The Club
Nursery
Joey Carton
Munster Games Manager
What is a Club Nursery ?
A Club Nursery
 Where children are introduced to our games
for the first time
 May have different names e.g. Academy,
Beginners Section
 Often taken for granted (Where is Under 12
team this year?)
 Strong clubs put emphasis on this section
Three Areas of Concern
 When is the correct time to start children
 What should we be doing with beginners
 When should we start playing games
When is the correct time ?
Background
 Historically Primary Schools made this
decision
 Now clubs have this responsibility
 Most clubs have
Nursery/Beginners/Academy Sections
 In some cases children of 4 years are
accepted (fear of other codes)
 No real planning goes into this area
When is the Correct time ?
General Guidelines
 Six years of age
(senior infants) is
young enough
 Start with friends and
classmates
 Good
weather/conditions i.e
May,Astro or Indoor
 Ideally group should
cater up to 10 years
What should we be doing ?
 Recruit How? (local
schools, leaflet, have a
go days)
 Registration Day
(attendance records
vital)
 Correct ratio of
coaches to children 1:5
(use assistants)
 Co-ordinator and other
helpers required
 Start and finish on time
(1 hour in total)
What should we be doing ?
Have a Proper Structure
What should we be doing?
Managing the Coaches
 Best coaches in club
 Specialised training
provided for all
 Coaches need to meet
½ hour beforehand
 Coaches should meet
during season
What should we be doing?
Activities
 Introduce Skills in fun
environment
 ABC’s Have a Ball
Programmes are vital
 Plenty of fun games
 Station training
generally works
 Variety is vital
What should we be doing ?
Equipment?
 Adequate equipment
 Correct size hurleys
 Large ball, first touch sliotar,football
Some Issues to Consider
 All children want to play matches
 All children want to wear a jersey
 Show them how to tackle/protect themselves at an
early age
 Small-sided games at all times
 Blitzes provide better opportunities for everyone to
play
 Work hard to recruit but can loose them very easy
 First Impressions can be lasting
Conclusion