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Dr. Laura Finnegan PhD talent development in football

Title:

Course Leader Bbs Recreation and Sport Management (Lv 7 & 8) / Lecturer in DHSES

School/ Department:

Health Sciences - Sport And Exercise Science - Cork Road campus

Telephone:

+353 0 51845686

Room Name/ Num:

205 O'Connell Bianconi - Health Sciences Building

Campus:

Main Campus

My Blog/Website:

Click Here to View

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My Biography

I have been a lecturer in the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science since 2008. I teach mainly on the Recreation and Sport Management and Sport Coaching and Performance degree programmes. I hold a PhD in the area of talent development in Irish football. I am the course leader for the Bbs (Hons and Ord) in Recreation and Sport Management (WD019).

Research

‘THE TALENT IS OUT THERE.’ TALENT DEVELOPMENT IN IRISH FOOTBALL: AN EXAMINATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND PRACTICE. Final PhD submission. http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/13837/1/2020Finneganphd.pdf

Somewhat united: primary stakeholder perspectives of the governance of schoolboy football in Ireland. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23750472.2018.1513342

The influence of date and place of birth on youth player selection to a National Football Association elite development programme. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2016.1254807

Stepping-stones? An exploration of internal football player movement in the Republic of Ireland. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2019.1685905

Blogposts: https://talentdevelopmentinirishfootball.com/

 

Publications:

Finnegan, L., Richardson, D., Littlewood, M. & McArdle, J. (2016).  The influence of date and place of birth on youth player selection to a National Football Association elite development programme. Science and Medicine in Football, 2016, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2016.1254807

Finnegan, L. & McArdle, J. (2015). Guest chapter: Football on Film: The Portrayal of Sportsmanship. In Sportsmanship: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Delaney, T. McFarland: North Carolina. https://www.amazon.com/Sportsmanship-Multidisciplinary-Perspectives-Tim-Delaney/dp/078649803X 

Finnegan, L., Doyle, C. & McArdle, J. (2014). Emerging Talent: A review of elite Irish youth football players. FAI.

 

Conference Presentations: 

Finnegan, L. (2018). “You Cannot Tell Every League in the Country How to Organise Their Leagues” – The Implementation of a National Football Development Plan for the Republic of Ireland”. European Association Sport Management (EASM), 07/09/018. Malmo, Sweden.

Finnegan, L. (2018). The implications of Relative Age Effect for grassroots football and talent development. International Sports Convention (ISC), 05/12/2018. Geneva, Switzerland.

Finnegan, L. (2019). Relative Age Effecting youth football/ Effetto dell’ eta relativa. Italian FA Seria A/B club conference, 04/02/2019. Rome, Italy.

Finnegan, L. (2019). Relative Age Effect in youth football. Croatian FA UEFA Pro/A licence conference, 11/06/2019. Varaždin, Croatia. 

Finnegan, L., Richardson, D., Littlewood, M. & McArdle, J. (2013). Talent Identification within the Emerging Talent Programme. Presented at the 2014 All Ireland Postgraduate Conference in Sport Sciences and Physical Education, 24 January 2014, Limerick, Ireland. 

Finnegan, L., Richardson, D., Littlewood, M. & McArdle, J. (2014). Talent Identification within the Emerging Talent Programme. Presented at the 2014 PEPAYS Conference in Waterford Institute of Technology, 6 June, 2014, Waterford, Ireland. 

Finnegan, L., Doyle, C. & McArdle, J. (2014). Emerging Talent: A review of elite Irish youth football players. Poster presented at the 2014 PEPAYS Conference in Waterford Institute of Technology, 6 June, 2014, Waterford, Ireland. 

Teaching

Modules Past/ Present

Recreation Management Issues
Recreation Technology
Recreation Planning
Coaching Process
Sports Pedagogy and Skill Development
Talent Identification and Long Term Athlete Development
Sport & Exercise Psychology
Professional Practice

Professional

2021:               Established a longitudinal research partnership with Irish professional club Waterford FC.

2020:              Secured a place on the FAI’s inaugural ‘Women in Football -Emerging Leaders’ programme

run in partnership with UEFA and FIFA.

Supporting the FAI’s Governance Review Recommendations to improve gender balance on national committees.

Includes modules such as Managing Self / Others, Managing Change, Decision Making, Influencing, Conflict, Communication.

2019:               Founded the ‘Football Research Group’ in Waterford IT.

Included inviting academic and independent scholars to participate. GDPR and legal responsibilities for the research actions of the group. Liaising with football contacts to  initiate research projects.

Now the official research partner for the Croatian FA. Also research collaborators with  professional clubs.

2019:                Presented on the Croatian UEFA Pro license course. Zagreb, Croatia. Also at the Croatian FA coach development (UEFA A/Pro) conference. Varazdin, Croatia.

2019:               Presented to the Italian FAs Serie A/B directors conference. Rome, Italy.

2019:               Presented at the FAI Coach Education Staff training session on potential talent development areas to include in Coach Education pathways.

2018:                Presented at the International Sports Convention- Football. Geneva, Switzerland.

2018:               Presented at the European Sport Management conference. “The implementation of a national football development plan for the Republic of Ireland”. Malmo, Sweden.

  • Director on the board of Splachworld 2016 - present
  • Director on the board of  Waterford LEDC (Cill Barra)                                                  2015 - present 
  • Various leisure centre positions (Co. Louth and Waterford) 2003 - 2007          
  • Olympic volunteer London 2012, liason for Team Ireland, south Africa, Japan and China - St. Mary’s college, Twickenham                    2012 (July – August)
  • Strength and conditioning coach  -  Waterford utd                                            2011 – 2013
  • Strength and conditioning coach -   Waterford utd (u19’s)                              2011 – 2013
  • Tutor National Certificate in Exercise and Fitness  (level 2 ‘team sport fitness)               2011 -  present
  • Sport psychology consultant to various clubs/athletes/groups:                                        2007- present
  • Fitness testing service and strength and conditioning consultant for various teams: 2009 – present.
  • Fitness trainer and sport psychology interventions with the WIT scholarship programme: 2009-2013
  • Periodical fitness testing and strength and conditioning programming, sport psychology interventions with a number of athletes from a wide range of sports (e.g. athletics, football)
  • Ireland u16 men’s basketball team sport psychologist and fitness coach: 2009-2010 - Involved working with the first team and development squad from October 2009 to August 2010, culminating in travelling to the European championships in Estonia. Conducted a multitude of sessions both with the whole team and individually. E.g. goal setting, performance profiling, arousal regulation, mental toughness, confidence. Also year long periodised fitness programmes.
  • Work placement with Reading FC (England): 2006 - Involved observing and performing short sport psychology interventions with the Reading FC academy squad for a period of 5 weeks for placement through my Masters.

Sample of professional experience

2021:               Established a longitudinal research partnership with Irish professional club Waterford FC.

2020:              Secured a place on the FAI’s inaugural ‘Women in Football -Emerging Leaders’ programme

run in partnership with UEFA and FIFA.

Supporting the FAI’s Governance Review Recommendations to improve gender balance on national committees.

Includes modules such as Managing Self / Others, Managing Change, Decision Making, Influencing, Conflict, Communication.

2019:               Founded the ‘Football Research Group’ in Waterford IT.

Included inviting academic and independent scholars to participate. GDPR and legal responsibilities for the research actions of the group. Liaising with football contacts to  initiate research projects.

Now the official research partner for the Croatian FA. Also research collaborators with  professional clubs.

2019:                Presented on the Croatian UEFA Pro license course. Zagreb, Croatia. Also at the Croatian FA coach development (UEFA A/Pro) conference. Varazdin, Croatia.

2019:               Presented to the Italian FAs Serie A/B directors conference. Rome, Italy.

2019:               Presented at the FAI Coach Education Staff training session on potential talent development areas to include in Coach Education pathways.

2018:                Presented at the International Sports Convention- Football. Geneva, Switzerland.

2018:               Presented at the European Sport Management conference. “The implementation of a national football development plan for the Republic of Ireland”. Malmo, Sweden.

Education

PhD: 2013 – 2020: Talent Development in Irish Football: A study of organizational structure  and practice. Liverpool John Moores University, UK.

Involved working with key stakeholders in a research capacity (i.e. FAI, SFAI, Junior representatives, coaches, clubs) to analyse the suitability of talent development structures.

MA in Sport Psychology: 2007: 1:1 grade: Waterford Institute of Technology, Cork road, Waterford, Ireland. Dissertation focused on participation motivation and perceived competence in 6–12-year-olds

Degree Recreation and Sport Management: 1999-2003 Waterford IT.