GAA Handball's long awaited Youth Expo kicks off this week with a fantastic line up in store for all ages.
Week 1 sees an array of top stars share their experiences and offer advice and tips aswell as a number of initiatives including an exciting competition.
Mindful Mondays:
We are delighted to have Irish Olympian Jessie Barr kicking off the Expo on Monday 5th April. Jessie Barr is an accredited Sport & Performance Psychologist, Olympian, and media contributor. She works with Ireland’s leading Olympic athletes at the Sport Ireland Institute and applies both her professional and personal experience to support them in achieving their peak performance.
Jessie was selected as lead Psychologist for Team Ireland for the European Games in 2019. She is also a sport psychology PhD researcher in the Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department at the University of Limerick and is an Irish Research Council awardee. She represented Ireland at the 2012 Olympic Games competing in the 4x400m relay and at European and World University Championships in the 400m Hurdles.
Bringing lessons learnt from elite sport, she offers insights into practice of sport psychology that can help individuals to maximise their potential. Jessie will talk about coping with lockdown and impart her knowledge and experience in a number of areas in a session that should not be missed.
Tasty Tuesdays:
Dr. Sharon Madigan is the Head of Performance Nutrition with the Sport Ireland Institute and has worked with some of Ireland's top sports stars and Olympians will give an introduction to Nutrition on Tuesday. There will also be a cookalong recipe from David Tobin, Performance Nutritionist with Sport Ireland.
Workout Wednesdays:
Workout Wednesdays sees top handballer Catriona Casey host an online skills workouts that all young members are sure to be excited by. Casey a multiple All Ireland winner in both codes will put the young Handballers through their paces and concentrate mainly on warm ups and ball work.
Tommy Gallagher a sports injury specialist will deal with preventing injury on our return to games and will begin a series of self-assessment tests with the Single Leg Bridge Test to make sure members are in the best possible shape to avoid injury when play returns. Each test will result in a score that will help to identify if the person has an issue in certain key areas. Tommy will also provide an exercise programme to deal with any issues that are identified by the tests.
Takeover Thursdays:
Takeover Thursday sees World number 1 Killian Carroll take over GAA Handball's Instagram account for the day and share advice, tips and answer all your questions. Each Thursday an online challenge will be set and people will be encouraged to take on the challenge and share their efforts on social media.
Friday Forum:
The Friday Forum will see International stars from 4-Wall and 1-Wall Daniel Cordova (USA) and Luke Thompson (England) join Ireland’s Catriona Casey to talk about their Handball globetrotting exploits. It is sure to be a fascinating talk as the trio will give an insight into their experiences while travelling to play Handball.
In addition to the above we will be launching a fantastic design a jersey competition in conjunction with O’Neills i-create which will see the winners jersey be produced for sale on the GAA Handball online shop. There will be several other features throughout the week with a series of fun activities and challenges for our youngest members to ensure that there is something for all ages in the next seven days.
