Over the past 4 weeks, Monaghan Coaching and Games hosted two coaching days for 13 year olds (Players born in 2008) and two coaching days for 12 year olds (Players born in 2009) on Saturday mornings at Entekra Monaghan GAA Centre of Excellence, Cloghan. All four days were a great success with over 140 players attending both U13 days and over 120 players attending both days for U12s.

It was decided to focus on these two age groups as there was a gap in the fixtures calendar at the U13 age grade between League and Championship and because these players would have missed out on our 5th and 6th class After Schools Programme over the past 18 months.

The players were coached in stations which focused on some of the key skills of Gaelic Football including Kicking, Catching, Near Hand/Frontal Tackling, Side Step/Roll and Shooting. Players then got to put all these skills to use in small sided games.

We would like thank all the guest coaches that helped out alongside our full-time Coaching and Games staff over the four weeks. These were county senior players Barry McBennett, Dessie Ward, Micheal Bannigan and Fintan Kelly. Monaghan Minor and U20 managers, Mark Counihan and Andy Callan and members of our county minor and senior backroom teams David McCague, Gerry Connolly and Jer Treanor.

It was a great experience for the players to receive such a high quality of coaching and it was clear that all of the players in attendance enjoyed each day.

We would also like to thank the parents of all players who attended for lifting them to and from the sessions and to those who helped in the car park to ensure that the traffic ran smoothly.

Please see below for a selection of photos from the coaching days;