Regional Youth Forums to be staged in September

By Cian O'Connell

Two GAA Youth Forum events will be staged in September.

An invitation is extended to young people, aged 12-21, to attend Regional Youth Forums in The Dome, FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles (September 6) and Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon (September 27).

There will be a player panel on both days featuring prominent underage inter-county players. Young people with an interest in the GAA are encouraged to attend.

In the morning, a general discussion will be held with ideas and themes to be explored further as the day progresses

Tara O'Mahony, a member of the National GAA Youth Committee, explains how she became involved in the initiative. "I'm from Cork, I started playing when I was four or five with my club Éire Óg in Ovens, I played until I was 14 or 15, and I stopped playing for a few years because I got injured," she says.

"When I was about 17, the Dad of one of my best friends came up to me and asked had I any interest in being PRO?

"The role was open. So, I did that for a few years and I did the PRO Óg course with Camogie.

"I did the LGFA Leading Provincial Females and one day I saw something about the Youth Forum online for 12-21 year olds. I was about 19 at the time. So, I was one of the older ones that attended.

"I spoke at one or two of the discussions, I got noticed, I gave my email to one of the girls on it, and then I got an email a few months after asking whether I wanted to be on the Youth Committee," she adds.

"Obviously, I said yes and I've worked with them since then. They've given me amazing opportunities, I've spoken at the Club Summit, the Youth Forum last year, and I had the honour of speaking at Congress this year which was incredible."

Ultimately, it means that Tara O'Mahony's perspective has altered, seeing both the challenges and possibilities that exist "I think going from playing into a club structure and going into this kind of thing (GAA Youth Forum), it definitely has changed my view a lot, especially the whole Congress aspect," she responds.

"I'd obviously never been at it before speaking at it. Before we went to Congress, we spoke about how it worked, how rules come in. When I was writing my piece, it was about the structures, how younger people don't really understand how the rules are formed.

"That was one of the things I worked on. It was just really interesting to see how things worked at a lower level, but also at a higher level, how all of the cogs turned to make everything work below."

So, being part of the Youth Forum has provided valuable assistance to Tara O'Mahony's education and development. "I'm doing a Masters at the moment, one of the big things for that is I've to do a lot of public speaking and a lot of presenting to people I've never met before," she says.

"Public speaking to your peers, when they're the same age as you, is different, but I think I've to pitch my thesis project in a few weeks. I'm trying to compare that to what I did at Congress, I didn't really know anybody else in the room. It has helped me that way.

"If I can get up at Congress, speak, know I'm being videoed, my face is on the big screen, then I can do this in a small room with four or five people. Definitely, it helps that way.

"People came up to us after, they said I saw you at this or that, it makes you realise what you're doing, and that helps. It builds your confidence. Even if it's a small bit, it's having an impact."

Younger people have the ability and capacity to get involved in the administrative side of GAA clubs everywhere. "One of our main goals is to highlight that it's possible," she replies instantly.

"I don't think I'd have known, I could've been the PRO if my friends Dad didn't come up to me, and say 'will you do this for us?' Talking to people, when I was at the Youth Forum as an attendee, and along the way, people don't realise that there is the capability of them to ask for a job.

"In our club, our PRO and assistant PRO, I don't think they've been over 23 or 24 since I went in. People, maybe just don't know that they can do that. They might see the age bracket of other people in the committee and realise they've the capacity or that there is a space for them to work in the club."

The Youth Forum, at regional and national level, is hugely important for Tara O'Mahony. "Just being able to see what goes on, last year we did decision making and structures," she reflects.

"We explained how (Gaelic Games) rules are made, how they come to Congress, how they get brought through to different and various steps. You could see young people wide eyed, they never knew that's how it worked.

"A lot of young people want more education about things, they want to know more. They want to be able to say they went to Croke Park. It's something we're trying to push so there is more awareness about it and that we get more attendees.

"It's beneficial for us that we get the information. Young people have so many good ideas, it's beneficial for us, but also beneficial for them. With the Youth Committee, I've made friends with people from all over the country and people can stay connected."

Click here for further details on the upcoming GAA Regional Youth Forums in Thurles and Carrick-on-Shannon.