David Kenneally, Dan Burke(Avenir Sports),Gerard Murphy & Tommy Conneely (Avenir Sports)
For the past three years Coláiste Íde agus Iósef, Abbeyfeale, has provided the opportunity for Transition Year students to work with the latest Digital Analysis Equipment, in association with Avenir Sports. This has given them the opportunity to attend, record and analyse games for the school, and following assessment, gain a certificate which would be a first step on the road to a career in this line of work.
As a result of their enthusiasm and hard work, these students eventually began recording and analysing games for many local clubs in all codes, as well as providing the same service to Limerick senior and U21 footballers and Limerick senior camogie. This was a fantastic experience for the students involved and one which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Following on from the success of the last two years, it was decided to provide this programme again this year, but at a higher level. Led by David Kenneally, (Games Co-ordinator), Con Healy (TY Co-ordinator) and Gerard Murphy (Parent/Coach), in association with Avenir Sports and HUDL, a performance solutions centre is to be opened in the school, which will provide services to clubs in the West Limerick, North Cork and North Kerry areas. This is indeed a notable event for the school as it becomes a leading school in this area of expertise, not only in Ireland but worldwide.
Explaining the new set up, David Kenneally said “Essentially, we will be able to provide any team with the very latest in Digital Analysis software, and up to four performance analysts at any given game. We will be using an Endzone Camera to give a bird’s eye view of the game which will feed the game live to a laptop. We will have two other analysts using iPads on the day to do live stats, record from sideline, analyse opposition etc. at the discretion of team management. The essential difference this year is that all stats etc will be available during the game, at half-time and at the end of the game as required, allowing management to make informed decisions regarding tactics, switches etc. This is currently being used by a lot of inter-county teams and it is the schools intention to remain at the forefront of these advances. Upon completion of this course, our successful candidates will be awarded an internationally recognised Sportscode and HUDL software accreditation.”
Last Thursday the students embarked on Day 2 of the course focusing on Videography and macOS basics, given by Dan Burke of Avenir Sports. The group were enthralled as Dan went through different camera types etc and were delighted when Dan informed us that Leicester City FC have just purchased 3 endzone cameras the same as ours. It was a really enjoyable course as the students absorbed as much information as possible prior to the application and interview process of the course.
Speaking about new developments, David Kenneally said: “This is a great day for our school as we aim to match our sporting prowess to our already impressive record of academic achievement in state exams. I would like to thank management and coaches in the school as well as TY co-ordinator Con Healy, Gerard Murphy and Tommy Conneely and Dan Burke from Avenir Sports for making this project possible. I would also like to wish the students involved the best of luck with the course.”