Jack Turraoin of SN Bhaile Mhic Airt in Waterford during the GAAgaeilge Go Games at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
In 2007, the GAA introduced ‘Go Games’ for children aged 7 to 11 where the key principles included equal playing time for all players and an emphasis on skill development and enjoyment.
No scores are recorded in Go Games matches and there should be no winners’ trophies or medals presented at Go Games blitzes.
Unfortunately, some clubs have drifted away from this ethos and organised their own unofficial tournaments that are often played on a knock-out basis, which prompted GAA Director General, Tom Ryan, to express his concern last year about ‘creeping competitiveness’ within Go Games.
The GAA notified all clubs that they should conform to the Go Games model, which led to an at times polarised debate on the topic with some bemoaning a perceived lack of ‘competition’ in Go Games as something detrimental to the development of our young players.
The research didn’t just find that the Go Games principles like equal participation, skill development, enjoyment, and a de-emphasis on scores and winning are consistently supported by players, coaches, and parents alike.
According to Professor Áine MacNamara, one of the authors of the study, it also showed that healthy competition flourishes in Go Games even if no-one is recording the score.
“As well as being a researcher I'm also a Go Games coach myself,” MacNamara told GAA.ie
“I come off a pitch on a Saturday and we play an U-10s and U-11 match and the first question the kids ask is, 'What score is it?'
“They know well whether they won or lost. And, of course they do, because winning and losing matters, competition matters.
“I think what's really useful in the Go Games model, and what we found in this study, was that it wasn't downplaying the role of competition because you can't take that out of sport.
“And you wouldn't want to take it out of sport because winning and losing can be really good learning opportunities for the kids and for the coaches.
Action between Scoil Santain in Tallaght, Dublin, and Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg from Ennis, Clare, during the 2022 GAAgaeilge Go Games at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
“What was really interesting in the study was that in Go Games you let the kids worry about the competition and the adults use it as a developmentally appropriate tool.
“Not getting overworked or over-enthusiastic about winning, not getting overly down about losing. The coaches were able to use competition to provide a really important learning experience for those players.
“And, in some of the cases, they were able to dial up competition or dial down competition depending on the kid in front of them, and the experience that they wanted to give them.
“It’s not removing competition from the experience, but using it appropriately for the age that the kids are at or even the developmental stage that the kids are at.
“Because some kids really just want to go out and play and just experience a social activity and other kids playing on the exact same team are really motivated by getting better, by improving, by winning.
“That makes it really complex, especially at grassroots, because you have to cater for that variety of experiences as well.
“It's about the adults keeping that developmentally appropriate while emphasizing things like skill development, enjoyment, and participation.
“They're the ingredients that will keep the kids involved for the longer term. The key message here is that it's not uncompetitive, it's just that competition outcome isn't the sole focus of participation.”
Perceived competence plays a huge rule in the extent to which a child will enjoy the sport they play, and competence comes from skill development which is a central pillar of the Go Games model.
Round Towers Clondalkin, Dublin, at GAAGaeilge Go Games at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
So, Go Games don’t just ensure that a greater number of children play more because of the focus on equal participation, it also gives them the confidence to play the sports for longer.
“I think a really important finding from a GAA perspective is that the Go Games curriculum was really well supported by everyone,” says MacNamara.
“The coaches recognised and understood the principles underpinning it and, for the most part, enacted them.
“The parents and the children involved were in line with that curriculum in terms of recognising the value of that as part of their experience. And there was an emphasis on, not just enjoying and playing and participation, but using the Go games curriculum as a way of skill development.
“I think that's the really important bit because what we need to develop in children's sport is to engage them to stay playing for long term participation, but also for performance. We want some of these kids to become our next Intercounty senior players.
“The principles of Go Games which ensure equal playing time and equal opportunities gives the coaches the tools for skill development, to increase competence and to increase the confidence of the kids. Competence precedes confidence, and competence and confidence are the key developmental ingredients and I think that's what Go Games really promotes.
“I think the fact that it's endorsed by all stakeholders is such a positive outcome for the GAA. You know you're onto a winning thing because people are invested in this and think that it's an appropriate way forward.”
Lios Póil, Kerry, team with GAA Ambasadóir na Gaeilge and Galway footballer Paul Conroy at GAAGaeilge Go Games at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
An area for improvement in the Go Games model identified by the study was communication gaps in conveying the purpose of Go Games to parents which sometimes led to negative parental involvement such as shouting instructions from the sideline.
The lesson here is that it’s a very worthwhile exercise for coaches to make sure that the parents of their players understand not just the playing rules of Go Games, but the ethos as well.
“That’s especially maybe for parents that would have experienced a different type of sporting structure when they played because, of course, Go Games looks different,” says MacNamara.
“It absolutely should look different to the adult form of the game or what the adult competition structure is.
“I think it’s about making sure that parents are engaged to understand the purpose and intention from the coach's perspective. And, also, that the experience changes as the kids get older as well. Go Games is from Under-7 to Under-12 and the nature of that experience will change as kids develop.
“Keeping parents abreast of the purpose of the Go games curriculum and the enactment, how that plays out on a Saturday morning on the pitch, is really important.
“When we do that well and we engage parents in understanding why we're doing what we're doing it certainly negates problems down the line because there's a shared understanding about both procedures and intentions there.”
GAAGaeilge Go Games at Croke Park in Dublin, August 2022.
Every child is different and one of the great challenges of coaching is to cater for those individual differences.
At Go Games level some children are already highly motivated about what they want to do within the sport and others simply want to enjoy a social space with their friends.
The Go Games model of inclusivity and fun combined with the natural competitiveness of the children themselves means that it caters for a broad spectrum very well.
What we see in Gaelic games and all sports is a big drop-out rate in the early and mid-teen years, which may be down to the fact that some find the transition into a more competitive arena less enjoyable that what they had hitherto experienced.
Professor MacNamara and her colleagues are currently undertaking research into that age-cohort, and their findings should make for some very interesting reading when they’re published.
“We have two studies ongoing at the moment as part of this larger project and one of them is looking at that 13 to 17-year-old age group at club level and looking at the playing experience and the competition experience within that,” says MacNamara.
“Aligned to that we're looking at ideas around streaming and ability grouping in the GAA and how we would support coaches to do that and how it might support the development of players who might be participating for a whole host of reasons. Recognizing the individual differences of young players is really important.
“Ideas around streaming and competition are not black and white things. If I go out and coach an U-12 team tonight for some of the session I'll put the big kids with the big kids and the small kids with the small kids. For some of the session I'll mix them up. On Saturday I might play my best 10 in one team and my second ten in the next team, but the following weekend I'll mix it up.
“It's supporting coaches to understand why they're doing what they're doing, rather than giving them directives of what they should do, that's really important. 'Competition' and 'streaming' aren't bad words, we need to help people use them better and understand the intention why they're doing what they're doing.”
For access to the full paper, ‘Participant Experience of a Modified Sports Program – A Curriculum Investigation in Gaelic Games’, go here - https://www.mdpi.com/2673-995X/4/1/2