Performance and Coaching Podcast @ DCU

Chris Kilmurray is an Irish mountain bike coach and founder of Point1 Athletic Development, based in Morzine, France. A former racer and still avid mountain bike rider, he specialises in the gravity disciplines of downhill and enduro. Kilmurray is known for his holistic, athlete-centred approach that integrates sport specific and physical preparation, performance analysis, and race support, creating adaptable training systems that foster consistency, resilience, and world-class performance in the demanding environments of World Class MTB.  

Paul O'Brien is Head of Gaelic Games at Dublin City University, where he oversees 27 teams and a leading sports scholarship programme that supports some of Ireland's top student-athletes. DCU is recognised as one of the country's foremost third-level Gaelic Games programmes. Paul's doctoral research focuses on mentoring within the tertiary education Gaelic Games environment. Through a series of innovative mentoring initiatives, he has worked with student-athletes, coaches, and performance analysts to enhance leadership development and help them excel as practitioners.

Kate is an Assistant Professor in Athletic Therapy at Dublin City University (DCU) and a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist in Pain Rehabilitation. She graduated as an Athletic Therapist in 2009 and qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist in 2012. In 2020, she completed an MSc in Clinical Pain Management and she is currently in the final stages of her Professional Doctorate at DCU.   With over 12 years of clinical experience, her work has focused primarily on chronic pain—supporting people to better understand and manage their conditions through evidence-based, person-centred care. Alongside her academic and clinical roles, she is a passionate advocate for people living with pain and is committed to improving access to compassionate, appropriate, and informed care in both healthcare and education systems.   Her research explores whether people living with pain in Ireland are receiving care that aligns with European and international best practice guidelines.

Harrison Gilkes is the U18s Lead Coach at Category 1 Academy, Reading FC and an MSc student at DCU.  Harrison's thesis is an investigation of the perceptual-cognitive skills of elite central midfielders and the impact of different coaching approaches when explicitly coaching these skills to academy players. 

Fiona is a Professional Doctorate student who currently serves as the Senior Director of Coach Education and Development at Special Olympics International. She has worked in the field of disability sport in Ireland and internationally for over 20 years, including a previous coach development role within Special Olympics Ireland, as well as a brief tenure with the Performance Team at Paralympics Ireland.

Dave is a Professional Doctorate candidate at DCU and a research assistant at the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics. Dave is also a Gaelic games coach and coach developer, coaching at various levels in the pathway – currently U15 club, U16 county and senior club Dave's research focuses on team sport coaching pedagogy and its impact on playing experience. Understanding the pedagogic underpinning and knowledge sources of game form coaching in high-level team sport coaches https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21640629.2024.2335450 Examining Intentions for Impact: Understanding What Influences the Planning of High-Level Team Sport Coaches https://doi.org/10.3390/psycholint6020032  

Teresa is a Professional Doctorate candidate at DCU, where her research focuses on the effect of maturation on the physical fitness profiles and game demands of inter-county Ladies Gaelic Football players. She holds an MSc in Strength and Conditioning from Limerick Institute of Technology and is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). With an extensive background in Gaelic Games, Teresa currently coaches full-time across all levels, from underage to senior, in schools, clubs, and at inter-county level. She is a qualified Level 2 Sport Ireland Coach Tutor with the LGFA & GAA and has contributed to the development of the LGFA Level 2 coaching course and the GAA In-Game Coaching Modules.

Amy is a PhD candidate at Dublin City University. Her project, in partnership with Premiership Rugby, aims to understand factors impacting male player development in the English Rugby union professional club game. In this podcast, she discusses how her research is informing the design, structure and resourcing of the talent system.