Laois GAA have announced a range of coaching education programmes and a relaunch of their supporters club – Laois Gaels.
The first coaching workshop of 2026 will take place on Saturday, January 24 at 11am.
This will be delivered by Stephen Rochford and Evan Talty and is about session design and implementation – aimed at U-13 to senior football coaches.
Stephen Rochford is the former Mayo senior football manager, who also held coaching roles with Donegal and won the club All-Ireland final in 2015 with Corofin, Galway.
Evan Talty is currently an All-Ireland finalist coach with St Brigids, Roscommon and Limerick Senior Footballers coach.
He is also the founder of @igaeliccoach on X/Twitter. Talty also has a background in performance analysis.
Individual tickets are €25 while club tickets, entitling an unlimited number of coaches from a club to attend, are available for €100.
Laois GAA have also confirmed two pieces of coach education which they will run in the coming weeks.
From Tuesday, January 27, they will be holding an Award 1 coaching course in both hurling and football for five consecutive Tuesday evenings from 7pm.
The cost is €80 per coach and the course will be run from the Centre of Excellence.
In February, Laois GAA will run an ICGG (Old Foundation Award).
This will take place on Friday, February 13 and Saturday, February 14. It is an introduction to coaching gaelic games course for both hurling and football coaches.
The safeguarding element of the course will be on the Friday from 7pm while the ICGG for coaches from both codes will start at 9:30am on the Saturday. The cost for this course is €25 per coach.
Those interested in any of the above courses can register with their information using the link here where more information will be sent out in due course.
Laois Gaels 2026
Laois Gaels, the Laois GAA Supporter’s Club, remains under the umbrella of the Coaching and Games department.
With money from Laois Gaels going to fund Laois GAA’s Talent Academies, Coaching and Games Manager Shane Keegan is asking people to sign up.
He said: “Again in 2026, Myself (Head of Coaching and Games), Dean Malone (Participation GDC) and Pam Cooney (Office Administrator) will continue to be responsible for all things ‘Laois Gaels’ and we have been busy pulling together the brand-new membership packs, which we hope you will be excited by.
“We will continue to be ably assisted by the brilliant Paul Dargan on all things IT related, including graphics and promotion.
“All money raised through Laois Gaels will continue to go directly back into our underage Academy Squads and will be a massive help to us in the Coaching & Games department as we aim to implement best practice in the following areas:
“Training standards; Athletic development; Sports science; Performance analysis; Nutrition; Psychology; Team building; Coach education; Parental support & education; Exam support for players and; Educational workshops (Alcohol, drugs, gambling).”
Those who sign up will get a hat, keyring, ruler and car sticker with Laois Gaels branding.
Keegan said: “As an incentive to drive memberships within clubs, the clubs which show the greatest take up in Laois Gaels 2026 membership will be invited in to take part in our Laois Gaels Match Day Experience.
“Our Laois Gaels Match Day Experience, which was a massive success in 2024 and 2025, involves us inviting a kid’s team from your club, and their mentors, in as our special guests on a match day.
“They will be brought into the Centre of Excellence canteen before the game for drinks, some treats and lots of fun.
“They will then get to meet some of the players and get their autographs, before forming a guard of honour and cheering the team out onto the pitch before the game.”
Anyone wishing to sign up can do so by clicking here.
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