“Purposeful Learning Asking You”, the next Fingallians Coach Development Webinar, will be presented by Owen Mooney, at 8:00pm Wednesday 10th March.

In this session, Owen will describe how players of all ages learn, and as coaches how to make the best use of that knowledge when coaching. He will describe techniques and tips that he has discovered from his experiences as a Coach Developer and his own wide experience as a coach. This will be a very interactive session, so we're asked to bring a pen and paper, and to be ready to learn and take part. The webinar is suitable for all of our club coaches, regardless of age or code coached.

Owen is currently the Learning and Games Development Coordinator for Dublin GAA and he is a Doctor of Professional Practice candidate at Leeds Beckett University in the Carnegie School of Sport where his research is titled “Play in Sport – Understanding the Role of Play for Children and Coaches”.

In his previous roles he was National Coach & Sport Development Coordinator for Special Olympics Ireland, Games Development Officer at the Rockland Gaelic Athletic Association club in New York. Before his move to New York, Owen was a Department of Education Physical Literacy Curriculum Coach and Development Officer with the Ulster GAA, working with children from 4-8 years and he was seconded to the position of Ulster Ladies Gaelic as Provincial Development Officer.

He has a real passion for learning and has a very keen interest in Child Development and Coach Education and he has started the ICOACHKIDS Podcast, which is now in partnership with Nike. He is a vastly experienced coach and development officer having worked with teams of all ages across a range of sports. He has helped over 60 clubs implement thei Strategic Plans within the areas of Coaching & Games, Governance, Best Practice, Community Engagement, Marketing, Fundraising and Communications.

As a Coach Developer, Owen has presented at the GAA National Games Development Conference in 2011 and 2019, Guest Speaker in Sport & Society at Mercy College New York in April 2019, Guest Speaker in IT Carlow on Diversity & Inclusion, 2nd and 3rd ICCE ICOACHKIDS International Conferences at Leeds Beckett 2018 and Limerick 2019 respectively, 2017 Rockland Physical Education Teacher Conference in New York, Ulster GAA Coaching & Games Development Conference in 2012 and the UK National Coaching Conference at Ulster University in 2011, as well as a large number of Club Development and County Development workshops and webinars.

Owen has been a GAA Coach Developer for over 12 years and has facilitated on a vast amount of Coach Education courses and Coach Development workshops and webinars all over Ireland, as well as in England for Hertfordshire & Britain GAA respectively and in the United States.