The Irish FA’s second annual Grassroots Football Conference took place at the weekend, bringing together coaches, volunteers and club representatives from across Northern Ireland to share ideas and explore how football can help develop players, people and communities.
This year’s conference centred on the theme ‘Building Club Values: Developing Players, People and Communities’, with a programme focused on leadership, values, performance and creating positive environments within grassroots football.
Irish FA Grassroots Development Manager Jordan Reid welcomed attendees to the event.
“We were delighted to welcome three outstanding voices from across sport, leadership and performance. Together, they reinforced the message of Building Club Values: Developing Players, People and Communities. And, for the second year running, Northern Ireland’s grassroots community came together to share ideas and learn from each other.”
There was also a special welcome from Irish FA Technical Director Aaron Hughes, who leads the Association’s work around high-performance culture and player development.
Among the guest speakers was Eliza Downey, a former Irish international rugby player and All-Ireland winning Gaelic footballer, who brings more than 18 years’ experience in leadership, coaching and performance development. Her work focuses on building confidence, capability and high-performing environments.
Downey, from Jo Hopkins Consulting, explored the importance of values and behaviours and how clubs can embed them throughout their organisations.
“We had such a great audience across the coaching and volunteering community who took the time and made the effort to come in. We discussed values, behaviours and how to instil them within our clubs and committees, from grassroots right up.
“Being yourself is a key element to all of this. We don’t want people to be a version of themselves, but to know themselves, understand what drives them and ultimately what gets them out of bed in the morning.
“We talked about how these values can add depth and success to your club. It’s about knowing yourself well, showing up and understanding how to apply this in the environment you’re working in.”
The conference also featured Steve Sallis, a leadership, education and performance specialist who works with England youth internationals and professional players, while also delivering leadership seminars to UEFA Pro and A Licence coaches.
His work focuses on developing people and creating environments where individuals can reach their full potential. One of the themes explored during his session was the relationship between confidence and competence.
“Some of these coaches have great tools already. My role today is to simply sharpen them or remind them of new ones.”
The value of bringing clubs together was also highlighted by those attending the conference.
Jonathan McLelland, Club Chairman at Berlin Swifts, said:
“Today was a great learning day. Different clubs can share with one another. Eliza was really impressive, coming from that sporting background herself – her competitiveness and loyalty shine through.
“I enjoyed the talk from UEFA as well. All in all, it was a great success and the key takeaway is to share and learn from each other.”
Stephen Rea from Civil Service FC also welcomed the opportunity for clubs to connect away from the normal matchday environment.
“Today has been fantastic. To get an opportunity to speak to each and every one of the clubs across the province was brilliant. On matchdays, we don’t usually get that opportunity.
“There are a lot of people who we have built bridges and relationships with over the years and it’s great to see so many clubs here taking the time to learn bits and pieces from one another. This helps everyone develop in the long run.
“Opportunities like this are rare, so it’s great to see everyone coming together.
