The Ladies Gaelic Football Association has begun the fifth edition of its BUA Leadership and Life-skills Programme, with 44 young women selected for 2026/27.
Participants come from 17 counties across all four provinces, plus three representatives from Britain, giving the programme a strong geographical spread across the Association.
BUA — Believe, Unlock Potential, Achieve — is a self-development initiative for young women aged 16 to 19, focused on building leadership skills they can bring back to clubs, schools and local communities.
The programme combines expert-led workshops, personal reflection and practical experience, culminating in participants delivering an action project within their own club environment.
Themes covered include resilience, dealing with change, building trust and respect, conflict resolution, problem solving, project planning and delegation.
The programme will also have a strong Ladies Gaelic Football element, introducing participants to opportunities in coaching, officiating and administration.
That wider focus is particularly significant in creating a pathway for young women to see their future involvement in the sport as extending beyond playing.
“Being selected is a real achievement, and you should be proud of it,” said LGFA President Trina Murray in welcoming the latest group.
“It reflects the leadership you’ve already shown and your willingness to keep learning and growing.
“Over the coming months, you’ll build the skills, confidence and knowledge to lead, whether that’s in your club, your county, your school or your community.”
Murray also encouraged participants to make the most of the network they will build through the programme.
“Our Association is changing and growing all the time, and we need strong, confident leaders to shape what comes next,” she said.
“I have no doubt that we have many of those leaders in our latest BUA programme.”
Building the Next Generation
The 44 participants come from clubs in Armagh, Cavan, Cork, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Limerick, London, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon and Tyrone.
Clubs with multiple participants include Kilmacud Crokes in Dublin, Donaghmoyne in Monaghan, Strabane Sigersons in Tyrone, Naomh Mhuire and Maigh Cuilinn in Galway, Westport in Mayo, and St Joseph’s in London.
Sport for Business Perspective
Programmes such as BUA matter because the future strength of women’s sport will depend not only on retaining players but also on developing the next generation of coaches, administrators, officials, and decision-makers.
The LGFA has grown significantly in participation, visibility, and commercial strength, but sustaining that progress requires a corresponding increase in leadership capacity within clubs and counties.
Introducing young women to governance, coaching, and officiating while they are still actively involved in the game shows them there are multiple ways to stay part of the sport.
The club action project is also a strong element of the programme. Leadership is difficult to develop purely through workshops; giving participants responsibility for delivering something tangible within their own club turns theory into experience.
The longer-term measure of success will be how many of the 44 participants remain involved in leadership roles over the coming decade.
If BUA can help create that pipeline, its impact will extend well beyond any one year’s participants.
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Image Credit: LGFA
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