Fionn Fitzgerald will be well known to followers of GAA, having captained Kerry to a senior football All Ireland title in 2014. The Dr Crokes club man is a lecturer in MTU Kerry campus and is currently undertaking a PhD looking at the area of biobanding, relative age effect and maturation rates of players involved with GAA development academies.

In this episode, Fionn shares his thoughts on the ‘growth spurt’ ages for boys and girls, and the impact that can have on their performance. He talks about the need for coaches to be aware of the difference between the early and later physical developers and the challenges posed by each. His research has potentially significant implications for coaches and parents of kids in that 12 -16 age bracket and shines a light on topic previously underappreciated in general by youth sport in Ireland.

Similar to season 1, I've set up this podcast with a dual purpose in mind, firstly to provide some thoughtful debate for coaches, but I've also linked up with Recovery Haven in Tralee, who provide free cancer support services for the people of Kerry and beyond.

If you found some value in the podcast, it would be great if you could donate any amount, no matter how small to Recovery Haven through the link here: https://bit.ly/3tfsxWw

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My thanks also to PST Sport for their support with this project. Go to pstsport.com for world class delivery of all your artificial grass pitch needs. Thanks for listening.