The second workshop of the 2024-2025 Women’s Student Coaching Academy took place on Thursday, February 13th, at the GAA National Games Development Centre on the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin.

Now in its fourth year, the academy continues to support over 30 female student coaches, helping them develop their skills and unlock their full coaching potential. Throughout the interactive workshop, the students had the opportunity to hear from a range of inspiring speakers, who shared their expertise to guide the students along their coaching journeys.

The first speaker of the day was Maxine Strain, a coach developer with Squash Ireland. She discussed the importance of boosting self-efficacy and the effectiveness of goal-setting for coaches within their sports.

Following Maxine, Eleanor Condon, Women in Sport Lead and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Lead at Triathlon Ireland, spoke about the significance of inclusive coaching. Her session focused on areas where coaches can make improvements to enhance inclusivity in their sports.

The final speaker of the day Erin Bracken, the newly appointed Regional Development Officer for Special Olympics Ireland and former Development Officer with Basketball Ireland. Erin spoke about adopting a “thinking outside the box” approach to coaching, while also addressing the challenges faced by women in the male-dominated coaching field.

The day was closed off by a panel discussion between the guest speakers and the students, this allowed the student coaches to ask an array of questions in order to gain insight on how they can better improve their own coaching and further their skills.

Student Sport Ireland would like to express their gratitude to Sport Ireland for their ongoing support of the programme, as well as to the college sport staff, coach mentors, and NGB partners who provide invaluable support to the student coaches each year.