Former Offaly footballer joins LGFA ambassador programme

A former Offaly footballer is the latest ambassador for the Ladies Gaelic Football Association to join in the delivery of the 2024 ZuCar Gaelic4Teens programme.

The list of 13 ambassadors is made up of past and present inter-county stars, with new ambassador Bernie Finlay revealed.

Bernie represented her native Offaly at underage and Senior levels and she also won three county senior titles with Croghan.

A highly-experienced coach, Bernie moved to the capital when she was 21 years old and played club football with Na Fianna, while also representing the Dublin Senior team.

Bernie was a member of the Na Fianna side that won county and Leinster Senior titles in 2011, before contesting an All-Ireland Final, and she also played for Dublin for six years, winning four Leinster Senior medals and playing in three All-Ireland Finals with the Sky Blues.

Bernie was crowned as a TG4 All Star in 2004 and in 2010, she came off the bench as Dublin landed the TG4 All-Ireland Senior title for the very first time.

Bernie will join twelve returning ambassadors for the programme which gets underway next Monday, January 29, with the first coaching webinar.

This will be followed by five further education webinars with the ambassadors and the programme continues through to the National ZuCar Gaelic4Teens Festival Day, which is scheduled for April 27.

The returning ambassadors are Fiona McHale (Mayo), Jackie Kinch (Wicklow), Laura Fleming (Roscommon), Bronagh McGrane (Louth), Cassandra Buckley (Kerry), Orlagh Farmer (Cork), Emily Martin (Down), Máire O Shaughnessy (Meath), Sharon Courtney (Monaghan), Sinead Delahunty (Tipperary), Samantha Lambert (Tipperary) and Cathy Carey (Antrim).

Representatives from the 20 participating clubs will attend the sessions delivered by the ZuCar Gaelic4Teens ambassadors and engage with self-led modules between the various dates.

The clubs will also receive a visit from a ZuCar Gaelic4Teens ambassador or a county player to conduct a coaching session, and witness theory in action.