Mullingar Shamrocks launch Na SeamrÓigí initiative ...
Conscious of its status as a member of the GAA's Healthy Club programme and it's responsibility to the community of Mullingar, the Mullingar Shamrocks GAA club announce the start of its Na SeamrÓigí concept on Saturday 9 March in Springfield at 10.30. Na SeamrÓigí is aimed specifically at boys and girls under-6 years-of-age who are attending pre-school, and junior and senior pupils in mainstream schools. Registration takes place on Saturday next, 2 March between 10.30 and 1.00pm. The SeamrÓigí was developed by Róisin Masterson who also persuaded SpecSavers to provide valuable equipment for the initiative. The Na SeamrÓigí was unveiled last September as the season concluded and it has now been fine tuned and is ready to be delivered on Saturday week. Some football is played but there is also lots of non-football related activity designed to encourage good habits and basic coordination skills in a fun-filled manner carried out on the AstroTurf surface in Springfield so parents will have no issues with muddy clothes and the like. All this is managed by fully compliant coaching personnel. The emphasis is on inclusiveness; the Na SeamrÓigí concept is designed to cater for all and represents a rejection of academy type notions with their connotations of elitism.
Mullingar Shamrocks were influenced by two recent DCU studies in developing the programme. In the first study DCU researchers discovered that 9 out of every 10 teenagers had not mastered fundamental movement skills such as running, skipping or kicking a ball, basic skills that would have previously been mastered by the age of six. These alarming results were described as 'an unprecedented low' and threatened 'a potential catastrophe for public health because the inability to perform fundamental Movement Skills leads to an aversion to sports and exercise later in life'. This is crucial and this is what makes the Na SeamrÓigí concept so important as it aims to introduce children to exercise and associate this exercise with fun and games. 'It doesn't really matter if the children never play football' Mullingar Shamrocks under-age committee chairman Barry Kelly stated, 'if they get into the habit of enjoying sport in a friendly non-competitive setting, we will have done them a great favour for later life'. T
he consequences of this aversion to sport and exercise was made very apparent recently when the results of another DCU study were released by Professor Niall Moyna. This found that the fitness levels of secondary school students were declining significantly from the age of 15 onwards, especially among girls. This revealed that the cardiovascular health of some 15-year-olds was comparable to that of 55 to 60-year olds. This is a frightening thought as the country also faces an obesity crisis of unprecedented proportions. So it is critical that young people engage with healthy exercise and do so as early as possible. 'Mullingar Shamrocks is a family friendly club' Mullingar Shamrocks under-age committee secretary Pat Collins stated, 'I invite parents to accompany their children to Springfield on Saturday morning, encourage them to give the fun and game a try, there will also be some football of course and hopefully the foundation for a lifelong engagement with sport and exercise will be laid down'. Registration takes place on Saturday next but parents and children who are unable to be present are welcome on any Saturday morning between 10.30 and 11.45pm. Registration for boys and girls from ages Under-8 to Under-18 also takes place on Saturday next at the above times.
