Lenovo, the worlds largest manufacturer of personal computers is the new sponsor of the GAA Skills Hub, a series of 26 summer camps run by inter county players in gaelic football, hurling, ladies football and camogie.
The camps will offer the chance for boys and girls aged between 13 to 15 years of age to learn the skills of Gaelic football, hurling and camogie from their heroes and heroines, in high quality venues across the country from June to August this summer.
The Lenovo GAA Skills Hubs will give children an insight into the life of an inter-county player that will include conditioned games, skills development, mental preparation, sports nutrition and athletic development. Top GAA players including Bernard Brogan (Dublin football), Conor Lehane (Cork hurling), Deirdre Murphy (Clare camogie and Cliodhna O’Connor (Dublin ladies football) will be coaching at the Skills Hub.
Affinity
Lenovo, which ten years ago purchased the PC division of IBM and more recently moved into mobile through the purchase of Motorola from Google, have agreed a three year partnership with the GAA and the Gaelic Players Association that will include title sponsorship of the Skills Hubs in addition to a nationwide affinity scheme for all GAA members.
“We are privileged to align ourselves with such a unique and community based organisation as the GAA/GPA on these exciting and innovative Skills Hubs for the summer of 2014 and beyond,” said Lenovo Country Manager Fiona O’Brien speaking at the launch of the initiative in Croke Park.
“Today’s announcement coincides with a period of tremendous growth for Lenovo in the European market and marks the start of an exciting wider campaign in the GAA that will include the roll out of an affinity scheme for all GAA members across our product range.”
Join us tomorrow for a more detailed exclusive interview with Fiona O’Brien on why Lenovo chose to get involved with this level of Irish sport.
“I have said on many occasions that we should work towards uniting the GAA with our sister associations the Camogie Association and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association into one even stronger Gaelic Athletic Association which also includes GAA Handball and GAA Rounders,” added GAA President Liam O’Neill.
Initiatives
“I believe the Lenovo GAA Skills Hubs mark another significant step in bringing our organisations closer together and I would like express my thanks to all in developing the concept. I would also like to thank welcome Lenovo into the GAA family and look forward to working with them on this and other initiatives in the coming years.”
The camps will include aspects of personal development away from the actual playing skills and touch upon personal fitness, nutrition and mental fitness which is an important theme running through a range of GAA initiatives at present.
“We must continue to innovative and create new opportunities for both boys and girls of this particular age to play sport,” said GPA Chief Executive Dessie Farrell.
“It is also wonderful to see a global brand such as Lenovo seeking to collaborate with the GAA and it again reinforces the appeal and marketability of both our games and our players.”
Life Skills
“The emphasis on life skills that will stand to these teenagers in the future is an important element of the new camps,” according to Pat Quill, President of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association
“It is an excellent opportunity for players, who are approaching the age where the highest levels of drop outs from sport occurs, to mix with camp leaders, who are also top Ladies Football, Camogie and GAA stars, and who will act as role models and a source of inspiration for these young girls and boys to stay involved in sport for years to come.”
Aileen Lawlor, President of the Camogie Association added “I believe the Lenovo Skills Hubs highlight what can be achieved between Camogie, Ladies Football and the GAA when we work together. They represent a fantastic opportunity for girls to learn the skills of the game from their heroes and the strong sponsorship of Lenovo can provide a wonderful platform to raise the profile our games nationwide.”
Sport for Business will have a more detailed look at the ways in which sponsorship and sport for children and young people can be developed at The Business of Youth Sport. Our summer conference takes place at the Dublin Institute of Technology on June 12th. The full programme for this event will be released next week and will cover all aspects of youth sport from primary to third level education, and featuring case studies from the spectrum of Irish sport. Click here to find out more and book your place.
