Keep active and help your club win with the Irish Life Healthy Club Steps Challenge

4 x €2,500 O’Neill club vouchers up for grabs during June challenge

Throughout the Covid-19 emergency, GAA clubs across the 32 counties have been helping their members and communities stay healthy and connected within the restrictions of public health advice.

To help reward this contribution and to celebrate the importance of staying active, the GAA’s Community & Health Department has teamed up with Irish Life, CSR partners to the Healthy Club Project, to launch a special ‘Steps Challenge’ set to run during the month of June.

Four lucky clubs will win a €2,500 voucher with O’Neill’s. All clubs must to do is:

  • Register your club’s participation by June 1st on Irish Life’s MyLife App
  • Get a minimum of 15 participants to register on the club page on the MyLife App
  • Get walking! (See below for detailed registration instructions.)

The club in each province that records the highest average number of steps during the challenge period will win. Participants must be aged 18 and over. The Steps Challenge, which officially begins June 3rd, is open to all GAA clubs. (See below for step by step guide of how to register your club.)

GAA President John Horan thanked Irish Life for their on-going support: “Irish Life, along with Healthy Ireland, the HSE, and the National Office for Suicide Prevention, has worked with the GAA as our valued CSR partner for the Healthy Club Project since 2014, helping us to engage 300 clubs to date in this health-focused project.

“This Steps Challenge celebrates and rewards the fact that GAA clubs are supporting the wellbeing of their members and their communities even when our official training and games have been forced to stop.”

Commenting on this initiative, Declan Bolger, Chief Executive, Irish Life Group said: “MyLife is Irish Life’s innovative Health & Wellbeing App that can be downloaded and used by everyone. It is a great tool to help us all stay healthy and fit along with offering rewards to Irish Life customers.  As the CSR partner to the GAA Healthy Club Project we are delighted to collaborate on the Steps Challenge, and help people in our communities and GAA clubs stay active and well during this challenging and unusual time.”

The Challenge starts on June 3rdt and ends June 30th, 2020.

What do I need to do to take part?

Register your club’s participation by June 1st on the following link:

https://mylife.irishlife.ie/Gaa-Healthy-Clubs-2020

How do club members join the challenge?

  1. Download the MyLife app from the App store or Google Play store
  2. Register your details
  3. Tap on the social tab on the MyLife app
  4. Select challenges
  5. Select the challenge for your province

Tap on join & select your club!

 

 

 

 

GAA and TILDA host ‘How to Age Well’ webinar featuring Mícheal Ó Muircheartaigh

The live, supported by Irish Life, event will feature evidence and anecdotes revealing the secrets of a long and happy life

Those in the GAA missing the unmistakable tones and tales of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh are in for a treat next Tuesday 19th of May 6.30-7.30pm when the broadcasting legend contributes to a special webinar on wellbeing on the topic of ‘How to Age Well’.

The event is part of a series of wellbeing-focused webinars delivered by the GAA’s Community & Health department during the Covid-19 emergency. The latest instalment features a partnership with Trinity College’s and will include a presentation and contributions by Prof Rose Anne Kenny, lead researcher on the TILDA project (the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing). Both the GAA’s Healthy Club Project and TILDA benefit from CSR support from Irish Life.

Prior to Covid-19, TILDA and the Community & Health department, supported by the GAA’s respective County Health & Wellbeing Committees, delivered live seminars on ‘How to Age Well’ to thousands of attendees in counties Longford, Mayo, Donegal, Cork, Limerick, Kerry, and Wexford.

The Covid-19 emergency has caused those planned for Louth, Galway, and Kildare to be postponed, but thanks to the wonders of technology, this live webinar broadcast on the Microsoft Teams platform will bring this valuable research and discussion into hundreds of homes across the 32 counties.

Mícheál will touch on his personal philosophy and approach to health – one that has seen him remain hale and hearty into his 90th year. Prof Kenny will present some of the key findings of TILDA’s 10-year Irish research while also highlighting evidence-based lifestyle practices from the world’s ‘Blue Zones’, regions with the globe’s oldest populations and some of highest levels of life satisfaction.

GAA President John Horan said: “The GAA is proud to represent every age demographic in Ireland. This webinar is not just for GAA members, it is are for anyone in the community that is interested in ageing well. Irish Life is a long-standing CSR partner of the GAA Healthy Club Project, and we’re delighted to broaden that relationship through this collaboration with TILDA.”

Prof. Rose Anne Kenny said: “TILDA is one of the most important research studies in Ireland which helps to better understand why bodies and brains age and how we can best ensure long and prosperous lives, for today’s adults and for future generations. This unique partnership with the GAA ensures that new research from TILDA and other international studies is quickly communicated to all age groups. As a research institution we are very excited about taking this new knowledge out to the Irish people.”

David Harney, CEO Irish Life, said: “Our commitment at Irish Life is to make every community in Ireland healthier, and that commitment extends across all life-stages. With life expectancy in Ireland at 81 years, we want to ensure that people fully enjoy the years approaching and beyond retirement.

“We have been a long-term supporter of TILDA and their vision of making Ireland the best place in the world to grow old. I believe that the GAA’s support of the ‘How to Age Well’ seminar series will bring valuable healthcare information to the wider community and help people of all ages, but particularly those over 50, to embrace change in their physical, emotional, and social lives.”

Ageing starts the day we are born therefore the content of the webinar is relevant to everyone who wishes to age well regardless of their chronological age. However, the partners involved would particularly like as many older adults as possible to enjoy this event and are encouraging young GAA members to assist older relatives to access this session while maintaining social distancing recommendations.

You can access the webinar by clinking on the join webinar link below:

JOIN MICROSOFT TEAMS WEBINAR

For more information contact:
Colin Regan, GAA Community & Health manager on colin.regan@gaa.ie

Prof Rose Anne Kenny, Principal Investigator, The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin on rkenny@tcd.ie

For those who cannot attend on Tuesday you can access the recording after on GAA YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/officialgaa and GAA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/officialgaa

Coivd-19 Supports and Resources

We hope that you all had a lovely Easter. Please find a number of additional supports and resources below that may be of interest to yourselves and your networks;

Getting through COVID-19 Together

The Department of Health, The HSE and Healthy Ireland have launched a new site offering advice and tips on how you can look after your mental wellbeing and cope with your new daily routine: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/together/. Here you will find supports and information across a number of areas of wellbeing.
They have also provided a link to some online counselling and support services for anyone struggling with their mental health, older adults or anyone requiring additional support during this time; https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/mental-health-services/connecting-for-life/news/supports-and-services-during-covid-19.html

ExWell@Home programme

The ExWewll@Home programme offers a derailed and supportive home exercise programme for people with any long term medical problems. The programme operates on medical referral and has medical oversight. All details can be found at www.exwell.ie There will also be a short video tuition session on the RTE website every Monday Wednesday and Friday on the Lifestyle page; https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/living/2020/0406/1128814-watch-aerobic-workout-using-a-chair

GAA

Ulster GAA have launched a Covid-19 site which will provide updated guidance and support to their members https://ulster.gaa.ie/covid-19/
The GAA have added a number of different activities to their website that can help keep children entertained at home. They are available here; https://www.gaa.ie/my-gaa/getting-involved/kids-activities

Recrational GAA is back!!!

Recreational GAA is restarting on the Astro in Pairc ui Chaoimh on Thursday 19th September from 8-9pm.

What is Recreational GAA: Recreational GAA is a modified Hurling and Football game designed to offer players who may not longer be playing competitively or retired from playing with their clubs, a chance to continue playing GAA in a social setting with like minded players. It is essentially a GAA version of “5 a side soccer” or “Tag Rugby”.

Who is it for?: It is for any males who are over the age of 30 (we are lenient with this) who wish to continue playing Hurling/Football but may not have the physical capacity to play competitively with their club or may no longer have a club to play with. Last year, we had a wide demographic of participants ranging from 31 to 54 years of age, ranging from very fit to very unfit, ranging from former senior hurlers to players who hadn’t played since primary school.

Where did it come from?: GAA is the highest participated sport competitively in Ireland with more members of clubs that any other sport. However, Soccer and Rugby offer an excellent avenue for recreational games such as 5 a-side soccer on Astros and Tag Rugby. If a GAA player stops playing for their club (due to age, other commitments, etc) there is no avenue for players to stay active within the GAA as a participant (other than Coaching/Administration). This idea has been bandied about for years and some clubs in Dublin have had a Social games ongoing for years which probably came from LGFA excellent Gaelic for Mothers & Others program. Last year, we experimented in Cork and had a huge take up with between 60-80 turning up for the pilot program. Local clubs in Cork such as Carrigaline have a Social GAA program running nearly year round and Blarney have held one off blitzes around Christmas. From the number of participants in Cork, we are rolling out the program again for the 2019 Winter.

What are the Rules?: It is basically normal GAA rules except modifications such as only “one hop, one solo” in football. We use Size 4 footballs and tennis balls for Hurling (due to the small pitch, these don’t travel as far). We use small sized pitch usually 65m long. Games usually last about 15 minutes long with each team playing 3 matches each night, so plenty of time for breaks to catch your breath. Lastly, it is a non contact game (there will be incidental contact which is allowed but no aggressive tackling is permitted) as everyone has a job to get up to in the morning and those who enjoy the cut and thrust of full contact can still be catered for a local club level.

Why should someone take part? For Fun, enjoyment and to be healthy. For all the participants who took part in 2018/19, feedback was that it was very enjoyable. Players got to play a game that they loved and in a fun setting. In the pilot program, we also held Health talks and gave the participants some healthy tips on topics such as Strength & Conditioning for the older man, Healthy Eating and Mindfulness.

How do i take part?: Simply Register your interest on the form here and you will be on the correspondence list for the coming months and you will be updated on all upcoming events https://forms.gle/HvyGYBRWdxUXaGV1A

Any queries please contact Colm Crowley 086 3687799