An investigation into the positional differences

UNIVERSITY of LIMERICK Ollscoil Luimneach Department of Physical Education and Sport Science

An investigation into the positional differences, relationships and changes in performance measures of an inter-county U21 GAA football team Sean Mc Keown 05 47913 M.Sc in Sport Sport Performance Supervisor: Dr. Ian Kenny

April 2014 Submitted in part fulfillment of the requirements for the M.Sc. in Sport Performance at the University of Limerick

Declaration “I hereby declare that the work contained in this project is my own, and was completed without collaboration or assistance, other than the counsel of my supervisor, Dr Ian Kenny of the Physical Education and Sport Science Department, University of Limerick”

Signed: _______________________________ Date: ______________

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Acknowledgments Firstly I would like to thank my parents for all their support and guidance over the years. Thank You and I'm sure I’ll need more of it in the future.

To my brother and sister, Paul and Karen. We are all finished college now, time for real jobs and moving away. Remember home is always home.

To Niall, this is the end of our endless commutes to Limerick.... Unfortunately. Thanks for listening to my endless rambling about the dissertation.

Thanks to all the staff of the PESS department for making the department an inviting, accommodating and knowledgeable environment to study not only for the last 2 years but for my 4 years spent in the department as an undergraduate. Thank You.

To Sean Hayes, thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with such a great group of player ’s and backroom team. Thank you for showing faith in me to take control of all aspects of the lad’s physical conditioning and making sure everything was made available throughout the year.

To the 32 lads who were part of the panel this year. Thank you all for all your time, diligence and hard work. Unfortunately we fell at the final hurdle however the work and effort put in throughout the year was truly phenomenal. Thank You all.

Finally, to my amazing girlfriend Joanna. Thanks for listening to my rambling and putting up with my more frustrated moments! Thank you for your endless support, and patience. We can relax now and lets’ bring on Canada!!!

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An investigation into the positional differences, relationships and changes in performance measures of an intercounty under 21 GAA football team S. Mc Keown and I Kenny Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Limerick GAA is an endurance team sport requiring an ability to repeat high intensity bouts of sprinting, jumping, and physically challenging contests interspersed with times of active recovery (Reilly and Doran, 2001). Corresponding performance measuring tools need to accurately describe changes as they relate to the specific sport and position of interest.

The aim of this study was to examine the use of performance measures among an intercounty U21 football team, examine differences in these measures between positions, changes over time and the relationships between various anthropometric, strength/power, speed and agility, aerobic and physiological performance measures. Positional differences were observed between midfield players and other positions (p