The GAA’s Medical, Scientific & Welfare Committee, in association with the LGFA, Camogie Association, Gaelic Athletic Medical Association, Gaelic Games Sports Science Working Group, the GPA and the GAA/GPA’s official healthcare partner, UPMC, hosted a successful sports medicine and sports science conference on Saturday, September 2.

More than 100 inter-county medical and sports science practitioners travelled to the TUS Athlone campus to hear nine keynote speakers (and six additional speakers as part of a roundtable discussion) from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialty fields.

It is envisioned that the event will be the catalyst for greater collaboration amongst practitioners from different codes and areas of expertise and will lead to further community of practice and CPD opportunities for personnel in the future.

The thematic focus for the event was musculotendinous lower limb injuries in Gaelic Games and saw talks given on current key projects and initiatives ongoing in this sphere currently, such as the Gaelic Games Injury Management System on Foireann piloted this year among some male inter-county squads, as well as a broad range of other topics -

· Hamstring Injury Assessment & Diagnosis (Dr Ronan Kearney)

· Epidemiology of Injury (Dr Enda Whyte)

· Diagnosis & Assessment of Calf Injuries (Dr Joe Jordan)

· Female Physiology (Professor Kirsty Elliott-Sale)

· Dealing with Long-Term Injury (Jessie Barr)

· Return to Play Post-Calf Injury (David Breen)

· The Journey to Gamespeed (Professor Ian Jeffreys)

· Hamstring Rehab & Return to Play (Dr Jack Hickey)

· Roundtable Discussion – Dealing with High Grade Musculotendinous Injury (Dr Aoife Lane, Colm Fuller, Cliodhna O’Connor, Rena Buckley, Ger Ryan, Dr Jamie Kearns)

For further information around future events and getting involved in key projects, or general queries, please reach out to GAA Player Welfare Manager, Eoghan Tuohey – eoghan.tuohey@gaa.ie