Terry McWilliams – Stuart Hogg – Sonia O’Sullivan – Max Jones The theme for the National Coaching Conference is“Developing Talent”. The conference is aimed at coaches andmentors of young athletes and features two inspirationalspeakers and four top class practical workshops.The Keynote Speakers are Sonia O’Sullivan and Brian Kerr;Sonia will speak about the journey from young athlete tointernational star from the athlete’s perspective. Sonia’s careerhas spanned over twenty years and she will share herexperience as an athlete who has seen it all and done it all.Sonia came tonationalprominence asa talentedseventeenyear old whenshe won theNationalSenior CrossCountry title.From there shewent throughthe UScollegiatesystem andfinished 4th atthe BarcelonaOlympics in1992. Shewent on to winmultipleEuropean andWorld titlesand an unforgettable silver medal at the Sydney Olympics. Brian Kerr is one of the most successful coaches in Irish sport.He will share his experience of developing talented youngplayers from the coaching perspective. Brian began coachingunderage soccer players at club level and he has worked withpeople of all ages and ability all the way up to international level.He has enjoyed success at national and international level withmostly local talent and his experience has been fascinating andinsightful. Brian is a member of the Athletics Ireland coachingcommittee and brings a wealth of experience to this role.
