Dublin GAA Coaching & Games Development Update - September 2026

·      Launch of this years Coaching and Games Planner

Earlier this month we launched our annual Coaching and Games Planner. This planner includes all the details on our upcoming courses and workshops that will be ran for the year. Some of these events include our referees' courses, football and hurling workshops and our annual coaching conference. We look forward to the upcoming year and hope to see many familiar and new faces attending these events.

·      Annual Business Meeting

We held our Annual Business Meeting in Parnell Park earlier this month. This event provided us an opportunity to reflect on the work and achievements of the past year while looking ahead to the priorities and opportunities for the year to come.

The afternoon featured updates across all areas of the department, beginning with a welcome from Ger O’Connor and an overview of the work being delivered by our GPOs, presented by Eimear Dignam.

A strong focus was placed on coach development, with Owen Mooney and Ciaran Monks outlining the Coach Education Planner and the wide range of courses planned for the year ahead.

The team also got an insight into Dublin GAA’s changing landscape, with Declan O’Leary presenting the latest demographic information and GIS mapping. This data will play an important role in helping us understand participation and identify opportunities for future development across the county.

There was also plenty of excitement around the continued development of Dubs TV, as Marcus Ó Buachalla introduced the new platform and its potential to bring high-quality coaching and games content to an even wider audience. This was followed by Derek Ryan, who highlighted the growing importance of social media and digital engagement in connecting with players, coaches, clubs and communities.

The afternoon concluded with a Games Development Review from Bernie McLaughlin, reflecting on the progress made and the work taking place across Dublin.

A big thank you to everyone in attendance as well as all those who spoke on the day.

·     Staff In-service – Ryan Daly (Physical Literacy and Curricular Development in-service day)

Dublin GAA Coaching & Games recently held an in-service session on Physical Literacy and Curricular Development, facilitated by Ryan Daly, providing GPOs with an opportunity to explore new ideas, share experiences and develop practical approaches to physical literacy.

The session began with an ice breaker before looking at the current needs and challenges around physical literacy and how these can be addressed through effective coaching and development programmes.

A key focus of the morning was developing a shared understanding of Physical Literacy, including the ABCs, RJTs and CKPs, and exploring how these fundamental concepts can be incorporated into coaching environments.

The group then moved into activity design and sharing, giving participants the opportunity to develop and discuss practical activities before putting their ideas into action during an afternoon practical session in Le Chéile Community Centre Hall.

The practical element focused on developing games for physical literacy, providing GPOs with new activities and approaches that can be brought directly into their work with clubs, schools and communities across Dublin.

The in-service provided a valuable mix of discussion, collaboration and practical learning, helping to further develop the department’s approach to physical literacy and curricular development.

A huge thank you to Ryan Daly for giving his time and knowledge in delivering this in-service.

·      Level 3 refereeing course

This past month saw our one and only Level 3 referees course run in St Judes! We had a great intake of inspiring referees enrolled in the course and they were put through their paces over the 4-day course. We can’t wait to see the participants from this year's course take the pitch to referee many of our games around the county over the years to come! A big shoutout to St Judes for hosting this course.

·      Camp Figures

We had a great year of camps this past year and our camp figures gave great feedback to look at for the coming years.