The Camogie Carnival

The whole club on one pitch — the county star and the six-year-old on the same team

Camogie
Any age · Club night
60 min
20–80 players from U6 to senior, plus parents on the rope
5 coaches
Effort 3/5
Full pitch
club-night
fun-games
skills-testing
community

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Hurleys and helmets for all ages, 30+ sliotars (first-touch balls for the small ones), 50 cones, 8 hoops, bibs in team colours, an airhorn, scorecards per team, something for medals — even stickers work

Warm-up8 min

The Parade & the Puck-Around

Setup: Teams built before a ball moves: six to eight players each, every team spanning the ages — at least one U8, one U10–U12, one teenager, one adult — and a senior player as captain. Team bibs handed out with ceremony.

How it works: Captains lead their teams on a parade lap — half a pitch, chanting optional but traditional — then each team circles up for its own puck-around: seniors feed soft balls to the small ones, teenagers pair off striking, captain checks every helmet and every grip. Mentors use the eight minutes to finish the station build. On the horn, captains bring their teams to the centre circle for the rules: five stations, every score is a TEAM score, and the smallest player's points count double all night.

What to say

“Tell the captains: 'your job is the U8 beside you — the club is watching how you mind her.'”
“Tell them: 'feed the small ones balls they can win — success first, stretch after.'”
“Keep the parade genuinely short — the night is for playing, not marching.”

Easier

Skip the parade for a shy group and go straight to team puck-arounds.

Harder

Each team invents a name and a one-line chant before the horn — captains are judged on commitment.

Activity18 min

Carnival Stations

Setup: Five stations around the pitch, a mentor at each with a scorecard, teams rotate on the airhorn every three and a half minutes. Distances at every station marked in three cone colours: short for U8–U10, middle for U12–U16, long for adults.

How it works: Every player plays every station, scores pooled per team, smallest players scoring double. BALANCE BEAM: ball on the bas walking a cone line — length by age. TARGET BAY: strike at a hoop from your colour's distance, three balls each. RAPID RALLY: pairs hand-passing flat out for thirty seconds, count completions — seniors pair with the youngest. GOLDEN TOUCH: control a lobbed ball clean — seniors lob underarm for the small ones, mentors lob proper for the seniors. THE LONG PUCK: one strike each, zones score one to five from your own colour line. Captains carry the card, call the order, and keep the smallest ones first in every queue so nobody drifts.

The technique, step by step

Station 1 — Balance Beam: bas-carry along a cone line, length by age.
Station 2 — Target Bay: 3 strikes at a hoop from your colour's line.
Station 3 — Rapid Rally: 30 seconds of pair hand-passes, count them.
Station 4 — Golden Touch: control the lob clean, 5 tries.
Station 5 — The Long Puck: one strike, zones 1–5.
Smallest player's points count double, everywhere, all night.

What to say

“Mentors at every station say: 'your line, your distance — same skill for everyone, sized right.'”
“Tell the teams: 'coach each other between turns — the adult fixing an U10's toss is the club working.'”
“Rotate hard on the horn — carnival pace is the product; a slow station kills three others.”

Easier

Four stations for a smaller crowd; three minutes each; drop Golden Touch for a group heavy with beginners.

Harder

STEPR: adults strike weak-side at Target Bay; Balance Beam becomes a two-way trip; Rapid Rally pairs must alternate hurley flicks and hand-passes.

Activity12 min

Captain's Challenges

Setup: Everyone gathers at the main goal — this block is theatre. A keeper's kit at the goal, a sideline spot marked for cuts, the crossbar the star of the show. Parents in off the rope to judge.

How it works: Three spectacles, teams roaring. THE CROSSBAR: each team's captain takes two strikes at the crossbar from the 20m line — a rattle is five team points and pandemonium. BEAT THE KEEPER: every U8 and U10 gets a one-on-one from close range against a senior keeper whose dives are magnificent and mostly the wrong way — every goal is two points and gets announced by name. THE LONG CUT: one nominated cutter per team, sideline cut toward the goalmouth, nearest to the small square wins five. Mentors keep it moving; the crowd noise does the rest.

Rounds: Crossbar (2 balls per captain) → Beat the Keeper (every U8/U10) → The Long Cut (one per team). Roughly four minutes each, kept loud.

What to say

“Tell the keeper: 'lose gloriously — tonight makes ten-year-olds sleep in their gear.'”
“Announce every child's name before their go — the name over the pitch is half the memory.”
“Captains under the crossbar pressure show the kids how to enjoy nerves — say that out loud.”

Easier

Crossbar attempts move to 13m; the cut may be a strike from the hand.

Harder

Teams may spend five station points to buy the captain a third crossbar ball — gambling, for the culture.

The rest of this session is free — along with 3 more this week.

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.