The Coaching Bubble

We are talking with Eddie O Sullivan, former head coach of the Ireland National Rugby & United States National rugby teams. In a brilliant start to our new season Eddie talks about the The Importance of planning and preparation as a Coach, how Listing and learning from others helps develops you as a coach and how coaches give and receive back.

On our last show of the series, we are talking about supporting the coach with Des Ryan, Director of Coaching and Performance with Setanta College, Des highlights the challenges that coaches face, including coach burnout and strategies to avoid it, And he speaks of the value of building strong relationships with parents, players, and fellow coaches in order to continue learning and developing as a coach.

This week we are delighted to be joined by Gordon MacLelland, CEO of Working With Parents In Sport, an organisation who supports parents and coaches in working together to provide children with the best possible sporting experience. Gordan gives insight to the challenges parents in sport face, He talks about building positive relationships between coaches and parents, and the importance of maintaining fun in sport for our youth players with long term participation being the key priority.

This weeks guest is nothing short of a legend. 18 time All Ireland winner with Cork Camogie/Football Rena Buckley joins us to chat about injury prevention. Rena is a Chartered Physiotherapist and discusses the most prevalent injuries among youths, and how we can reduce the risk of them occurring. We talk about the importance of recovery when it comes to injuries and performance and Rena gives us some practical strategies to help support that recovery.

This week we discuss some topical issues, player pathways, talent academies and how to avoid burnout. Orlaith Curran, a PhD Student in DCU and Athletic Development Coach with the IRFU, Orlaith chats about what Talent Academy Pathways are in relation to high achievers but also how these look with a participation focus, We talk about the role of coaches in keeping players on the pathway and avoiding player burnout and touch on the gender gap in the research regarding player pathways

This week we are talking about the young female athlete, and are joined on the pod by Catriona O’Halloran and Ciara O’Flynn, who are both Team Leads with Anytime of the Month - a student-led social enterprise aiming to alleviate the effects of period poverty. Cathriona and Ciara give great guidance to parents and coaches on periods, period poverty, and how they can impact sport participation They give practical tips on supporting players when it comes to creating a safe and open environment. This is a hugely insightful episode folks, and I would encourage everyone involved in coaching young girls to listen

On this weeks episode, we are talking about nutrition, and are very lucky to be joined by Emma Brennan, Academy Performance Nutritionist with Connacht Rugby, We talk about some common misconceptions, what parents need to know around Nutrition and Hydration, how coaches can support players build healthy habits, and we touch on the importance of language and how we talk to female players about nutrition

Lynne Cantwell, Women’s High-Performance Manager with South Africa Rugby and Nora Stapleton, Women in Sport Lead with Sport Ireland. Lynne and Nora discuss the importance of organised sport and barriers to lifelong participation, They talk about the challenges of balancing a fun and competition and the role parents and coaches play in creating an environment to help retain women in sport.

This week we speak with John O'Sullivan Author, Speaker and founder of Changing the Game project which helps Coaches, Athletes and Parents become better leaders & build values based youth sports team. A must listen for all coaches and parents

On this weeks Podcast we chat with Graham Byrne, Fitness Manager at Sport Ireland Campus and Head of Fitness & Nutrition with Wexford Gaa. Graham highlights the importance of building on the Fundamentals from an early age and how to adapt as a coach to needs of the team, while also been able to help the players individually.