By Cian O’Connell

“It is very important that we always measure what we are doing,” Munster GAA Chairman of Games Development Ger Ryan remarks about the need for continuous assessment.

Last Tuesday, Munster GAA released a comprehensive document about the Coaching Return on Investment, building further on studies previously carried out in 2011 and 2015.

“Like in any report you have some very good things and you also have some flags in terms of concerns some people might have and areas we need to improve,” Ryan added

“Benchmarking where you are at is always important. It gives a view from outside the core people involved as to how well we are doing, what areas we need to stay doing, and what areas we can improve in.

“This is the third version of this Return in Coaching Investment Report. One has been done every four years since 2011. It is good to have it as a stand alone document and also in terms of the changes that have happened over a period of time.”

Every GAA club in the province faces challenges, but Ryan is adamant about the benefits of this particular research.

“I think to some extent a report like this is location independent in that what you gather from this applies everywhere in relation to the GAA,” Ryan states.

“I think the key message is that there is extraordinary value in terms of sporting involvement, health benefits, and so on from the coaching that goes on in the GAA.

“Whether that is voluntary coaching or from people that work for the various Games Development units around the country.

“This is very valuable activity. It is of tremendous benefit to our children, that is recognised by clubs, by parents, and the children themselves whatever age they are at.”

Throughout the past couple of decades the amount of full time coaching staff has continued to increase with the demand that exists for Gaelic Games.

“I think Coaching and Games Development in the GAA sets very high standards for all coaches in the association, whether they are full time coaches or voluntary coaches,” Ryan comments.

“There is a continous effort there focused on improvement, learning new information, and applying that as best we can to our games. I think there is great credit due to all of the people that have been involved in that. I think we are seeing the benefits of that in this report.”

A real thirst to acquire sporting knowledge presently exists in those tasked with preparing teams at every level.

“Absolutely, we have even seen that during the Covid period where there has been an awful lot of research work done by Coaching and Games people,” Ryan replies.

“There is a huge desire and we are in a competitive world in relation to sport. There is a huge desire for us to do our work as well as we possibly can. Everybody involved in Coaching and Games, throughout the association, whether it is in Munster or full-time people or volunteer coaches, everybody is committed to that goal.