So you have taken up the role of County Development Officer. First of all well done and thank you for getting involved.

Development is one of the most important parts of any sporting body. If we do not develop, we do not improve, if we do not improve we eventually fall apart.

The work you do as County Development Officer will impact hugely on your County. You have the potential to improve the health and lifestyle of hundreds of people in your County.

So what exactly is involved in being a County Development Officer?

Well first thing’s first – Make a Plan – this can be very basic but it will help you step by step throughout the year.

To work efficiently and effectively a County Development Officer should firstly assess the current situation within their county. Following this assessment you should then prioritise key areas to focus on with measurable targets for the year. We would advise that you work with your county board to identify volunteers to assist you on a development committee. This will allow you share the workload and designate roles to the various committee members based on the strengths they bring to the committee.

Below are a list of all the possible areas a County Development Committee could work with. You are not required to undertake every single role but rather use these as a guideline to help you assess what you should be doing and how you should be doing it. Click on areas below for more detail:

County Development

County Teams

County Development Squads

Club Development

Communication

On the right of the page there is a list of downloadable resources that will help you with your planning for they year.