CITY TRIBUNE
Kilgannon has innovative approach when it comes to coaching children
Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon
FOR a man being interviewed, coach and author Paul Kilgannon asks as many questions as he answers but, he explains, that is the nature of his debut book, ‘Coaching Children in Sport’, which will be launched at the Claregalway Hotel on Friday, November 16, at 7pm.
Well-known in GAA circles, in the past decade, Kilgannon – a primary school teacher by profession, working in Bushypark National School – coached Carnmore hurlers at senior level before managing Claregalway footballers to the county intermediate title last year.
One aspect of his book Kilgannon, who also coaches children and teens, wishes to stress from the off is that this is “not another book of drills” but rather focuses on the development of the child and the young player through his own coaching model, the CARVER Framework.
The fundamentals of the CARVER acronym are: Connection, Awareness, Research, Values (and Visions), Endorsing and Reflection. Kilgannon believes the whole subject of coaching children is “not looked at deeply enough”, adding children’s coaching is mostly defined by drills or movements.
“People look at it from the perspective of ‘give me a few drills’ and off we go,” begins Kilgannon, who insists children’s coaching should even go beyond the dynamic of uniting the collective, in that it should be enabling young players to “connect with individuals” and “to become self-aware”.
As a coach educator working with children, Kilgannon has seen a need to put something down on paper and, to this end, he has probed a little bit more deeply into his subject matter in the last three years.
“It started as a philosophical book on the potential of coaching in sport initially,” he continues, “and then it changed into something more practical. So, it would be a guide to building a coaching world and to the process of continued improvement. That would be the concept behind it.
“Coaching, like teaching, is really a confidence profession and I always say it is very hard to jump out of a truck and go coaching kids – or anything else like that. So, the idea behind this is to ask questions of the coach, such as how do we pull the player out of the child?”
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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From this week’s Galway City Tribune – More than 20 taxi drivers in the city were issued on-the-spot fines last week during an operation to nab those not accepting card payments.
The ‘sting’ was conducted by the National Transport Authority (NTA), the Taxi Regulation Office and the Gardaí over the course of several days last week.
It stemmed from complaints that several taxis in Galway City were not accepting card payments – legislation was introduced last September obliging taxi drivers to accept credit and debit cards.
Many drivers sought cash payments while telling customers that their card machines were either not working or that the terminal could not get a signal.
A senior source close to the Taxi Regulation Office told the Galway City Tribune that they had received “quite a number of complaints” from customers stating that drivers were not accepting payments by card.
The source said that members of the public were engaged to use the taxi services as part of the operation and some of them reported that the drivers had indicated from the outset that they would only accept cash payment.
“Since the beginning of the year, the taxi fares in Galway City have received an increase and the drivers are required to provide an in-car system of payment for customers.”
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 2 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
From this week’s Galway City Tribune – A well-known community activist in the east of the city has appealed for reasoned discussions about plans to accommodate over 300 male asylum seekers in Ballybrit.
Former local election candidate Michael Tully, who is based in Ballybane, said the debate around the proposal to house 302 people in empty office blocks in Ballybrit Business Park was happening at two extremes, while many people living locally were “somewhere in the middle”.
“There were protests organised up there this week by radicals,” said Mr Tully of demonstrations which have been orchestrated by known members of the far right.
“But there are people that think it is unsuitable because they’re putting 300 men in basically a warehouse that’s surrounded by high fences with CCTV cameras all around it. It’s like a prison or an army barracks – where’s the humanity in that? These are people we are talking about.
“There are genuine concerns about it being 300 men, because that’s unhealthy, in the same way it would be unhealthy if it was 300 women. There will be people in there that have families and would be better off mixed with them,” he said.
Media debates about the centres rarely featured nuanced opinions that were based in genuine concern, he said, and tended to favour more radical voices.
“Listen to any of the radio debates or TV discussions and it’s always the two sides shouting each other down. On one side, they’re calling people terrorists and on the other, everyone who has any concern is labelled right wing.”
Mr Tully, who is involved with several community projects locally including the Merlin Allotments and setting up an orienteering group, said there should be a more concerted effort to integrate asylum seekers in the community ahead of moving them into an area.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 2 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
From this week’s Galway City Tribune – City-wide water outages are expected next week as local authority staff down tools in a dispute over allowances.
Water Services staff in Galway City Council and Galway County Council are due to strike on Wednesday.
Trade union SIPTU predicted the industrial action will cause widespread outages and disruption to the water supply to businesses and homes across Galway. A boil water notice may also be issued.
It’s understood emergency cover and supply to hospitals may be maintained but secondary schools could be impacted on the day the Leaving Cert starts.
Union representatives met with management yesterday (Thursday) but no deal was reached. Pickets are planned for Terryland Waterworks, City Hall on College Road and the Council depot at Sandy Road.
“The City Council has no contingency plan,” said David Samuels, Assistant Industrial Organiser with SIPTU.
(Photo: Terryland waterworks)
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 2 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
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