By Cian O’Connell

“It is inclusion at its very best,” Karen Richardson says about Blessington GAA All-Stars sessions which take place on a Sunday morning.

As part of the Healthy Clubs programme in the club, the Blessington GAA All-Stars has proven to be a real success with training sessions and events always on the agenda.

“This Sunday we are opening up our club with the Sensory Bus,” she adds. “It is about everybody being included - it is about community.

“We have a Sensory Bus coming to Blessington. We have sent information out to all our local play schools, schools, library, and tourist office - just to the wider community - if anybody would like to use the Sensory Bus.”

That willingness to connect with other groups and open the Blessington GAA club doors matters deeply. “A club is a community and as the logo goes it is 'Where We All Belong',” she says.

“When we set up our All-Stars, the more we ran it we learned that each child is an individual, to bring them up on a Sunday morning, the most important thing was to give them some form of physical activity.

“Then to incorporate a little bit of GAA, whether kicking, hand passing, a bit of an obstacle course. The most important thing was to support and encourage each child to the maximum of their ability.”

A child centred approach is serving Blessington GAA All-Stars well. “It is all child led, the coach follows the child to an area and they encourage them at that area to do a little bit of the obstacle course or kicking,” Richardson says.

“We do games too, we start and we finish on a Sunday morning with our parachute. So the child knows it is the start or end of the session.

“The All-Stars wouldn't run on a Sunday morning without our fantastic club behind us. We have our Healthy Clubs team which comprises of Aoife Jackson, chairperson Michelle Richardson, Declan Reape, David Greville, Simon Taylor, Graham Keogh, and Neasa Quinlan.

“With our All-Stars on a Sunday morning we have fantastic help - Rachel O'Donovan, Declan Reape, myself, two of our senior ladies - Aoife O'Rourke and Aisling Brennan, and another little lady helps out, Ella.”

Providing opportunities for children and their families is crucial. There is joy in the journey. “We have one little fella, who comes up on a Sunday morning - his mam calls it is happy place, he is non verbal, but as soon as he reaches the Astro, his face lights up,” Richard explains.

“It is amazing. He wasn't able to kick or catch a ball, he is now kicking. You can just see in his facial expressions, the pure joy.

“Everybody there on a Sunday morning goes home in great form because the kiddies give us so much back. The kids and parents are the most important people on a Sunday morning.”

During the past few years different experiences linger in the memory. Blessington GAA have tried to assist in any way possible. “We had a Sports Day when wet up a few different zones around the pitch,” she recalls.

“We put up pictures so the children could identify what they were going to do. If they were non verbal at least they had a picture to help them.

“Last August through the fantastic Lisa Jackson and the GAA Inclusion Officer Ger McTavish, we got to Croke Park. The kids are still talking about the day in Croke Park. Again it was inclusion at its very best.”

The Cúl Camps are another source of hope and encouragement. “We built on our Cúl Camp offering this year,” Richardson acknowledges.

“When we were doing it we had 26 kiddies with additional needs. They came from Dublin, neighbouring areas in Wicklow, and we have people coming from Naas in Kildare. We looked at our children individually, we matched the children that needed one to one up, and then we had two small groups.

“It was child led, but with great encouragement from the coaches and everybody. We enlisted two of our members, Molly Bean, a special needs teacher, and Anna King, who is an SNA.

“We also brought some primary school teachers onboard. It was very well run by Cormac Noone and our own Jonathan Daniels.”

Positive relationships have been forged with Bray Emmets too. “Last year we called it an All-Stars training session, we invited Bray over to our club with the help of Clara Jenkinson,” Richardson recalls.

“She is the Wicklow Inclusion Development Officer, she helped us connect with Jenny Lackey in Bray Emmets GAA. We did some visual boards, we sent them to Bray to show the children what they would see on their route over to Blessington and what our club looks like.

“Some children with autism might need visual aids when they are going somewhere, we incorporated this into our day. Again everything was child led with different areas.

“Some of our senior mens and ladies presented certs at the end of the day to acknowledge the children. We have since been over to Bray, they invited us back over.”

Ultimately it has been a richly rewarding spell for everybody associated with the Blessington GAA All-Stars. Richardson highlights the importance and relevance of the various people, who bring different skills. “If somebody is setting it up my tip would be to take different branches from your club,” she says.

“We got our coaches, members of our different teams to come on board with us, and we also got an SNA from a special needs school to come in to help us.

“Also we suggested that they'd bring a member of their family or a buddy. So when they are doing the activities, when somebody does it with them, if it is visual they will respond better.”

Players weren’t forgotten during demanding days when Covid restrictions were in place. “During Covid we hooked in with all of our All-Stars, anybody that was in our 5km area we left little packages on the door with activities they could do,2 she says.

“We have grown greatly. We have 26 to 28 kids roughly, they all wouldn't come every Sunday. One mam said to me a long time ago when we were starting up that her other children were part of our club, but this little fella hadn't got anything. Now this is his team within our club.”