Clare camogie u13 Summer school report

By Emma O'Mahony

Close to 150 girls from all clubs in Clare responded to the call to take part in this u13 development program.

To manage this big number, the girls are divided up in regions and each region gets one hour of training on four consecutive weeks during the break between u14 and u13 championship. The training is conducted by experienced coaches with the help of club coaches.

At the halfway mark of the U13 Summer School, on a wet, windy day out in Lees Road, girls from Truagh-Clonlara, Kilkishen, Whitegate, Bodyke, Feakle-Killanena, Broadford, Smith O’Briens, Scariff-Ogonnelloe, and Tulla all started the East-Clare session with a well-needed warm up. Simple drills of handpassing to each other in triangles, keeping the emphasis on the girls moving, to expand the drill they moved farther apart to strike the ball to hand. From there, the coaches divided the group in two, with a focus on different skills. One of the groups working on handpassing and striking. All the while, the other group was based around the goal post stationed at the ‘45’ line, striking the ball over the bar on both their left and right side. The two groups then switched drills before receiving a well-deserved water break. In the last quarter of the session the girls donned blue or yellow bibs to play two matches side by side. Both games equally competitive and lively, displaying the skills practiced in the session. The girls received great encouragement and support from a strong coaching panel throughout the training and are already starting to show the benefit of this 4-week summer program. To wrap up the training, a warm down and team talk took place. Just a note of appreciation to the Lees Road management for facilitating the county U13’s development.

Emma O’Mahony

Internship with Clare camogie development