Youth Coaching and Competition
This plan sets out the framework of activity for youth coaching and competition within the club for the coming years. It is directed towards providing the best possible service for all our young handballers and to achieving the best possible competitive outcomes for those who wish to compete. It is directed also towards supporting and complementing the club’s stated objectives for youth coaching and those of the National Sports Council.
1. Coaching:
1(a) Numbers and Recruitment
Numbers to be catered for and recruitment arrangements to meet these numbers will always have to be balanced against our capacity to provide a quality service. Taking this into account, we will aim to have an average coverage per year over the recruitment-level age-groups as follows:
Age Group Boys Girls
8 4 4
9-13 5 5
14 4 4
Based on past experience, a feature of recruitment will very likely be the need to fill gaps which, if not dealt with quickly, will carry on through the age groups with potentially serious consequences at competitive level. Recruitment will be concentrated on the 9-11 age-group with the remainder arising from targeted gap filling, or from word-of-mouth/individual initiative. Recruitment will not be an issue for the 15 plus age-groups.
As well as for strictly recruitment purposes, it will be important to consolidate the links with all primary schools with a view to maintaining existing on-site provision and establishing such provision where it does not yet exist. Properly supported, this will provide a genuine feeder system for the club as well as broadening familiarity with the game within the community. Links with the two second-level schools will also be important for profile purposes, for the development of our involvement in colleges’competition and for the improvement of youth retention rates.
In regard to specific recruitment initiatives, we will have a number of open days for 9-11 year-olds – the annual Club Family Day and possibly in September following school reopening. This will be supplemented by organised school visits and by the annual summer camps
1(b) Coaching Provision
The coaching programme is designed to enable as far as possible the achievement of the club’s coaching objectives within the overall framework of national sports policy. Our Coaching Objectives are available on our website at www.leixliphandball .ie/coaching programme.
In line with the National Sports Council objective of promoting increased participation in sport, the core of our coaching provision will be our general programme, which will aim to provide at least one hour and, as far as possible, two hours of coaching per week to all groups. It is difficult to envisage any major extension of this programme without significant impact on court availability for adult use (even if we had the necessary additional coaching resources). The concentration therefore should be on ensuring that the coaching input is of the highest possible quality and every effort will be made to ensure that this is the case. (See Coaching of Coaches).
This general provision will be supplemented by a range of supports to include
Open and family sessions; appropriate internal and external competition; home practice; active parental involvement in providing additional court time and the availability of coaching advice and support to parents.
The second major Sports Council objective is that of promoting the pursuit of excellence. This will require that we provide additional coaching hours for competition-level players as well as the general supports listed above, together with specialized assistance in fitness training and motivational and competitive development. Active parental involvement will again be crucial in this area. (For further details see Coaching for Competition on the Coaching Programme menu of the club website)
With this dual approach it will be important also to monitor performance and to adjust groupings as necessary so as to ensure as far as possible that we maintain groups of roughly equal ability, thus maximizing opportunity for improvement for all.
1(c) Coaching of Coaches
‘The most important unit of time spent in the promotion of handball is the period spent with youngsters in the court. Any time given to ensuring that this period is used to best effect is time very well spent.’
The above is an extract from the introduction to our Checklist for Coaches. The club has always placed special emphasis on the importance of juvenile coaching and it is crucial that we do everything possible to ensure the highest standards.
We will aim to maintain a team of ten coaches, all of whom will have had the benefit of at least a National Foundation Level Course. We have an extensive list of coaching support materials which includes our DVD ‘It’s Your Serve’. We will supplement this with regular in-house ‘coaching of coaches’ sessions which can be tailored to individual needs and particular age-groups. These sessions will also provide a forum for exchange of information on various drills and approaches to suit particular circumstances. Coaches, individually and collectively, should be open to new ideas and be prepared to explore new approaches – there is no scarcity of coaching material available on handball websites worldwide.
Level 1 courses will also be organised where possible to upgrade the overall level of coaching expertise in the club. At least one Coaches/Parents meeting per term will be held while the Family Sessions (already mentioned under Coaching Provision) can also provide opportunities for developing coaching experience.
2.Competition
The broad approach will be to provide an appropriate level of competition for all who wish to compete. This will range from internal club competitions/club outings onwards through the range of external competitions at county, provincial, national and international level.
2(a) Internal Competitions/Outings/Hostings
We will aim to organize one competition per term (Pre-Summer and Post-Summer) which as far as possible will be open to all-comers. Options which will generate maximum interest on the part of both youngsters and parents will be explored
We will aim to organize at least one club outing and one hosting arrangement in the course of the year (or two outings or two hostings). These competitions have a particular appeal and again the intention would be to have as broad a coverage as possible. It will be necessary to have in place a separate sub-cttee. to organize these events.
2(b) External Competitions
We will aim to maximize entry to external competitions and we intend to have entries in the following:
Leinster/All-Irelands in 40x20, 60x30, Hardball; Irish Nationals; National One-Wall; Colleges in 40x20, 60x30.
Féile na nGael; Cumann na mBunscol; Gael Linn; Community Games.
An important criterion will be that entrants should be of a standard that will enable them to do justice to themselves and to the competition. As set out at 1(b) above, no effort will be spared to ensure that those selected are properly prepared to give of their best.
Tournaments participation will also be an important element of external competition and will be strongly encouraged.
3. Outcomes
-That we will have a coaching programme catering professionally for upwards of 50 youngsters
-That we will have ten well-qualified coaches working as a team to provide a quality service
-That we will have regular and suitable competitive fare for all
-That we will have a consistently high level of entries in external competition.
-That we will continue to improve our success levels in Leinster, National and International competitions.
-That, above all, we will have provided an enjoyable experience in a supportive atmosphere for all our young players.
With full commitment and a professional approach from all involved, we can be very confident of these outcomes.