Athletics Ireland’s national and regional squads provide support and expertise to our emerging athletes to help them to fulfil their potential. The squads sessions complement the work which is carried out by clubs and personal coaches

Regional Squads

Our Regional Squads help promising young athletes by providing them with educational and motivational workshops, including the opportunity to train with Ireland’s top athletes.

Athletes in the U-14 to U-18 age groups who finish in the first three in their regional championships are invited to take part in the squad sessions. Apart from providing specialist coaching and training opportunities, these squad sessions give young athletes a chance to meet their peers in a social and non-completive environment.

There are six Regional Development Squad sessions annually in the five regions – Munster, Connacht, Ulster (divided into Northwest and Northeast), Leinster and Dublin.

The Regional Squads are co-ordinated by the Regional Development Officers with the assistance of Regional Coaches including John Shields (Dublin), John Sheehan, Limerick (Munster), Mary Barrett (Connacht) and Jackie McKernan (Athletics NI).

Find out more about your Regional Development Squad.

National Squads

Our National Event Directors are responsible for the National Senior Event Squads and the development of the core events. We will shortly be announcing the appointments of National Event Coaches to support the Directors’ work.

Our National Event Directors are:

• Sprints- John Sheehan (Cork)
• Throws- Ailish O Brien
• Endurance- Jim Davis
• Walks- Michael Lane
• Jumps- Ciaran Conlon