New York GAA – Under 8 Hurling/Camogie Manual
Michael O Sullivan – Hurling Development Administrator
Simon Gillespie – Games Development Officer
April 2015
Contents:
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Useful New York GAA Contacts
Coaching Information & Pointers
New York GAA Long Term Athlete Development Plan
Warm Ups
Coaching the Basics
 Correct Grip & Stance
 Ground Strike
 Dribbling
 Catching
 Clashing
 Fun Games
 Matches – Rules and Layout
 Blank Session Plan Template
New York GAA Useful Contacts:
Name
Role
Contact No
Email
Michael O Sullivan
Hurling Development
Adiminstrator
(646) 431 – 0600
hurling@newyorkgaa.com
Simon Gillespie
Games Development
Officer
(914) 573 – 8761
nygaagdo@gmail.com
John Riordan
PRO
(917) 767 – 2362
PRO@newyorkgaa.com
Coaching Information & Pointers:
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Try identify the number of children you will have, this helps determine how many helpers you
will need. Ideally it should be at most 8-10 kids per 1 adult/helper.
Plan your session (See attached Session Template) – This ensures the session runs on time and
you and the other coaches know who is doing what, for how long, etc.
It is important to keep the session fun. From experience, children at under 8 have a short
attention span so it is important to keep them interested. Drills should be short, easy to
understand and have quick, simple variations.
When introducing a warm up activity, hurling drill or game it is vital that we use the IDEA
Concept. That is;
 Introduce: Introduce the game/drill
 Demonstrate: Demonstrate the skill, what is expected
 Execute: Execute the activity
 Attend: Attend to the drill/game, and provide feedback.
It is important that when using the IDEA and throughout the session, we use age appropriate
language. Remember that these are 8 year olds and not adults!
All feedback should be positive: “Well Done”, “ Good Effort”. Try not to use phrases such as
“Unlucky” or “Hard Luck”.
Try set your pitch up like so:
1
2
3
4
4 different zones, each with a different drill or game already set up. This helps keep the kids
interested as there is no down time to set up the next drill or game.
Refer to the New York GAA Hurling Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) Plan to ensure that
your kids are training the correct physical and hurling specific skills.
NY GAA Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) Plan For Under Age Hurling/Camogie
P
Boys: 6-9 years
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FUNdamental Phase
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E
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1
P
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E
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Learning to
Train Phase
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2
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P
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Training to Train
Phase
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Girls: 8-11 Years
Further development of FMS (fundamental mov’t skills)
Learning of overall sport specific skills
Player:Ball Ratio = 3:1
Strength exercises using own body weight
Introducing basic flexibilty work
Warm up: dynamic, agility, quickness, change of directions
Warm downs: static
Introduce & develop knowledge of warm ups/downs, hydration,
etc.
Small sided, conditioned games preferred
125+ touches per person per session
Boys: 12-16 years
H
S
Developing Agility, Balance, Co-ordination (ABC’s)
Developing Running, Jumping, Throwing (RJT’s)
Catching & Striking
Fun Warm Up Games
Basic Hurling Skills (Dribbling, catch, ground strike)
Incorporate correct hurling grip through out
Small sided games
Use bigger Sliothars, tennis balls, bean bags, etc. to develop
fundamentals quicker
Boys: 9-12 years
H
Girls: 5-8 years
Girls: 11-15 Years
More importance on sport specific skills
Ball work should be priority
Player:Ball Ratio = 2:1
Mix of Conditioned Games & Structured Games
Position specific training
Flexibility training becomes very important due to growth spurts.
200+ touchers per person per session
3
*** Consult this Plan to ensure that your session is in the right phase of training, and
incorporates the areas related to that phase
Warm Ups:
Why do a Warm Up?
It is important to do a warm up for a number of reasons. It;
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Raises the pulse and prepares the body for activity
Helps to prevent injury to muscles.
Also helps the coach get the player to focus in on training -> form pairs for drills, separate
‘giddy’ children, etc.
Warm up games such as below also improve agility, balance and co ordination
Activity 1: Stuck in the Mud
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Pick one/two kids to be the taggers, give them bright colored bibs
They must tag the others
Anyone who is tagged is ‘stuck’
To be freed, someone must crawl through their legs.
Change the taggers
Variations:
 After being tagged, they must do 10 jumping jacks, single leg hops, etc. before they can
be freed
 After being tagged they must assume the ‘ready’ position
Activity 2: Back to Back
 Kids run around the grid
 On the whistle, they must get back to back with the nearest person
Variations:
 High Knees, heel flicks, jumping jacks, hopping, kangaroo jump -> back to back on the
whistle
 On the whistle -> sitting down back to back, back to back on one leg, etc.
Coaching the Basics:
Correct Grip
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Throw hurleys on the ground
Get each child to pick it up with their dominant/writing hand
This hand is always on the top of the hurley
Wristband: put on dominant hand, easy for the coach to see if the player is doing it
right/wrong
Tip of the bas is facing the sky
Go through the Ready Position
Good idea to get the kids to assume the ready position whenever the coach blows the
whistle, similar to musical statues.
Ground Striking
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Keep drills simple and easy to understand
One ball between Two players is advised
Static striking should be coached first
Important to use dominant and non-dominant side
Common Errors:
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Feet too close together
Not standing close enough to
sliothar
Leaning back
Lifting the head to follow sliothar
Incorrect grip
Other Variations:
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Non dominant side
Bigger ball -> Smaller Ball
See how many strikes they can
do in 30 seconds
Dribbling:
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Try have one ball per child, or one between two at most
Ensure the correct grip is being used
Start with static, on the spot dribbling -> tapping with both sides of the hurley
Common Errors:
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Incorrect grip -> makes dribbling awkward
Tapping the ball too far away
Failing to control the ball
Mimicking ice hockey control of the puck
Catching
Coaching Points:
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Important that the catching hand is cupped, like a C shape
Use the image of a tigers claws
Get them to catch in the fingers first, then the palm
Use big sliothars, bean bags, tennis balls to practice the catching technique
Common Errors:
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Catching in the palm first
Lack of co-ordination
Clashing:
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Important to coach clashing at a young age
Also important to coach the correct technique to ensure safety
Common Errors:
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Not aligned properly with partner
Bad timing
Incorrect grip
Fun Games:
Matches – Rules and Layout
All games should be 6, 7 or 8 a-side at most. Except for younger kids where games can go as low as 3 aside.
For younger/weaker kids keep pitches tiny only 20 or 30 yards altogether or even play into one goals
(just get them use to fighting for a ball)
For older/more skilful kids (8-10), mark out 3 zones on the pitch (with 2 backs and 2 forwards in each).
Players not allowed go outside their zone (avoids bunching of players and stronger players dominating
the game).
Move players to next zone every 5 minutes  kids get used to playing in each position
Try to emphasise the skills learned in training;
 Maybe two points for a goal when struck with the non dominant side
 An extra point for each team when a good clash is contested