 2023.
Various other programmes are ongoing, notably the delivery of club-based Level 1 coaches with a target of eight to ten coaches per club.
A programme of coaching workshops will be organised with this goal in mind, while support expertise will be provided to club coaches on a ratio of six clubs to every one supporting coach.
In the area of child safeguarding, the GAA’s ‘Code of Behaviour’ and ‘Maintaining Appropriate Levels of Behaviour in our work with Children and Young People’ documents will be rigidly adhered to at all times.
And in conjunction with the GAA National Children’s Office, the County Board will comply with the Children First Act 2015 by ensuring that they carry out child safeguarding risk assessments and display child safeguarding statements at both club and county level.
Some interesting participation targets have been laid out in the document, with the following goals outlined:
1) To have 50% of all five- to twelve-year-olds in urban areas playing for a GAA club;
2) To have 40% of all 13- to 17-year-olds in urban areas playing for a GAA club;
3) To have 95 primary schools participating in the Hurling 365 programme;
4) To have 250 first year pupils per year participating in the School of Excellence Hub programme;
5) To have two players from disadvantaged areas on all under-age county panels from Under-14 to Under-21;
6) To have a minimum of 20% of all representational panels populated by players from urban areas;
7) For the well-being programme to reach 50,000 youths and adults over ten years.
Three specific performance targets have also been published to cover both codes.
In football, the aims are:
1) To be consistently competitive at Minor level while ensuring the emphasis is on holistic player development;
2) To be in the top four in the province on an annual basis at Under-20 level from 2025;
3) To be a top tier football county from 2025 competing in Division 2 or higher of the National League annually. On the hurling side of things, the goals are:
1) To be consistently competitive at Minor level while ensuring the emphasis is on holistic player development;
2) To be in the top two in the province on an annual basis at Under-20 level from 2023;
3) To consistently challenge for top honours every year from 2021 to 2025.
Readers are informed that a ‘specific plan has been developed to help us reach these targets’, to be shared with ‘relevant stakeholders’.
Ar Aghaidh Le Chéile was launched virtually via Microsoft Teams last night (Monday), with all club Chairpersons, Secretaries and County Board delegates invited to attend.
And a follow-up Teams event, to be attended by Wexford Senior hurling joint captain Matthew O’Hanlon, Senior football manager Shane Roche, and Co. Chairman Micheál Martin, will be held today (Tuesday) from 12.15 p.m.
Next week we will look at some of the other themes dealt with in this thought-provoking document which clearly outlines the vision for Wexford GAA in the years to come.