By John Harrington

Smiling faces greet Peter Nash every day he turns up to work as Limerick City Hurling Development Officer.

His regular work-beat brings him to primary schools on a daily basis and his arrival always sparks an enthusiastic response from the pupils.

The Covid-19 pandemic has curbed their young lives in many ways, so the opportunity to be able to continue to play Gaelic Games in a safe environment is an endorphin release that means more now than it ever did.

“The sheer level of excitement of groups coming out to you in primary schools is a joy to see,” Nash told GAA.ie

“I've been lucky enough that that has always been the case, children are always excited to come out and would be looking forward to it.

“But you'd sense now that it's heightened and that's maybe because it gives a little bit of normality back to them.

“Even though our sessions are very structured now, I'd still try to deliver it in the way that I normally would and allow the kids to interact as best as they possibly can within their pods.

“There's just a huge appetite for the games in the schools, and a lot the clubs I work with are also still very active with winter hurling programmes because of the time they missed in the middle of the year.

“They've decided to keep going until the start of December and the kids are absolutely mad for it, numbers are through the roof.”

Coaching and Games Development staff like Nash are working hard to ensure that Gaelic Games are delivered to primary school children in the safest way possible.

“Some schools have online forms that you need to fill out for contact tracing and if they have that I'll have it filed before I get there and if they don't do the contact tracing online you'll fill it out physically at the school," says Nash.

“You'll have sanitised all the gear and equipment from the day before you arrive at a school but you do it again before you go into a school or before the kids come out.

“All sessions have to be done outside and you would group them depending on their pods in their classrooms and I'll have my games laid out and ready to go. You could be playing the same game with four different groups set up in four different areas.

“It's not that much different to what you would have been doing anyway, maybe it even benefits you in that things are a small bit more organised because your groups are already podded before they come out to you.

“Then it's about minimising use of equipment as best as you possibly can so you have to become a little bit creative with your games and I'm working a lot on fundamental movement skills with every group I have coming out to me and you're also sanitising whatever equipment you do use between each session and before the next group comes out.

“I've been able to deliver some workshops with the teachers after school as well to give them some ideas on stuff they can do in their PE sessions. There's a lot of positive stuff out of it as well.”

The Gaelic Games family - the GAA, Cumann na mBunscol, the LGFA and the Camogie Association – have developed a number of resources that can help teachers in the planning and delivery of physical education.

Central to this has been the development of a range of physically distanced activities that were designed and implemented as part of the successful delivery of the Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps.

“It's top quality stuff as well,” says Nash. “There's a lot stuff you can use and there's a lot of transferability as well.

“There's so much there from drilling those basic movements to nailing down your skills.

“My big thing about games and resources is that the mode of delivery is key to get your point across. It’s about how your approach the group that you're with and your level of patience. You have to realise that whatever age you get them off, that you give them time.

“Resources are incredibly important to keep things fresh. But getting your point across while making it an enjoyable and accepting environment for everyone is crucial.”

Headed up by Noel Hartigan, Limerick GAA’s Coaching and Games department has long been very well run and does great work on the ground in the county.

Nash is a key cog in that machine, and enjoys working in an environment where everyone is highly motivated and there’s a culture of self-improvement.

“Yeah, 100 per cent,” he says. “I'm very lucky to get to work with the quality of people that I work with. We are all very close and you can always rely on the lads you're working with.

“We all work really, really well together. We're all trying to find improvements in everything we possibly can. You can't meet all the demands all the time, but we're always looking for ways to improve.

“There's a really strong culture there the work that's gone into the likes of the academies is an absolute credit to the lads who have done it over the last few years.

“You can see that work coming to fruition. You have some top people driving it and some top people involved in it. Again, all that just feeds into the positivity in the county because parents can see their children are getting top level coaching and that we're feeding the dream of them hopefully some day walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand for every kid in Limerick.

“There's a lot of good work going on, but there's more still to do. It's about always trying to find improvements in the best way to do things and try to help each other as much as we possibly can across clubs, amongst ourselves as GDAs, and all across the county with all the initiatives being ran.”

Nash’s life very much revolves around Gaelic Games. As well as being Limerick City’s Hurling Development Officer, he’s also a member of the Limerick Senior Football panel that will contest Sunday’s Munster SFC semi-final against Tipperary.

“I'm very lucky in the sense that I love it across the board,” he says. “I love coaching and I really love playing. The appetite is there massively for both.

“Sometimes it can be difficult to find a balance, but if you're organised and you're well prepared then it is definitely manageable.

“Things have been going well with the footballers. A lot of work that has been done in previous years is starting to come to fruition this year.

“Our performances are becoming more consistent and the group is getting more mature. It's just adding to the positivity that's around the place in terms of Limerick GAA.

“It's a real pleasure to be involved. We have an excellent manager, excellent coaches, and an unbelievable strength and conditioning coach.

“There's a real bond in the group that has developed over the last few years. Lads have come in and made the place their own after changing of the guard and things are starting to come together alright and the positivity is there.

“And, in fairness, people are great to support us and give that encouragement when things are going well. I find that everywhere I go.”