| Case study overview | |
|---|---|
| Club: | St Fechin’s GAA Club |
| County: | Louth |
| Location: | Termonfeckin |
| Rural/Urban: | Rural |
| Codes: | Football & Ladies Football |
| Membership (2016): | 250 |
Plan
Supporting Documents: ASAP Policy
St Fechin’s GAA Club hosted an information awareness evening on alcohol and drugs for both their under 16’s players and parents. The first step the club took was to adopt their ASAP policy at a Club Executive meeting with the support of their Healthy Club Officer. They used the generic ASAP policy (found on www.gaa.ie/community) as a template and developed it to support the needs of their own club and community.
As part of the information night the club launched their ASAP policy and promoted it out through their own communication platforms. This created great awareness amongst the club members and created a positive culture regarding alcohol and drugs in the club. The club also linked in with their County Health & Wellbeing Chair who also attended on the night and informed them that they now have a ASAP policy in place.
Partners
Within the club:
- Club Executive
- Healthy Club Officer
- Parents
- Coaches
- Players
Outside the Club:
- County Health & Wellbeing Committee (chair.hwc.louth@gaa.ie)
- Local Foróige Coordinator
- Local Garda Liaison Officer
- GAA Community & Health Department
- Local newspapers
- Local print company
The partnership with the local Foróige Rep and Garda Liaison Officer was very effective and the model has been replicated in numerous clubs since. Some clubs also linked in with their local GP to provide a more holistic approach to their information evenings. The Local Garda Liaison Officer brought drug examples currently on the market to make parents aware of what they look like and what their street names were. The Foróige rep used a workshop based presentation using the templates from ‘putting the pieces together’ programme. This was a really effective way of engaging the young players and getting them on board.
Activity
The information evening was broken down into 4 sections:
The National Health & Wellbeing Coordinator provided an overview of the GAA’s ASAP Programme and the importance of implementing this into the club.
Foróige Rep provided an interactive module on drugs and alcohol and how they affect the body.
Garda Liaison Officer provided drug samples to parents to make them aware of the different types of drugs and their street names.
Club Chairperson & Healthy Club Officer officially launched the ASAP into the club and promoted it through their club communication channels through the clubs PRO.
The Club
By adopting the ASAP Policy and hosting an awareness evening on alcohol and drugs the club stated that there was ‘no tolerance’ drug abuse within the culture of the club. By doing this they worked to prevent, education and now have the ability to respond effectively if a drug/alcohol related incident occurs.
“Our club now have an active ASAP policy in place and created great awareness to both players and parents on the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs, particularly on players sporting performance” – Club Chairperson
Benefits for clubs:
- Set a positive example in the community
- Protect the club and its members
- Increased awareness about the dangers of alcohol and drugs
- Strong partnership with local community groups
- Reduce the impact of alcohol and drugs on sports performance
- Protecting children and young people
- Education for parents
- Cleaner and safer GAA club grounds