By Cian O'Connell

Mairead Daly is used to dealing with a hectic schedule.

The accomplished Offaly and St Rynagh’s Ladies Football and camogie dual star is beginning to make an impact in her day job as a Games Promotion Officer for Edenderry GAA in Offaly.

Last year the progressive Edenderry club opted to install a GPO to help their development and Daly, nearly fully recovered following a serious knee injury, is relishing the role.

While the Covid 19 pandemic has forced a change in approach important coach education work is still being carried out.

Daly was delighted to commence working with Edenderry last autumn. “Edenderry are very forward thinking, they have a one club model in place,” Daly explains.

“So from my side they knew exactly what they wanted when I went in. They have a fairly good set up and one of the main things they wanted from me was to get into the primary schools, to get to know the kids, to build up a relationship with the club and the schools.

“They had a nursery going when I got there, but the numbers were quite low getting around 20. Edenderry is huge, you have five primary schools so there is big scope to get in, to get more into the clubs. The nursery was a big part of that, so I would have done a lot of work. After Christmas we were getting up to 50 which was a jump, but there still is a lot more to do there. The primary schools were a huge focus.

“They have hurling up to Under 15 now and we are setting up a Camogie part in the club which took up a good bit of time. I ran an eight week programme before Christmas to try to set up an Under 10s team, we got around 40 girls at that.

“ As of now we have a Camogie club, we just have to see how this year pans out, to see if we can get games. That will be one of the biggest things we took from the work between September and Christmas - we have four codes in Edenderry now.”

Improving the nursery and playing numbers in Edenderry is critical for Daly. “They are strong underage, but the numbers aren't that big for such a big club and area,” she adds.

“You have two primary schools with 1,000 kids between just two and you have other schools on top of that.

“We might only have one team for each age group, ideally we would be looking to get two or three. You have a lot of commuters in Edenderry, but as well as that you have a lot of foreign nationals.

“A big thing would be to try to get them involved. We will be setting up things like coaching on the green, to go into estates, to try to get them out playing. Just to have more nationalities playing, that would be a huge thing for us.”

Eager to attain advice from colleagues in Offaly, Leinster, and elsewhere in the country, Daly acknowledges that the GPO gig is exciting and brimful of possibilities. “Edenderry has never had a GPO before either so it is quite new to them too,” Daly replies.

“The good thing with the GAA is that it is easy to get to know people. I would have spoken to a lot of GPOs and GDAs from all over the country, trying to talk about stuff that may worked or maybe it didn't.

“Having that kind of interaction through the GAA has really helped. That was the biggest thing for me, talking to people, trying to find out as much as you can, what things do and don't work.”

A good connection has been forged between Edenderry and Daly which the former Waterford IT student is enthusiastic about. “The minute I got home after meeting them all, that is what I was thinking,” Daly states. “The first day I met them they had a presentation done about where they are and where they want to be and the types of things they wanted to tap into.

“That was very good for me. They knew where they wanted to go and now that I'm a bit of time in the role I'm taking a bit more of the initiative in looking to implement stuff like the TURAS programme a bit more.”

Assisting coaches in Edenderry is another vital aspect for Daly, who has been delighted with the response.

“That is a huge part of it and during the Covid we have done loads of that,” Daly admits. “Before Christmas it was about getting the primary schools going, the nursery and camogie going. So we didn't actually focus a whole lot on coaches.

“The coach education would have been more after Christmas. What we have looked at in the last few weeks, we have got huge engagement, doing the TURAS for all the coaches, I think we had 40 on that.

“Since then we have done age appropriate ones for different coaches, we have done S and C webinars with our youth coaches in terms of what we are looking for when we get back. How to implement things in our sessions from Under 13 the whole way up.

“Trying to upskill the coaches is a huge part, and the idea about what is done at underage overweighs the importance of success at underage. Success is measured through player retention rather than how many Under 13 or 11 titles we win. Trying to instil that is one of the big things.

“The thing about Edenderry is they are very open. They have their own player pathway developed from the TURAS. I love it, I love being in the schools and where you see one or two joining the club, they come back to tell you.

“Seeing that side of things, you can measure our work from the primary schools and how many players you got into the club. That is one way of doing it. Trying to get numbers is the biggest thing for the next year, trying to build up the club.

The coaches are great, they interact hugely with the webinars we have ran, the questions and helping each other out. “The one club model with your Ladies Football, camogie, hurling, and lads football are all on the call together. You are coaching with the same groups where they can all bounce off each other. If I was involved in my club at home I'd really want them to go with that kind of model.”

Daly laughs when asked about the fact that she is now employed by another club in Offaly. “The first time I put on the Edenderry gear my mammy and daddy gave me a bit of a look, but you definitely just park it,” Daly remarks.

“The thing is you are putting structures in place. For me to do well I want Edenderry to do well, I want the players to develop, and I want to see how the TURAS can work.

“The different ways that we can develop kids and have this coherent structure throughout the whole club. I love watching everyone get better and see how it works. The fact it is a different club, I wouldn't mind at all. They are so welcoming, I just love it.”

After completing a business and sport undergraduate degree Daly completed a postgraduate course in marketing on a scholarship from the WGPA. She didn’t know it at the time, but it is proving to be particular helpful in Edenderry now.

“It is, especially during the lockdown when we were putting together skills challenges,” Daly comments. “We would be very active with social media in Edenderry, we have videos up of our sessions, our nursery. The videos get huge interaction.

“Just putting together those videos and knowing when to tweet and when is too much and when isn't too much, stuff like that. The marketing has really helped me out and Edenderry, when I first met them, mentioned it about how we can improve.

“Edenderry has a website and I have my own little section in it now, a GPO corner, if they click into that they will find primary school sessions, a booklet I've done up, skill sessions, and skill assessments.” The hard graft continues.