Close to one hundred of Connacht’s top young athletes came together in the facilities of IT Sligo this past Sunday, October 14th, for the first get together of the recently formed Connacht Development Squad. Athletes in the u14 to u19 age bracket who have shown a high level of performance in the last 12 months or so were invited to attend along with their club or school coaches. Squad days are intended to bring athletes and their coaches together with their peers in a squad environment, to provide a focus for the athletes as they progress through the age groups, to supplement their existing training programs, and offer coach and athlete alike the opportunity to benefit from the differing perspectives of a variety of experienced coaches. Connacht Head Coach Mary Barrett had assembled an excellent team of event coaches to work with the athletes and all disciplines were catered for. There were also many club coaches and parents in attendance who made an invaluable contribution to the day . IT Sligo proved an excellent venue for the occasion with ideal facilities and extremely helpful staff. Eamon Harvey, Regional Development Officer for the Northwest, who has immense experience in the area of development squads, coaching juveniles, and team management, gave an excellent presentation to athletes, coaches and parents on the role of the club coach, the role of the squad, what athlete and coach must bring to the squad and how they can benefit. The presentation was also strongly motivational for all in attendance, focusing on the achievements of several local athletes, including Paul Hession, Colin Griffin and Olive Loughnane, and was very warmly received. Initial feedback from athletes, coaches and parents in attendance has been very positive which is highly encouraging for the future of these Regional Squads. The next Connacht Squad day will be held in Galway RSC, Dangan on Sunday November 18th from 12:00 until 2:30pm. Meanwhile, this weekend sees the first get together of the remaining provincial squads with Dublin, Leinster, Ulster and Munster Regional Development Squads assembling for the first time. Details on all of these squads elsewhere on www.athleticsireland.ie.