What I Would Change About Coach Education in Gaelic Games

What I Would Change About Coach Education in the GAA

Let me be clear right from the start — this is not a criticism of the incredible work being done in GAA coach education. Quite the opposite. I have huge respect for the people involved in developing coaches across the country, many of whom are volunteers giving countless hours to the betterment of Gaelic Games.

In fact, I speak from within the system. I'm a qualified GAA Coach Education Tutor, and over the years I’ve delivered Foundation and Level One courses, as well as the physical fitness modules for Level Two. I’ve seen the dedication, the passion, and the impact this pathway has had on our games.

However — and this is just a thought experiment, not a rant — there are a few things I believe could be improved based on my own experience, both as a tutor and as a coach working on the ground. These are personal reflections, offered in the spirit of progress and learning.

1. Link Coach Education More Closely to Player Development

During most coaching courses, there's a practical element where participants are asked to deliver a session — usually to the other coaches on the course. While this makes sense logistically, it’s a highly artificial environment. Coaching a group of adults pretending to be U14s isn’t remotely close to the real thing.

What if clubs or counties could organise a panel of actual players for these sessions? Coaches would get to work in a realistic setting, and players would benefit from the variety of coaching styles. It would be a win-win.

To their credit, the GAA has made strong strides in aligning coaching and player development through systems like TURAS, which I think is a brilliant and progressive resource. But TURAS is a framework, not a course per se. There’s still a gap when it comes to bridging coach education and practical, on-pitch experience.

In an ideal scenario, coaches would be assessed on a real coaching night, with a team of players waiting for them. You turn up, get your slot, and coach the group — warts and all. Then the tutor gives you honest, constructive feedback based on what actually happened.

This already happens at times in the GAA. On the Level Two course, for example, you coach a group and also record yourself coaching your own team. I found these tasks hugely beneficial and thought-provoking. Simple things — like how long I spoke for (an issue of mine) or how long each part of my session lasted — were real eye-openers. The players benefitted too. They got me at my most focused and prepared. They didn’t care I was being recorded; they asked questions and acted like a real team does.

Yes, this would be more difficult to organise — but the learning value would be significantly higher. Coaching is about adaptability, communication, and connection. Those things are best assessed in a live, unpredictable environment — not a simulated one.

2. Raise the Standards — Stricter Courses and Higher Pass Marks

This might be slightly controversial, but I believe it’s essential: we need stricter standards for coaching courses, particularly as coaches move into intermediate and advanced levels.

One of the best courses I’ve done recently was the IRFU Conditioning for Rugby course in Carlow IT. If you missed a module, arrived late, or didn’t grasp a concept, you didn’t pass. You had to come back and do it again. It raised the standard — and more importantly, it reinforced the idea that the course actually mattered.

I’m not suggesting we turn entry-level GAA courses into exams — we want to encourage and support new coaches. But for those progressing through the coaching pathway, I think a firmer approach and perhaps even formal assessments would lead to better outcomes.

The GAA already has higher expectations at the top levels, but in general, we could afford to be more rigorous across the board. Have I conducted courses where I felt some participants needed an extra push? You bet I have — and I don’t think that’s a bad or confrontational thing. We demand high standards from our players; we should ask the same of our coaches, especially at the higher end.

3. Skills Pay the Bills — Don’t Forget the Game Itself

I often heard experienced tutors say, “There should be more actual skills teaching in the courses,” and the older I get, the more I see the truth in that.

At the grassroots level, we sometimes emphasise how to coach over what to coach — and in doing so, we risk leaving gaps in coaches’ understanding of the technical side of the game. It’s one thing to manage a session; it’s another to teach, correct, and improve a player’s core skills.

I’d love to see a night or two within the coaching pathway where a top-level skills coach delivers technical teaching — breaking down movement patterns, correcting mechanics, and showing how small tweaks can yield big improvements. That kind of exposure is invaluable.

Personally, I never played hurling growing up but found myself needing to coach it. So I got private lessons from an expert coach — and it was hugely beneficial. I like to think I picked it up fairly well, but I had to go outside the course structure to do so. In an ideal world, you’d get a chance to at least try the skills you’re expected to teach. Obviously, there are exceptions, but having as many ex-players as possible on these courses has real advantages.

Let’s not assume all coaches have that technical base. Let’s help them build it. I think there would be a huge appetite for teaching our volunteers the base skills — without flooding them with just STEP principles and methodologies all the time. A balance can and should be found.

And it’s not just a GAA issue. I recently completed a brilliant Senior Rugby Coaching badge, and it too struggled to fit basic skills teaching into the available time. Maybe this is something we as coach developers should be encouraging more informally in our clubs?

Final Thoughts

The GAA has built an outstanding coaching pathway that has evolved immensely over the years — and much of it is driven by passionate volunteers and dedicated educators who genuinely want to make a difference.

These thoughts aren’t intended to criticise that work — they’re just ideas, rooted in personal experience, about how we might continue to raise the bar, modernise the process, and better prepare coaches for real-life challenges on the pitch.

Coaches play a vital role in shaping players, teams, and communities. The more support, structure, and real-world preparation we can offer them, the better it is for everyone involved in the games we love.