Safefood and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ) have teamed up to launch ‘Fuel your Game', a free healthy-eating resource to help players and coaches choose the right foods.
Currently being made available to more than 600 clubs in the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs programme, this pack will help guide parents, coaches and young players in their food and drink choices, whether that’s before training or after a match and will be further distributed to clubs during 2026.
Launching the new resource at Croke Park, Dr Gary A Kearney, chief executive, Safefood, said: “We’re delighted to see this new free resource hit the field and support young players, their parents, and coaches. We’ve worked in partnership with the GAA with input from Sport Ireland to agree on the most important nutrition advice for young players to ensure they can play their best."
Bríd O’Dwyer, National Healthy Club coordinator, continued: "Our local clubs play such an important role in the health and well-being of communities across the island. Through this new resource, we can encourage young players to develop healthy habits from a young age, support their parents in how they can play their part, and equip our coaching network with practical tools and advice to build on those habits.”
The ’Fuel your Game’ pack focuses on key areas of nutrition, hydration, planning and after sport:
Before playing or training, check your child has eaten a small meal or snack 2 or 3 hours beforehand and has packed a snack and water in his/her kit bag. Encouraging your child to drink fluids before he/she feels thirsty can also go a long way.
After playing sports, encourage your child to eat something as soon as possible after a match or training. This will help recover and maintain muscle mass.
The ‘Fuel your Game’ pack consists of a practical guide for coaches, a helpful guide for parents to build on these healthy habits, a suite of posters for club facilities and dedicated social media assets to help promote the resource more widely.
For more information, see www.safefood.net/news or https://learning.gaa.ie/fuelyourgame
