GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 37 – October 31, 2015 | Page 38

CONSIDERATIONS FOR
PERFORMANCE
TRAINERS NEW INTO
THE FIELD OF GAELIC
FOOTBALL
OCTOBER 29, 2015

BY HANNAH VAN BUUREN
Sports Science and Research Coordinator at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, Hannah van Burren, in her latest column, details what a Performance
Trainer should be doing for the team.
Over the last decade sport science in Gaelic football
has become more and more popular. When I gained
my first degree in sports science, there were no available positions in the field of sport science within Gaelic
teams – however this amateur sport has grown into a
professional set up where the support team includes a
vast number of expertise staff all aiming to work together to improve both player, and team performance;
one integral role player of this support team - is the
performance trainer.

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PERFORMANCE TRAINING
The first priority of the performance trainer is
to implement a comprehensive, purpose-driven,
and ethically supported performance enhancing
training experience for all ages and levels within
Gaelic Football. The performance trainer increases
the opportunity for success by being proficient at
needs analysis and profiling as well as being prepared to implement sport-specific programming.
For today’s fitness professional, this entails having
a purpose-driven approach that includes, but is not
limited to, knowledge and skills such as functional
movement screens, physical capacity testing, progressive program planning, multiple disciplines of