As a members of the Health and Wellbeing committee of the club, Katrina Kernan (Health and Wellbeing Officer) and Eilish Burns (Volunteer delivering the Relax Kids project within the club) attended the GAA Health and Wellbeing Conference in October 2016 in Croke Park. The conference ran over two days and the Friday night workshop provided an opportunity for club delegates to work through the portal and upload evidence of initiatives ongoing throughout the country to promote health and wellbeing of members through the GAA Healthy Clubs project. Attendees also had time to informally network and hear about the range of diverse and innovative projects that are happening around the country. In exchanging ideas, our own clubs Relax Kids project launched on 7 November which aims to develop children’s good mental health by teaching under 8‘s mindfulness and relaxation tools to build their resilience, self confidence and self-esteem was met with interest and enthusiasm by other clubs. Cumann Pheadair Naofa was praised for ‘leading the way’ in Healthy Clubs Projects.
Marcella – Corcoran -Kennedy TD, Minister of State for Health Promotion gave the welcome address and set the scene for the conference highlighting the progressive approach taken by the GAA in having a holistic approach concept of health and wellness within Europe. Michelle emphasised primary prevention as a universal need – starting with a health based model of health care.
The keynote address on Saturday given by Professor Niall Moyna , Head of the school of Health and Human performance and a member of the centre for preventative medicine at Dublin City University was truly inspirational. He spoke with passion about how play for plays purpose was central to our growing up in the past, a natural given and how currently we are having to engineer exercise for children to be physically active. This reality then creates the need to focus on prevention and promoting a culture of participation in GAA clubs , finding a way to become inclusive of all children. Niall reflected that success would be measured by ensuring members come back to say, “thanks for including me,” something which Cumann Pheadair Naofa have at their core. A central message from Niall’s address was the need to consider how the GAA affords children purposeful practice where they can learn new skills, competition success, have fun and unlock their potential. He quoted, “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning but for children play is serious learning ,play is really the work of childhood ”. (Fred Rogers) In Cumann Pheadair Naofa we know only too well the purposeful impact our club has on its members in times of tragedy and adversity as well as times of success and positive experiences.
Niall highlighted the holistic nature of health and explained how sport supports developing good physical, emotional, mental and intellectual health. Significantly he highlighted that depression does not have an outward manifestation and so we need to encourage positivity and inspire members. He profoundly reflected on how GAA sports support players to develop contextual processing, empowering them to make contextual decisions under pressure, achieve intellectual wellness and develop leadership qualities. Warrenpoint, classified as a large town has many different cultures, religions and diverse personalities and Cumann Pheadair Naofa opens its doors to everyone with a wide range of activities, sports and teams for everyone of all ages to participate in. The presentation raised awareness that thoughtful planning and a creative approach is central to promoting and meeting the challenges posed in supporting the health and wellness of GAA members going forward into the future.
Following on from the Conference, Eilish presented a detailed and comprehensive paper to the club senior committee and highlighted areas which should be key focus for us as a club in 2016/2017. It was very promising to see that Cumann Pheadair Naofa are leading the way in this area and that the Healthy Clubs Project is here to stay in an all island forum. Many thanks to Katrina and Eilish and all the committee members for their sterling work in this area.
