Webinar: Long Term Player Athlete Development

Hear From Leaders In The Field

Dr. Liam Hennessy during his days working with the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Performance Coaching: the discipline where the biological and behavioural sciences are integrated within a coaching environment to support athletes’ preparation, performance, and welfare within their chosen sport or physical activity.

Sport attainment and human performance endeavour operate within a fast-moving environment. Every sport and physical exercise related activity constantly reaches out to science and the art of coaching to enable its participants perform to their utmost.

In recent decades, we have seen the emergence of heart rate monitors and physiological sensors, the rise of GPS tracking, smart movement sensing clothing and wearables, computer analytics software, force, velocity and power output measurement, the internet of things related to performance, wellness and participant welfare, and many more innovations.

The growing presence of technology within sport and exercise performance is here to stay and this poses a number of challenges for us as coaches. We need to constantly keep abreast of changes in technology while we also seek to hone the ‘softer’ skills that are essential in communicating, managing, and coaching.

Technology aside, actual coaching skills required to make meaningful change, that result in better performance and welfare of the participant, need to be addressed. And therein lies the challenge; to bridge the gaps between the competencies to appropriately apply technology and advances in methodologies with the ‘softer’ skills to competently and effectively manage and coach.

Register your details below to hear our expert panel discuss the art, science, and craft of coaching. We will also formally introduce you to our groundbreaking Master of Science in Performance Coaching.

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Speakers

Dr Liam HennessySetanta College President

Read Liam's Bio

Dr. Liam Hennessy is the Founder and Academic Director of Setanta College. He is a qualified Physical Education teacher, Exercise Physiologist and Strength & Conditioning Coach. He has spent over 20 years working full-time in sport.

Liam was previously the Director of Fitness with the Irish Rugby Football Union, a position he commenced in 2000. At the IRFU he headed a staff of 24 full time coaches. His role was to develop a world class system of player support within the areas of Strength and Conditioning, Injury Rehabilitation, Sport Nutrition and Medical Care.

Liam is also Fitness Coach to Padraig Harrington having worked with Padraig for over a decade now.

He gained his undergraduate degree in Physical Education and English from Thomond College in 1981 and from there he completed his Master’s at Loughborough University before going on to complete a further Master’s in Clinical Physiology.

Liam was also an international athlete, competing over 50 times for Ireland at the Pole vault. After competing he became national jumps coach. Liam also had the distinction of being Irish team manager at the first world junior Athletic Championships in Athens in 1985.

Des RyanArsenal FC Academy’s Head of Sport Medicine and Athletic Development

Read Des's Bio

Des joined Arsenal in February 2013 after a successful strength and conditioning career in the rugby world.

Des worked for the IRFU as fitness education manager and his responsibilities involved managing the Continued Professional Development (CPD) programme for IRFU strength and conditioning coaches and managing the fitness development structures for rugby players in under-19 sides and below. Before this, Des worked as head fitness advisor at Connacht Rugby from 1998 to 2008. During this time he had worked with the Ireland A rugby team for three years and assisted with the Ireland senior team.

Des is also a tutor with the IRFU and a trainer with the International Rugby Board.

He has a keen interest in the area of long-term player development and has presented at many conferences around the world over the last few years.

Recently Des has become accredited with British association of sport and exercise science as a High Performance Sport accredited (HPSA) and also a chartered scientist (CSci).

Shayne MurphyMasters Lecturer

Read Shayne's Bio

Shayne Murphy is the founder and director of SDM Performance. He qualified with a first- class honours degree in Sports and Exercise Sciences at the University of Limerick in 2010. He completed his MSc in Sport Science in 2012 and certified as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in 2013. Shayne has been working in elite football for over 11 years across first team and academy squads in the Premier League, including Manchester City, Liverpool FC, Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City. He also spent several years with the Wales National Squads during their international campaigns at U21 level. He currently works with sports people independently and remains a consultant for City Football Group, which is a global football organisation. Shayne recently worked with New York City FC in the US for their pre-season.

Shayne is passionate about human movement and training. He believes, “We need to understand on a far higher level the demand our sports play on our athletes and how these demands will affect the athletes individually. This is where we can we make significant changes to develop our athletes. We have all the tools, but I’m not convinced that until we analyse our athletes and their sports better, we will know exactly how to use them”

Shayne has moved back to Ireland after more than a decade in the UK and whilst he has still work abroad with various organisations, he is hoping to develop relationships closer to home with people and organisations.

Dr Joe WarneProgramme Director

Read Joe's Bio

Dr. Joe Warne, Programme Director of our Master of Science, is an elite athlete, coach, and scientist. He specialises in data analytics, biomechanics, and physiology. Joe is recognised as one of the world’s leading experts in the transition to minimalist footwear with respect to performance and injury risk reduction.

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