The Gaelic Players Association and the Women’s Gaelic Players Association have announced the first graduate business scholarship programme for both male and female county GAA players at Waterford Institute of Technology.
The School of Business at WIT are providing four scholarships on the Institute’s flagship Master of Business Administration (MBA) or on one of the streams on the Master of Business Studies (MBS), two for GPA members and two for members of the recently formed WGPA.
The Executive MBA is aimed at helping graduates to develop skills and learn concepts that will accelerate their careers and serve them throughout their professional lives.
“High level sports achievement and business are intrinsically linked,” said Dr Tom O’Toole, Head of the WIT School of Business.
“The dedication to excellence of the women and men Gaelic players is legendary and we are delighted to announce this initiative to support our national amateur sports people on this unique occasion.”
“Since the WGPA launch in January, we have been working to build opportunities for our members to support their development off the field,” added Aoife Lane, Chairwoman of the WGPA and a lecturer in the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science at WIT.
“We are firmly behind the player in their efforts to achieve in life and in sport. Third level county players are a particularly important group who are under pressure to progress with their academic studies while managing sporting commitments.”
“We recently awarded 12 scholarships to members studying at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and this opportunity through the School of Business in WIT is a welcome addition to our education programme.”
“Third level college GAA clubs are traditionally ‘one club’ environments with equal opportunities and treatment for males and female players. It is great to see that this ethos is being extended to the roll out of a Masters Programme for county players in WIT that will hopefully be replicated across other third level institutions.”
“The GPA aims to expand the Masters Programme nationally and we are grateful to WIT for taking the next step in that process by establishing this exciting new programme in Waterford,” added GPA Chief Executive Dessie Farrell.
The scholarship service at Waterford Institute of Technology is delivered by Ursula Jacob, current Wexford Camogie player, and its and a mentoring service is led by Noel Connors, current Waterford hurler.
