THE organisers of the first Corofin All Stars programme for children with additional needs are thrilled with the success of their innovative pilot project, writes Dan Danaher.

In fact, the success of the first dedicated programme for children with special needs in a Clare GAA club exceeded the expectations of Eimer Ni Riain, Crystel Robbins Rynne and Adrian Beakey.

On Sunday, some of the Intermediate footballers and coaches dropped into the start of a new programme of training children in GAA skills.

Ms Ni Riain, who has 30 years experience as an occupational therapist, doesn’t have any child involved in the sessions.

The practice education co-ordinator on the occupational programme in the University of Limerick saw there was a gap for children with special needs who weren’t participating in sporting activities.

“The programme helps children with special needs to engage with other children in a fun and safe way that is different to going to therapy and school.

“In addition to providing GAA skills, it facilitates social inclusion for the children.”

Having worked on coaching boys’ hurling from U8 to U12 in Corofin, she conducts the warm-up at the start of every session and uses a hula hoop to give children a focus for different tasks.

Following the start of another block of sessions after the initial six-week pilot project, she has seen a huge improvement in children’s participation and skills.

“Children are more vocal and laughing out loud. Children are doing activities with our volunteers now instead of their parents, which is a big step. Children are participating now with much less encouragement. They try every skill in the session. We have started a hand-passing game, which they love. We are doing a lot more than we thought we would do at the beginning. We have modified the activity and the environment to allow children take part.”

“It has exceeded our expectations in terms of children’s participation. We found children can manage change very well. Other GAA clubs can do this programme, which is easy to do with a bit of planning.”

The Kilnaboy resident said it is great to see children having fun with their own siblings.

Initially, it was suggested that the astro-turf pitch in Kilnaboy might be a good venue. However, Ms Ni Riain pointed out this programme had to be part of Corofin GAA club and run on one of the main pitches or in the clubhouse.

Following the GAA Autism Summer Camp, sports inclusion disability officer, James Murrihy recalled the Clare Sports Partnership (CSP) wanted to build on the example set by Tulla and Derg AC by using this template for a similar programme in Corofin GAA club.

“An inclusive programme will only work if there is a drive and participation from volunteers within the club,” he pointed out.

“It is also important to set up a sustainability plan with the help of the CSP to ensure it doesn’t end after six weeks. CSP can provide training and education for volunteers as well as advising them about grants for equipment.”

The project started with 15 children and 13 volunteers. Corofin mother-of-three, Crystel Robbins, was looking for something to help her son Matthew (7), who has mobility issues, fit into the GAA community.

“Every child has a different goal. It might be to try and score a goal or stand in a line. It is important children could go somewhere where their goals are facilitated and where they can be happy,” she said. “The feedback from parents is these children have nowhere to go.

“This is a Corofin GAA club initiative and the club have been very supportive to date. Matthew is delighted to be putting on his Corofin jersey and he feels great pride in being part of the club.

“It would be great to see other clubs throughout the county following the example of Corofin. We are happy to show people what we are doing on Sunday mornings and help them get it off the ground in their own area.”

Volunteers like Geraldine Cahill, Mary Cahill, Marguerite Russell, Catriona McMahon, Caralyn Robbins and Transition Year students – Eve O’Loughlin, Coláiste Muire, Ennis; Niamh Kinnane, Lauren O’Connor and Lily O’Brien, all Ennistymon Vocational School, played a vital role in keeping children on task.

The coaches were Eimer, Adrian Beakey, Crystel and Gary Rynne.

Children are travelling from Lissycasey, Kilmaley, Lahinch, Ruan, Ballyaughan and Toonagh and the hinterland of Corofin.

Apart from inclusive athletics in Tulla and Clarisford, Killaloe, there are no dedicated activities of this nature for children with additional needs in the county.

Siblings have also been invited to participate and encourage children with additional needs to participate in all the fun activities.

Parents are encouraged to stay on the pitch to lend assistance with their child if needed.

Last summer, Corofin parent and mentor Adrian answered a message posted on social media by Crystel about the need for some structured GAA activity for children with special needs.

Occupational therapist Eimer Ni Riain also expressed an interest in getting involved so this trio put their heads together to see what could be organised.

Adrian acknowledged that Eimer and Crystel played a key role early on meeting groups like Clare Sports Partnership during the day when he wasn’t available due to work commitments.

He said some children with special needs were not getting enough physical activity to help their own development.

“I am shocked at the progress children have made and what they are capable of doing. I thought we would have some trouble trying to get children standing in a line and waiting for their turn, but once they see the process that is in place they followed it.”

“We bought traffic lights and used green for go and red for stop. I think we are close to introducing a hurley for the children to use.”

The organisers completed an online training course with Autism specialist, Susan Crawford, a safeguarding course with Clare Sports Partnership as well as help and guidance from James Murrihy.

They devised a series of activities at two stations, splitting children into different age groups of six to eight, eight to twelve and 12 and older.

A huge emphasis was placed on making the activities fun to complete for the children without any pressure.

Having completed a six-week one-hour pilot programme on Sunday mornings, the organisers started another set of inclusive sessions on Sunday.

Most of the sessions have been on one of the Corofin GAA pitches, apart from one indoor session due to inclement weather.

Some children were a bit reluctant to get involved in the first session, clinging on desperately to one of their parents. However, two sessions later they were happy to fully participate.

Activities included throwing a ball into a net, kicking a ball, catching, scoring a goal, hand passing and striking with a tennis racket. Children also enjoy a tug-of-war.

The organisers would welcome the assistance of more volunteers on Sunday mornings between 10 and 11am.