Some of you are already aware of this. The club are initiating a strength and conditioning (S&C) program for our track & field and cross country athletes in conjunction with Tom French of the French Vanoli Gym in Oranmore (http://www.frenchvanoli.com/). The program is open only to U15 and older age groups who take part in track & field and/or cross country. 

The program in the French Vanoli Gym will comprise an initial 2 hour assessment on Friday 13th September in the gym. Each athlete will be assessed with various tests during this 2 hour session and Tom will prepare individual strength and conditioning plans based on the results. The gym is located in Oranmore Business Park – turn left after the cinema and go around the front of that block. The assessment will be followed by 6 further sessions every Friday as follows:-

• 7.15pm to 8.30pm for U15, 16 and 17 age groups
• 8.15pm to 9.30pm for U18 and older

The cost of the above assessment plus 6 sessions is €45 in total. If enrolling on the program, please give full payment next week to Patricia Cosgrove, Michael Tobin or Mark Davis. We want to have final numbers by the end of August so that the gym can plan accordingly. Following the completion of the 6 sessions, further individualized programs will be devised to develop each athlete for their target event(s). These programs will continue in the gym at a cost of €6 per session. Depending on readiness of the athlete and the demand for places, some of this work may be done by the athletic club’s coaches as part of regular sessions in Craughwell to further prepare the athlete for S&C. But the intention is that eventually all athletes will be following an S&C program out of the gym.

A separate introductory program for U14s will commence in Craughwell hall later in the autumn/winter so that they are preparing for a similar program as they get older.