By Kevin Egan

It remains to be seen when collective training for underage players of gaelic games will be allowed to resume, but until that green light is given, keeping those players interested and maintaining their development as much as is possible remains the goal of all coaches.

That will be the theme of tomorrow night’s ‘Be Ready to Play’ webinar, which is open for registration now at https://learning.gaa.ie/bereadytoplay. The webinar gets underway Tuesday, March 30th, at 7pm.

Four leading coaches with top level experience of football, hurling and camogie will lead the discussion, which will be primarily focused on sharing innovative and engaging ways for players to continue working on their technical skills and be ready to move back on playing field.

Former Kildare footballer John Doyle is one of the four coaches who will lead the discussion, and the Leinster GDA is confident that coaches will take a lot from the webinar.

“Parents, kids and coaches are all chomping at the bit to get out there and get back into action, and this is about giving those coaches ideas for the transition” he explained.

“Everything is adaptable for groups of different ages and abilities, and coaches will be able to see the reasoning behind each of the drills and be able to modify them to suit their needs.

“We’ve all had enough of kicking a ball against a wall, and young players out there are missing out on so much at the moment. There are county minor and U-20 teams waiting in the wings, those in college have missed out on Freshers, Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and all the rest, and it’s a huge challenge for coaches to keep players interested.

"The important thing however is that once we do get to come back, that players are both physically and emotionally ready, and hopefully this will be a useful resource in that regard" he concluded.

The four coaches who will lead the webinar are:

Fiona McHale is a qualified PE and Biology teacher. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Limerick in the area of physical activity and health for adolescents through school-based research on the Active School Flag post-primary programme. Fiona has been coaching for over a decade at various levels, including underage girls, senior men, senior women and intervarsity women’s Gaelic football teams. Fiona is starting into her 16th season playing with Mayo and was an All-Star in 2016.

John Doyle is a Leinster GDA and Director of Developmental football with the Kildare GAA Development squad programme. John is currently playing with his club Allenwood and had a distinguished career playing for Kildare over a 15-year span which included winning an All Star in 2010.

Niall Corcoran started working as a Gaelic Games Promotion Officer with Kilmacud Crokes in 2005. His role within the club is to support all coaches working at child, youth and adult level, through specifically planned courses and workshops, incorporating recognised principles of best practice in the field of coaching. Niall is a former Dublin hurler and won a Leinster hurling title in 2013, but in recent years has been part of the Laois and Wexford senior hurling setups.

Eileen Gleeson is an experienced Coach Developer with the Camogie Association delivering Foundation, Award 1 and workshops for the Camogie Association on a national level. Eileen is the current Clare minor camogie coach having previously work as part of the Clare management team previously.