The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition saw another surge in interest among sports science projects in 2014 and one of them came close to grabbing the main prize.
Three Transition Year students from St Gerald’s College in Mayo. Conor Gillardy, Evan Heneghan and Calum Kyne, came runners up in the overall group competition with a gumshield that can relay messages from a manager to a player during a game. The project created a computerised model which incorporates a small electrical device located towards the back teeth which, when pressed down upon open up a channel which conducts sound through to the ear.
The stand was abuzz with people interested in the idea and while there may be questions over the legality of carrying a device at present, technology can often be a driver of change and with gum shields now mandatory in Gaelic football and rugby, and proven to be of benefit in terms of reducing concussion, this may be an idea which wil have some commercial potential.
The GAA itself was present for the first time at the Exhibition this year with a stand alongside RTE, Intel and others of interest to the massive audience that visited over the four days of the event.
There was also a special GAA Award which went to Daragh Jordan, Conor Finnerty and Sean Mitchell of Coláiste Baile Chlár in Galway. The three lads are keen handball players and they devised a small laser devise which can be used to assist referees in making close calls on whether the ball has hit the wall or the floor of a court first.
“We came up with the idea after being challenged to come up with a science project that mattered to us in an area of our lives that we really enjoyed,” said Jordan.
“All three of us play handball, two of us with Ballyclare and Sean with Annaghdown and this struck us as a way of helping Handball to build on the success of last year’s World Championships.”
“Our prototype device reduced controversial calls in a game on the most popular 40×20 court from a high of 42% to 10% and we believe with the right casing and the right equipment that this can go lower again.”
“There are 130 Handball courts in Ireland and GAA Handball has been very supportive this week and when we first approached them about the idea.”
Coláiste Iosagháin in Stillorgan, Dublin tapped into a vein that is current at the moment looking at the reasons why young people drop out of sport for their project which won a commendation.
“Choice of different sports in school is important in keeping children involved but is not readily available,” said Hannah Nash, a transition year student in the Gaelcoláiste. “Sports like Badminton are popular among students but difficult to access in school where there is a greater pull towards the major sports like GAA, and Hockey.”
“We discovered there was a major falling away in Junior Cert year despite evidence that being physically active helps with study.”
“A higher proportion of those who stay involved have parents who are involved themselves in sport suggesting a strong home influence.”
“The biggest factor putting people off was a win at all costs mentality and an over emphasis on ‘A’ teams. People want to play but may not be able or willing at this stage to put in the big effort that is required to compete at an high level and are finding that there is less willingness to accommodate sport as play.”
Among the other gems within the exhibition were a study of the optimum angle from which to take a free kick in soccer. According to Coláiste Mhuire co-ed in Tipperary you should stand at a 70 degree angle to the ball and aim for the bottom left hand corner.
There was another from Cistercian College in the same county that seems to prove morning training sessions are more beneficial than later ones. They conducted beep tests on a group of students with half then undergoing a three week fitness programme in the morning and half in the evening. The early group showed a 16.9% improvement over the period as opposed to only 10% from the later sessions.
The Business of Sports Science Conference, hosted by Sport for Business was part of the Exhibition programme for the first time this year and will be so again in 2015. You can see some of what emerged from that by clicking here.
Learn more about The Business of Youth Sport Conference on June 12th 2014.
