GOYA gang promoting sports participation

SEAMOUNT pupils are leading the field when it comes to keeping girls involved in sport for longer. An initiative launched two years ago in Kinvara has been so successful that it may be emulated across the county.

The Get Off Your Ass or GOYA gang is an adventure sports group for young people in North Clare and South Galway. Kinvara’s setting bordering the sea and the Burren made it the perfect location for the seeds of the organisation to be sown.
Up and running since March 2008, the GOYA gang now has more than 40 members, including girls and boys between 12 and 18 years of age.
“The main drivers in the group are Ailish O’Shea and Gerry Woods, parents in the area. The catalyst for it was that in 2006, there would have been a small adventure group started in the school on Wednesday evenings by the then PE teacher,” explained John Sweeney, from the Clare Local Sports Partnership.
Indeed, John is uniquely informed on this project as he was the PE teacher in the school at the time.
“Ailish and Gerry saw a gap in extra-curricular activities in South Galway and North Clare and although there were the other sports like camogie, hockey and football available, there wasn’t much else to get involved in.
“They gauged the girls’ interest and held meetings with the Clare and Galway Local Sports Partnerships to see if we could help keep it going,” John recalled.
The girls involved came up with a name that embodied its aims and ethos.
“The GOYA Gang is all about adventure sports, which require a level of technical leadership experience and training that most parents would not have. So bearing that in mind, it had two very clear focuses.
“One was to keep the girls involved in the adventure sports of kayaking, orienteering, sailing, caving, hillwalking and rock climbing. The second focus was to give the parents technical experience and start getting some qualifications for leading the adventure sports.
“At the beginning, this was quite labour-intensive and costly because expertise had to be bought in from adventure sports providers. So, the two sports partnerships submitted a joint application for funding to the Irish Sports Council through a stream of funding called Women in Sport, aimed at promoting increased participation of women of all ages in sport,” John outlined.
According to John, the initiative is already having an effect.
“The GOYA Gang has been successful because it is doing something that a lot of sports are not doing and that is retaining the girls in physical activity and sport. Now there are people looking to use the GOYA programme as a template,” he continued.
“Research shows that girls are dropping out of sports at a younger age than boys and it is because of the opportunities available to them. In rural areas, girls are only getting to participate in Gaelic games and soccer up to the age of U-12 or U-14 and the reason for that is because they can play with the boys on teams. After that because of maturation they can’t play together for safety reasons. Women’s clubs are less prevalent, so to become part of a girls’ team more often than not girls have to travel long distances. This lack of access to sports has consequences for women’s health,” he points out.
While the health benefits of such a group is undeniable, this is not the reason most girls join.
“The activities are fun, that is the thing about it. By its nature, it is all-inclusive and after the adventure there is a great high. The girls are with their friends all the time and everyone is taking part at the same level. It is high adventure but low risk because of the controlled nature of the activities,” John said.
The GOYA Gang took part in Active Schools Week, which was held recently in Seamount College. The aim of the week was to promote physical activity in and around the school environment and pupils took part in sailing, kayaking, kickboxing, caving, yoga, badminton, circuit training, orienteering and ballet.
“The sight of the students out on the bay sailing was great in the good weather. It was beautiful and lots of parents took part too and gave up their time to help the students experience these activities,” said Margo Mhic Dhomhnaill, Seamount College school principal.
“Having access to the GOYA Gang was great for Active Schools Week because we could tap into the skills that were out there in the locality and bring some extra sports into the school that week that students wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to take part in.
“Their PE teacher, Fionán Cuddy, organised the week in the school and his philosophy was that there is a sport out there for everyone. His aim was to expose the students to sports they may not previously tried so they could perhaps find a new interest they could carry with them. He also spoke to them about the benefits for girls of being involved in sport, especially for their teenage years,” she explained.
As well as being healthy and enjoyable, the girls are getting much more from the GOYA Gang.
“Taking part in any sport gives the girls more energy and enthusiasm for everything else they get involved in. They learn discipline and timekeeping, as well as many other skills that they learn from this sort of thing. Students who are involved in sport are more disciplined when it comes to more academic things as well. Sport builds team work too, which is hugely important,” Margo concluded.
Recently, the Seamount College transition year girls worked with primary school children in Kinvara, New Quay and Ballyvaughan teaching them about orienteering.
Anyone hoping to join the GOYA Gang or take on a supervisory role should contact Ailish on 085 7030121. Further information on the programme is available from Clare Local Sports Partnership on 065 6865434 or County Galway Local Sports Partnership on 091 476509.