Club Nuachtlitir Aibreán 2010

New GAA Website

The Association's new website at gaa.ie was officially launched by the GAA President and Dublin hurler Alan McCrabbe on March 24 last.

The launch comes after the completion of phase one of the site overhaul and already a number of stand out features will be apparent to users of the site.

There is and will continue to be an increased level of video content on the site, both in the news and coaching and games development sections. A new comprehensive archive results section has also been added to the site. The site also includes a Google map search facility containing details of Clubs across the island and which will be added to in the weeks and months ahead.

Once again feed back is most welcome and this can be sent through queries@gaa.ie.

Club Wall Launched

During the 125 Anniversary Celebrations and following on from the events organised to mark this occasion, the GAA has made a concerted effort to re-evaluate and re-position the club at the very heart of the Association.

An tUachtarán has visited more than 100 Clubs - more than a quarter of them as part of his Ag Éisteacht Programme.

One noteworthy development has been the installation of a new Falla na gClub featuring the club crests of our all units both in Ireland and overseas.

The wall, located at the entrance to the GAA museum, on the Cusack Stand side of Croke Park has been constructed in an effort to create a tangible link between our Club units and the Association's headquarters in recognition of the incalculable voluntary work undertaken by generations of Club members since the establishment of the GAA in 1884.

Next time you are in the Cusack Stand attending a match or visiting the museum, look out for your club crest.

Club Focus - Edenderry (Uíbh Fhailí / Offaly)

The Club is the heart of the Association's activities. Our Clubs train and foster the players that eventually go on to represent their respective counties at the highest level and in addition to those who play for their clubs at various different grades. This has been as evident in Edenderry GAA Club in North Offaly as anywhere else.

The Club recently launched a five year (2010-2015) Strategic Plan which took over 600 hours of preparation and will be used as a 'roadmap' for the future direction of the club.

A significant emphasis has been placed on Coach Education with members and coaches of all underage teams having completed a Foundation Award which is the introductory award for coaches of Gaelic Games. Plans are also underway to develop current dressing rooms and a second pitch at the local Vocational School to further enable the Club develop additional playing facilities in what are exciting times for the Edenderry GAA Club! For more information, please visit www.edenderrygaa.com.

GAA Museum Events & Offers - April

The GAA Museum has a number of initiatives and offers available in April. Please visit www.crokepark.ie/gaa-museum for further information.

Kidzone Gallery Talk - The GAA Invasion Tour of the USA Saturday March 27, 13.30

The GAA Museum Eggstravaganza sponsored by Cadbury Monday March 29 - April 4, 14.30 Daily (except Friday April 2)

Senior Citizens Mondays
Visit in April for just €5
50% Off for Clubs- The Croke Park Stadium Tour
Instil the pride and passion of representing Club and County into your players by taking advantage of this great discount and visiting Croke Park Stadium and the GAA Museum this March. Trophy & Medal presentations at Hogan Stand Presentation Area available on request.

Irish Sport Photographic Exhibition
The GAA Museum, in conjunction with The Irish Times, presents a photographic exhibition featuring 150 iconic newsworthy moments in Irish sport over the last 30 years. This special exhibition will open daily from 9.30-17.00* and will run from Tuesday March 23 2010 for a limited time only. Entry costs €5 for adults and €4 for seniors and students. Please note that last admission is at 16.30 (*except match days).

Additional information
Primary & Secondary Schools Essay Competitions running until May 1. Team List Books available to purchase from GAA Museum. Check out www.crokepark.ie/gaa-museum for more details and prices, or contact: Maria Gorman, Bookings Executive Tel- 01 8192374/01 8192323 or email gaamuseum@crokepark.ie.

GAA Unveils New Sponsors as SuperValu and Centra come on board

The 2010 GAA Championships will have new partners within the multi-sponsor model with SuperValu and Centra confirmed in recent weeks as new sponsors of the football and hurling championships respectively.

Special Olympics Ireland attend Limerick v Cork NHL Match

Special Olympics Ireland CEO, Matt English was in attendance at the Allianz GAA National Hurling League match between Limerick v Cork on Saturday February 27. He was at the Gaelic Grounds with Special Olympics athletes, to promote the upcoming 2010 Special Olympics Ireland Games, which are to be held in Limerick from June 9-13th.

Developing a GAA Games Programme for Children - Go Games and Mini Leagues

A motion to this month's GAA congress proposes to ensure a "child centred" Games programme for children in the Under 12 and younger age grades. If accepted the Go Games model in conjunction with mini league competitions would be adopted as best practice up to and including 12 years of age. Go Games blitzes with emphasis on full participation, fun, fair play and skill development would be organised at Under 8 and Under 10 level while at Under 12 level a mini league competition which follows the ethos of Go Games, whereby games are small sided and provision is made for all participants to play, can also be organised in conjunction with Go Games blitzes.

Club Coaching Officers

All Clubs are asked to ensure that they elect a Club Coaching Officer for 2010. The Club Coaching Officer is a key role within ambitious and progressive GAA Clubs and serves to co-ordinate the activities of the club coaches and managers to provide a safe, smooth and rewarding progression for all players from Juvenile through to U-21, Junior and Senior and through the various grades and developmental stages of their playing careers. Key responsibilities for the Club Coaching Officer are in the areas of the Club School Link, Player Welfare, Camps, Coach Education and Best Practice, and Facilities and Resource Management. The Club Coaching Officer will have at least an Award 1 Coaching Qualification. For a full description of the role of the Club Coaching Officer visit the Coaching & Games Development Section of GAA.ie.

Club Take up on GAA Email System

Congratulations to all of our Clubs on full compliance with the new email system. 100% of Clubs are now using the system which enables us to communicate directly to them. Thanks for your support and patience in the roll out and further IT related initiatives will be rolled out through the Association in the coming months.

€2 Full Membership Fee and Membership Cards

In accordance with rule 2.2 of the official guide, each club must forward €2 for every registered full member to the Central Council of the GAA. Croke Park will issue county committees with an invoice for each club for the number of full members registered in early May. Clubs will then be asked to forward payment to the County Committee who will pass the full payment for the county onto Croke Park.

We will shortly be entering a tendering process for the production of membership cards and hope to be in a position to provide GAA membership cards to each full and youth member in the short to medium term.
Note: Full membership covers all those over 18 years of age. There is no Central Council fee for Youth Members

Ag Éisteacht

Expressions of interest for involvement in the Ag Éisteacht Programme are being accepted for post Congress visits. To date the Uachtarán and Ard Stiúrthóir between them have visited almost 30 clubs and a report will be made to Congress on the exercise to date before the second installment of visits is planned.

The visits are informal questions and answers sessions aimed at getting the opinions of Club members on the issues and challenges facing them but also their views on national policy and direction.

Contact GAA Communications Manager Alan Milton at alan.milton@gaa.ie for further information about a possible visit to your Club.