WSWCF World Championship 23

Ireland are heading to Latvia!

We are delighted to say this year four of our Bar Monkey Team will be heading to Latvia to compete in the World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation World Championships!

The four to qualify are:

• Aaron Fitzpatrick - Male Power Category

• Will Adam - Male Freestyle Category

• Daniel Meghen - Male Freestyle Category

• Leah Conaty - Female Freestyle Category

This is a really proud moment for the club, and we are so excited for the athletes involved!

For Will, Daniel and Leah, this is their first-ever competition. They are all also only 14 years of age, making them the youngest ever athletes to qualify for the World Championships! This is a genuinely amazing achievement, and all of us in the club are so happy for them, that their hard work and dedication to the sport is now officially recognised in a big way.

Check the video above to see how they are feeling after qualifying, and their thoughts on how they think the competition will impact them and what they will learn from the event!

To support them in their pursuit, we have established a GoFundMe Page to help cover some of the costs associated with travelling, and any contribution is massively appreciated. You can do so at the link below:

The World Championship takes place in Riga Latvia, August 22-25th and we hope you can all wish our athletes the best of luck as they represent Ireland on the World Stage!

Creating a Collective Purpose

COLLECTIVE PURPOSE

We recently sat down with some of our advanced athletes to come up with a collective purpose for the group itself in advance of their upcoming competition in December.

I found this a really beneficial experience, finding out their ‘why’ in terms of understanding their reason for participating in our sport. I thought it would be worth sharing for any parents or coaches.

Why?

For most athletes, they understand the what and how when it comes to sport. What do we do when we are here? We train Calisthenics. How do we do it? We work on new moves or routines. Some of the straight forward answers we get. However, when we ask why, the conversation usually gets a bit more awkward!

We wanted them to highlight some reasons why they come over to train calisthenics. To get fit or strong wasn’t a strong enough answer as we can do that in any sport or gym. I wanted them to think about why they have chosen this sport in order to become fit or strong, as they called it.

This led to them having to think a bit more in-depth about their reasons for coming here and giving up so much of their time in order to improve in the sport. This led to the answers highlighted above. We placed all of these in a whiteboard and created our ‘collective purpose’.

After calling these individual reasons our ‘collective purpose’ I then showed the group the picture of the ship above, and caused a wave of confused faces as I did. I asked them, and I will ask you, to stick with me for a second!

I asked them to roughly describe what period in history they thought this ship came from. They came back with roughly the 1700-1800s. I said this would have been a time of great voyages and exploration. I explained that at the bottom of the boat each crew member would be asked to write their individual purpose on a plank of wood. This would allow them to find their own higher purpose and motivate them during their time on the ship.

I asked them to imagine what did they think those crew members might have wrote on the base of the ship. Examples came back of ‘explore, bring back money for my family, find new land’.

I highlighted that even though they all may have had individual reasons for being on the boat, they needed to work together in order to achieve the collective purpose as shipmates. This example was used to show that even though we may be an individual sport, all coming together with individual goals, we need the group in order to achieve them.

I think, and hope, this led to valuable discussion among the group about what we need to do together in order to achieve our individual aims and how we can support each other. What does the environment need to look like in a training session in order for the group to motivate each other? What does support look like to the group? This helped us to link together each individual person’s ‘why’ and create a collective purpose - weaving I and WE together.

I always find it really interesting to find out people’s why when it comes to sport. In this instance, I wanted to highlight that even though we are an individual sport, it is the environment and the support from the group that helps us all to achieve our aims - I think that’s a fascinating insight for any coach of an individual sport, or for a parent within our club.

If you are a parent, maybe ask your child ‘why’ they like the sport they are involved in. You don’t need to create a collective purpose whiteboard, but sometimes finding out why they are interested in sport is completely different to the reasons we think and this can help us find new perspective. As a coach, we tend to get bogged down with our own reasons for why we are involved in the sport, and don’t take the time to find out why the group we have in front of us are there. This is an important discovery and I would urge any coach to try and find out their team’s version of a collective purpose.

Our next event takes place Sunday December 4th, for our members, all information can be found below

Bar Monkey End of Year Championship

October Events

Club Updates

Hi Guys,

I hope you are all doing well! 

It has been great to see everyone back at the club again, and I hope you have all settled back into the school routines! 

This is just a quick message to let you all know about a few events coming up within the club in a couple of weeks. 

From the week of October 17th we will have a variety of events depending on the class, and I will update you on these below if you want to take a look at the class relevant to you. 

All of the events mentioned below are just opportunities for the kids in our groups to showcase what they are learning, give them something to prepare for, and get the chance to show you all how they are progressing! 

If you have any questions on anything mentioned just let us know! 

Thanks,
Jamie

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4-6 FUNdamentals Programme
 

Our classes in the 4-6 Age category across the week of October 17th we will be inviting parents/guardians to come in and check a class!

This is a chance for parents/guardians to see the club, what a class looks like and to see how your child is progressing with us.

These will happen across the week in each class :-)

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7-10 Junior Calisthenics Programme
 

For our 7-10 Groups we will be hosting an awards evening for each class across the week - and we are inviting all parents/guardians to attend :-)

This will see us give out level 1 awards to every person that has completed our movement chart so far, and again, acts as an evening for parents/guardians to see how their kids are progressing!

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11-14 Teen Calisthenics Programme

Our 11-14 Group will have a qualifying event for our end of year competition in December!

This will be a great opportunity for all of them to showcase their skills and it would be great if on the evening parents/guardians could attend to show the entire group some support!

For a lot of the group this will be their first event like this, and I am really excited for them to get the chance to demonstrate what they have learned.

*As a side note, we have made this qualifying event optional, so not everyone will have to compete, and they may just want to offer support to the ones who are.

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Level 2 & Competition Group

Our Level 2 and Competition Groups will also have qualifying events across the week of October 17th.

The Level 2 Groups - currently we have four - will all perform their routines in their own classes and then we will decide after based on points who is ready for the event in December.

Again, some of the group have only moved in to this class, and December may be too soon and it would be unfair to put them in a situation we haven't prepared them for accordingly.

*Some also may suggest to us that they don't want to enter the qualifier, which is fine, but on the evening parents/guardians can still attend and these groups will still get the opportunity to show you all what they have learned :-)


Again guys, these are just opportunities for everyone involved in the club to have something to prepare for and work towards. It helps us give them a focus and for them to get the chance to showcase their progress to all of you!

I hope to see you all then, if you have any questions just let us know.

Thanks,
Jamie

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World Calisthenics Championship 2022

11/10 experience

This was how Freya described the entire trip for our team, and I think it best sums up the World Championship.

To be the first representatives from Ireland to compete in the Calisthenics World Championship is a huge achievement for myself and Aaron, and we thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. It’s not very often you get the chance to represent your country in a sport you love, and walking out seeing both my name and Aaron’s with the Irish tri-colour is an amazing memory I will keep with me.

In the ten minutes before you start, this for me was a very peaceful and quiet moment. Every person supporting you can help you as much as possible, but in those ten minutes alone, you are with yourself only and it becomes a very ‘spiritual’ time. I don’t mean in a religious sense, but just in a sense where you need to connect with yourself and put yourself in a very present moment. Ten years of training for me has led to this moment, and now I need to be present. I did this by visualising. For me, this has been very powerful and has improved my performance in competitions so much. When you visualise deeply your routine, the feeling of the chalk in your hand, your grip on the bar, what your swing will feel like, you are creating a ‘forward memory’ and not allowing any other thoughts to come in - negative or otherwise. This essentially creates pathways with your brain and allows you to perform the vision. It helps us to block out any ‘what if’ distracting thoughts, and for me this was the most powerful thing I could do before I went on. I felt calm, and when I walked out I was prepared and excited. I have spent ten years training to get to those two minutes.

The biggest achievement for me though over the course of the entire event was being able to bring a young group of our teenage athletes and letting them experience the entire competition. Not just that, but the build-up, seeing what the preparation is like beforehand and being part of the support. Personally being able to look up into the crowd before you are about to compete on a World Stage and see a group of people all wearing Bar Monkey t-shirts and cheering for you is the most rewarding moment. This grounds you in a way, because you realise (in the nicest way possible) despite being on the World Stage in our sport it is only those people that actually care about you in those two minutes. Everyone else that is there is either competing themselves or there to support their own athletes, so they aren’t actually focused on you. This helps you centre yourself and it becomes a much more enjoyable process because you can make yourself feel as though it’s just a training session with those people like any other. They are the main people that want to see you do well, and they know what you are capable of, so you only need to focus your attention on them.

Speaking with Sara in the lead-up to the event, I was more focused on making sure the group as a whole would enjoy the entire experience. If I want them to come back here in the future as an athlete and compete themselves, then it needs to be an experience worth repeating. They have to WANT to come back. Seeing our names with the Irish flag I think is enough motivation for them - they want to do this themselves next year and see their own name in lights.

Competitions, or high pressure situations should not be viewed as anxious moments, they should be seen as a reward for everything you have done previously to get there

I spoke with the group after the event when we got home and I explained that these situations or competitions are not moments to be anxious or nervous - they are a reward for the hard work and culmination of everything you have done to be there. This is your chance to showcase that and justification for every decision you made to get to that moment. This is what it’s all for. Until the group themselves actually got to this competition I don’t think they would have realised this. Seeing the calisthenics community as a whole and realising they are part of this much bigger landscape of people has definitely motivated them. Sometimes we need to see the larger community to realise what our training is for. When we are stuck in our own bubble we sometimes can’t see the point as athletes. Training in the same hall every week, practicing the same movements - there needs to be an outcome. Competitions, and getting an opportunity to travel to other countries because of your sport is the outcome.

Obviously if we are around our mates who are outside of the sport, they may not get why you are training as much as you are. Being able to be part of these types of events helps justify it to others, and maybe helps keep the pressure from them off when it comes to other decisions ( them asking you to go out drinking, stay up late etc.) they may understand it more when you can show them these events or competitions you are preparing for.

I feel that me and Aaron have only laid down the groundwork, the first stepping stone, and now that this has been set, we will see the next generation from the club starting to come through and represent us even better. As a coach, I see this as the start of the conveyor belt and I really hope that this has only laid the first foundation and every year Ireland will get stronger and stronger participating in these competitions. It only takes one to break down the barrier, and the floodgates will open. We had undoubtedly the best support from Ireland, and I know our young athletes want to experience this for themselves - we can’t offer anything higher in terms of motivation for them.

As a coach and owner of the club, I couldn’t have asked for any more, and I am full of optimism going forward as I believe this is only the first step and our next generation of athletes will go on to do even better things and create a proud tradition representing our club in the World Championships - myself and Aaron have started the legacy, and I can’t wait to continue the journey and see the next generation within the club carry it forward.

Proudly Sponsored by

Community Day

Celebrate all things

Calisthenics at our Club's

Community Day this year!

August 6th - We are delighted to be hosting a Calisthenics Community Day!

Located in: Scoil Cholmcille Ballybrack 10:00am - 1:00pm

REGISTER HERE

This is a Club Fundraiser to send our athletes to the World Championship in Riga, Latvia August 20th - representing Ireland for the first time in the country's history!

This is a huge stepping stone for the development of the sport in Ireland, and an occassion like our community day gives us the opportunity to show everyone what is great about our sport and our club!

Our Community Day will feature TONS of activity for people to take part in - young and adult alike!

Bar Monkey Fittest Family Challenge

We will be hosting a Fittest Family Challenge!

The rules are quite simple; three challenges and the team/family with the most collective points will be crowned Bar Monkey's Fittest Family!

The Three Challenges are;

1. Pull-Ups

2. Push-Ups

3. Dead Hang

So the more family members you get involved, the more chance you have of winning!

*Note - it is not compulsory to take part, we aren’t trying to scare off any parents :-)

Calisthenics Exhibition

We will have a demonstration from some of the best athletes in the country! Our competition group, along with Jamie and Aaron (our two coaches who have qualified for the World Championship) will all perform their routines to showcase the sport!

Pull-Up to the World Championship

Our next generation of athletes coming through are taking part in a sponsorship event to raise their funds to attend the World Championship! For every euro they receive they will have to perform a circuit of Pull-Ups, Push-Ups and Dips equal to the amount raised!

This will be a tough challenge for the group, but we know with everyone's support they can get through it! The chance to attend and see the World Championship will be a huge opportunity for them and I know will inspire them to want to be there as competitors soon! This will be a huge help to us as a club to help them take the mantle and become our club's next generation of athletes!

Recreation Area

A space throughout the day for all Calisthenics Enthusiasts to utilise, have fun and practice their skills!

There are prizes to giveaway - including a FREE Pull-Up Bar Installation from Calisthenics Training Rigs! For more information on their equipment check out:

https://calitrainingrigs.ie/

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Irish Calisthenics Championship 2022

We are delighted to announce the official results from the Irish Calisthenics Championships, which took place June 18th, and acted as a direct qualifier to the World Championships in Riga, Latvia on the 20/21st of August!

This was a landmark occasion for the sport in Ireland, as it was the first time we have been able to host a direct qualifier to the World Championships!

A big thanks must go to South Dublin County Council for their long-term support and co-operation in developing the sport. The have built Tymon Park, now the premier facility for Calisthenics in Ireland and without that an event like this would not be possible.

We would also like thank everyone that came out to support the athletes, it made such a difference to everyone competing to have the backing of a crowd all willing them on to perform at their best. As our sport is developing, this was one of the best opportunities for all athletes to get a chance to perform in front of their own crowd, look out and see familiar faces, which hasn’t always been the case when you are having to compete in other countries! So for all athletes, this was a great opportunity to showcase our sport with the backing of our respective clubs and the team-mates / members they all have!

A huge mention must go towards the clubs and athletes who represented our sport in such a great way. This has left a mark on the sport here and is the first chapter in our story towards developing the sport. We can only continue to grow and develop from here, together!

‘To compete’ is Latin in origin and means ‘to strive together’. I believe all athletes did this at this event. They showcased the sport, and helped to push each other to new levels, and motivate each other to reach new heights. We all left our mark that will inspire more people to take part in the sport, and influence the next generation to push the sport even further.

A massive thanks to everyone that helped us mark this occasion, and we can’t wait to see the continued development of the sport on the back of this day! Now it’s time to wish all our athletes who have qualified for the World Championship the best of luck - Roll on Latvia!

Official Results - *Top two in each event qualify for the World Championships

Male Freestyle

• 1st Place: Jamie Geraghty (Bar Monkey)

• 2nd Place: Aaron Fitzpatrick (Bar Monkey)

• 3rd Place: Eric Dolan (The Irish Calisthenics Academy)

Male Power

• 1st Place: Aidan O’Connell (NinjaFit Calisthenics)

• 2nd Place: Eric Cunneen (NinjaFit Calisthenics)

• 3rd Place: Edgars Jankovskis

Male Strength

• 1st Place: Eric Cunneen (NinjaFit Calisthenics)

• 2nd Place: Edgars Jankovskis

• 3rd Place: Aidan O’Connell (NinjaFit Calisthenics)

Female Power

• 1st Place Rebecca O’Sullivan (NinjaFit Calisthenics)

Irish Calisthenics Championship

We are delighted to announce the first Irish Calisthenics Championship in association with the World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation!

This year our national championship will act as a direct qualifier for the WSWCF World Championships in Riga, Latvia - August 21/22.

We have Freestyle Power and Strength Categories and this promises to be an amazing day for the sport in Ireland! This really is groundbreaking in terms of developing the sport in our country and we can’t wait to see all Irish Calisthenics Athletes on the day!

Please take note that unless you are registered to compete on the day, this is a spectator event. We still highly recommend you order a FREE spectator ticket so we can update you on any changes that may occur (outdoor event, may be postponed etc.)

Location: Tymon Park, Tallaght

Located in Ireland’s Premiere Outdoor Park, the first Calisthenics Specific purpose-built park in the country, this is an amazing facility capable of hosting this event!

All athletes are required to complete a registration form, and should check the links below for more details on each competition:

Freestyle

For all freestyle athletes, registration is required. Further information on the competition as well as the registration form can be found using the link below. Please be sure to check this before registering:

Power and Strength

For all power and strength athletes, registration is required. Further information on both competitions as well as the registration form can be found using the link below. Please be sure to check this before registering:

If you have any questions on the event please contact us below

Easter Camps 2022

EASTER HAS ARRIVED!

We are delighted to announce our Easter Camps this year!

These are a great opportunity for any aspiring Bar Monkeys to get involved and stay active over the Easter Break! These camps will focus on learning new skills with participants, in a fun and safe environment!

Age Group: 7-10 Years Old

Our camps are a great opportunity for kids to meet up, make new friends and socialise in a sporting environment! We always really enjoy the camps as these give us the opportunity to interact with the group over a longer period and helps to sustain and develop communication between the coaches and the groups! This is an important social factor when it comes to keeping kids involved in sport!

Times

• Week One April 11th - 15th

• Week Two April 19th - 22nd

We can’t wait to kick these off and hope to see you there!

To register please check the registration form below!

For any further information feel free to contact us below!

Bar Monkey Calisthenics App Has Launched!

We are delighted to announce the launch of our Brand New Calisthenics App!

This is something we have worked very hard on over the past couple of months, first developing the concept, how it could be used, the best way we could introduce the sport in this way. Our head coach Jamie Geraghty wanted to create this app because he felt there weren’t enough opportunities in Ireland to help people start calisthenics. Due to a lack of facilities/locations, not enough people have the chance to learn the sport or don’t know where to begin if they do. This app helps us introduce the sport to many more people across the country and give them the freedom to do so in a location and time that suits them! All while providing an educational resource with a guided framework from our experienced coaches!

This has been a really enjoyable process seeing the app develop and grow, and it will continue to do so, but at the minute we are delighted to bring to you our FREE 30 Day Challenge!

Our 30 Day Programme will help you to:

• Start learning how to move your body in new ways with over 160 exercises, 16 workouts, all broken down and structured using guided strength and conditioning principles.

This is your base to start calisthenics and give yourself a strong foundation to build from. Get started today!

Click the link below for more information:

Parent's Information Seminar

Friday October 29th

I am delighted to invite all our Parent’s / Guardians to an information seminar on Friday, October 29that 6:30 pm.

This event is aimed towards all our members and hopefully help to share with you the values of the club and what our aims are for every member involved.

I am very aware that due to covid restrictions a huge portion of you have been unable to witness classes or see how your child is progressing. I can imagine this being slightly frustrating and this was not a policy we were accustomed to previously.

To add to that, the constant chopping and changing of regulations made it difficult for us to make long-term plans for everyone involved, it became more about 'keeping them active and engaged' as opposed to thinking more long-term and focusing on development.

One more point that I think is valid for you guys is there is most likely a lack of general awareness of what our sport actually is! So to take away the visual aspect for parents and to see what the structure of a class looks like I can imagine was difficult, so I can only say thank you for your trust in continuing with us and sticking with the classes during this time.

Thankfully, with the signs looking good that we will be out of full restrictions and aiming towards a 'new normal' by October 22nd, I am looking to host a Parent's Information Seminar - October 29th.

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What Will This Entail?

We hope to provide everyone with some more information about the club, our values and the long-term plan we have for each child involved.

We want to show the development plan we work towards and hopefully provide each parent with some insight into what our sport is and how it can benefit your child.

As well as this we hope that this evening gives you a chance to ask any questions you may have around classes or anything related in sports terms towards child development.

I am really looking forward to it and hopefully getting the chance to better expand upon the ideas we have for our club, how to develop the people involved, and for all parents, hopefully, a better understanding of our structure.

To register we just ask that you complete a form below. This is just for seat numbers and so we know how many to expect. I hope to see you all there!

If you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks,
Jamie

Indoor Classes Return September 20th

Hi Guys,

I am delighted that from Monday September 20th we are allowed to return to indoor classes!

This is a great step forward for ourselves and everyone involved. I would like to say a big thanks to everyone that has stated involved with us for the past couple of months while we have had to remain outdoors, and I appreciate everyone's patience and understanding while we had to run outdoor activity.

Anyone that has been involved with us pre covid understands the difference between our outdoor and indoor sessions and I am delighted for everyone involved that they will now get to experience that and to be able to move forward and be optimistic about classes again.

For us personally, this now allows us to hopefully focus and concentrate on the sport itself and helping everyone involved with us develop, as opposed to the way it has been for the last while, where the focus for everyone has been around covid.

I am really excited to get back inside and look forward to welcoming everyone from Monday!

With this in mind I want to highlight below our operating procedures. This is slightly different now that we are indoors. Also it is important to be aware that we are renting a school, this is not our own facility so we need to be mindful and considerate that this building is used by others so we need to create as safe and as hygienic an environment as possible. I appreciate everyone's co-operation around this. Please check the operating procedures below and I look forward to seeing everyone next week!

If you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks,
Jamie

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Bar Monkey Indoor Operating Procedures

Registration

• All classes are registered for online.

• Before anyone can attend a class they must first complete a screening form.

• They also have to update us before each class indicating that there has been no change in their symptoms.

Arrival

• We will ask all parents/guardians driving to park at Tesco to avoid clusters of people at the entrance.

• Arrival would be at the top of the yard - Ashlawn entrance.

• We will have a coach outside in the yard and a hand sanitising station.

• We will ask parents upon arrival to create social distancing and remain 2m apart.

• Before entering indoors we will allow one person in at a time.

• One of our coaches will be at the entrance and will direct them to their designated area.

Indoor Policy / During the Session

• When entering indoors each individual will be directed to their designated area.

• This will be mapped out beforehand. Each space will be 2m apart.

• We will take a maximum number of twelve participants.

• We will have two coaches. Two pods of six participants to each coach.

• This will be their group and coach for the foreseeable future.

Area

• The area will be split into two halves.

• One coach will be in either half with their group.

• We will ask that three kids are at each wall. Cones will be placed down to indicate where they stand and to maintain social distancing of 2m.

• With the room split in half, this will mean we use four walls, two in each half.

Equipment

• We will use our Pull-Up Bar and Parallel Bars as the only piece of equipment.

• All equipment, safety mats etc., will be sprayed with anti-bacterial spray before, during and after each session.

• Before anyone enters the equipment and safety mats will be sprayed down.

• During the session, after each participant has a go the bars will be sprayed. - After the class, the equipment will be sprayed down again.

Coaches

• All coaches are trained in Covid-19 Sport Ireland Training Course

• All coaches will wear masks

• Coaches will only come into contact with the participants when spotting them for movements, to ensure safety. During this time they will be wearing all PPE Equipment.

Session Completion

• Each session will last one hour.

• When the session is complete, we will ask all kids to go back to a designated cone.

• All parents will be asked to come into the yard to collect and to create a distance of a minimum of 2m around the yard.

• One coach will walk out to the yard and in a staggered system participants will be brought out one at a time for collection when their parents have entered the yard.

• They will wash their hands at the hand sanitising station.

• We will then spray the bars and mats down again before the next group enter the building.

End of the Evening

• At the end of the evening, we will perform a thorough cleaning of areas and surfaces used in accordance with cleaning checklist provided by the school.

September 6th Return!

Return Date September 6th

Hi Guys,

I am delighted to let you know we are back from Monday September 6th! I hope everyone is looking forward to coming back! 

By now hopefully everyone has got their first week of school out of the way and they are back to their usual routine. I hope everyone enjoyed the summer months! 

This week they made the announcement around the plans on new restrictions, and I am delighted that by September 20th we will also be allowed indoors again. This is huge news for us as a club. While we managed outdoors, it was still a constant unknown as we all know it is very hard to depend on the weather in Ireland. This has led to cancellations etc and the feeling at times that we were in 'stop-start' mode all the time. The announcement made this week has given us a huge boost and I am sure it has for many others in all areas. 

I think we will all be more excited than ever to be back training or being involved in sports again and will have more appreciation for the experience than ever before.  

I really look forward to seeing everyone back next week. If you have any questions before then just let me know.

Thanks,
Jamie

Calisthenics Exhibition 21

CALISTHENICS EVENTS ARE BACK!

We are delighted to announce the first Exhibition in Tymon Park!

This event is in association with South Dublin County Council and is the first of it’s kind in the area!

This is an amazing opportunity to showcase the sport and for people of the area to get involved and learn how to utilise the facilities in Tymon Park!

DAY BREAKDOWN:

WORKSHOPS - ADULTS

• From 10-12pm we will have workshops for adults, introductory in nature to show people how they can use the park!

  To participate in these, you will need to register online. Forms for these can be found below, and there are minimum places in each class.

STRUCTURED PLAY AREA - KIDS/YOUTH

• A designated area will be set up for younger kids to participate.

• This will need to be supervised at all times by parent’s/guardians.

• You will need to complete the registration form below. This will help us to keep you up to date if anything changes i.e poor weather and is also necessary for contact tracing.

This will give younger groups the opportunity to check out the amazing facilities in Tymon Park, interact with others and get the chance to see the sport of Calisthenics!

For group bookings - i.e a team co-ordinator looking to bring a group of people to the event, please contact us below to arrange as there is a limited amount of places available in order to comply with covid-19 regulations.

DEMONSTRATIONS - 12:00PM

At 12:00pm there will be a series of demonstrations from top athletes in the following categories

• Junior Athletes

• Teenage Athletes

• Adults

This will be an amazing opportunity to witness the heights of the sport, and for any aspiring athletes to get the chance to see the levels they can aspire to!

This promises to be a great day, the first of it’s kind in the area, and in Ireland since covid-19, and we can’t wait to be able to organise events like this again! We look forward to seeing you there!

Please check the link below to our event operating procedures

For any other information please contact us below:

Summer Camps 2021

We are delighted to announce that this summer we will be running outdoor activity camps!

These have been organised in line with covid-19 government guidelines and through Sport Ireland. The aim is to create a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone involved while maintaining health and safety as the top priority. We can do this through social distancing during our sessions and keeping our groups small.

We are really excited to bring these activity camps to you and create a fun, safe and enjoyable atmosphere for all kids involved!

Location: Scoil Cholmcille Ballybrack

These camps will run outdoors throughout July and August. We are providing Activity Camps for both 7-10 and 4-6 age groups!

The schedule of the activities will run as follows:

• 7-10 Age Group 9:00 - 12:00pm

• 4-6 Age Group 12:30 - 1:30pm

‘‘Bar Monkey Camps got our kids back socialising and mixing positively with kids again. They loved the games, had fun and got plenty of one to one instruction with a designated coach in a small group setting. We have already booked a second week!’’

We will have Portable Pull-Up Equipment that we will use throughout each session. This will be cleaned in between each go and all coaches operating this area will wear PPE Gear.

We will have operating procedures in place to protect everyone involved throughout the sessions and these will be sent to you after registration. You will also be required to complete a screening form.

We are really excited to be able to operate classes like these again and we can’t wait to see you all there!

Contact us for more information or click the button below for the registration form for either 7-10 or 4-6 age groups.

Becoming Your Version of an Athlete

Becoming Your Version of an Athlete

CREATING AN INDIVIDUAL APPROACH TO TRAINING

We are delighted to announce that Jamie Geraghty, founder of Bar Monkey Calisthenics, has launched his first book!

This has been release in ebook format and will soon be available also in paperback.

For anyone with an interest in Youth Athlete Development, understanding how to develop someone by taking an individual approach, this book will help you to look at training in a completely different context.

Whether you are an athlete, you can better understand yourself and what type of training you need in order to progress. You will gain a better insight into your own physical characteristics, your emotional response to training, to competition and your cognitive reactions.

As a coach, you will learn how to work with each individual, and to treat them as just that, a unique person in front of you with their own specific physical characteristics, emotions and goals.

This book, if broken down in it’s simplest form, wants to look at the Coach | Athlete relationship and to create a better understanding around how we can develop that relationship.

A coach must understand the athlete in front of them physically, emotionally and cognitively in order to help them flourish and reach their own potential.

Overall, a coach will learn how to create a structure that suits the individual, not fitting an individual into their structure.

Sport is one of life’s greatest forms of expression—the opportunity to showcase your creativity, your artistry, the individual within.

As coaches, why do we so often place athletes all in the same box? Or in a fitness setting, why is every person given the same ‘beginner’ programme over and over?

Much like placing a bird in a cage, if we never truly understand the individual, they will never know their wings are supposed to be used to fly. - Jamie Geraghty

Becoming Your Version of an Athlete : Creating an Individual Approach to Training is available on Amazon now.

Read Now

April 26th - Return of Outdoor Classes

Hi Guys,

I am delighted to announce that we are finally able to return outdoors from April 26th!

I am sure the news that came out this week came with a feeling of slight relief for most, even if we are not fully out of lockdown yet. Hopefully, as the weeks go on, we are going to start to see the whole situation coming to an end and we are back to normality.

By the time we get to April 26th that will have been four months for us all in lockdown, we have not had any outdoor classes since December and one of our teenagers even pointed out to us this week that they haven't been on the high bar in the class in seven months. It's been a crazy time for everyone!

With that in mind, and our plans to resume classes by the 26th, I am aware that this has been a long time for people.

If you are looking to return or join us, could you please click the link below. This will provide more information on the classes, and you can select the one most relevant to you.

We really look forward to seeing everyone again and hopefully returning to normality at some point this year :-)

If you have any questions please just let me know.

Coaching Mentorship

This is a two month Coaching Mentorship Programme in association with The Irish Calisthenics Institution.

Over the course of two months, selected applicants will be brought through both our Level 1 FUNdamentals Programme and our Level 2 Learning to Train Programme.

All of this is done online through zoom sessions and material will be covered in this way.

This course will give all participants an excellent opportunity to learn and understand the role a coach plays in an athlete’s development and prepare everyone accordingly for when we can return to coaching our sport.

The course will also include material around Social Distancing Games and keeping groups engaged when you are on zoom to help us when we are in this current position.

We will also create a discussion with every person and through this we will all gain a better understanding of the role a coach plays and how we can create the right environment for a youth athlete to thrive in our sport.

This mentorship programme has limited spaces available and the aim for us is to prepare people as best as possible for when we are able to return to the sport we love.

Bar Monkey as a club will be expanding this year. We have extra facilities in development and the aim from this course is to work with people we see being able to take on a coaching capacity with us in the future.

There are six places available in the course.

To apply please fill out the application form below.

Bar Monkey Christmas

Hi Guys,

On behalf of everyone at Bar Monkey I hope you all had a great Christmas! 

I hope everyone is enjoying the time off together and that you are able to spend it with the people you want to. 

We know this year has been really difficult for everyone and hopefully you are able to at least end it in a way you would like, and everyone can enjoy themselves! 

We want to announce to you that we are delighted to be running a digital version of a Bar Monkey Christmas! 

As anyone who has been with us before this year will know, we usually have an end of year event. Unfortunately with covid that hasn't been possible this year. 

What we have decided to do instead is run a digital version. What this means is we will have a one hour online event on Saturday January 2nd, before classes officially come back, at 11:00am!

This will feature challenges and activities for all our groups to be part of, join in and have some fun before we are back to normality next week! 

As well as that we will also run a raffle at the end with LOADS of BAR MONKEY PRIZES to give away! 

This includes: 
- Free Months Membership x 3
- JD Sports Vouchers x 3
- Bar Monkey Merchandise
- Bar Monkey Parallettes

 We hope that everyone can join in and take part! 

The challenges are just for fun, and the prizes will be given randomly, not to whoever wins the challenges! 

I hope you all have had a great Christmas and I look forward to seeing everyone, hopefully on the 2nd! If not a reminder that our class schedule starts back as normal from Monday January 4th! 

Thanks,
Jamie

Christmas Schedule

Hi Guys,

On behalf of everyone at Bar Monkey we would like to say a huge thanks to all of our members this year!

It has been a crazy year to say the least and we would just like to let you all know how much we appreciate everyone’s co-operation throughout and for being part of our club.

We love what we do and it wouldn’t be possible if everyone involved with us didn’t want to stay involved, particularly this year, and we are very grateful to have been able to continue.

I hope that you are all looking forward to Christmas now and can enjoy it as best you can!

We just want to update you on our Christmas Schedule.

Classes will be finished from 20th of December and resume January 4th.

All classes will return from the 4th of January.

I know people have been asking us about when we are returning indoors. Just so everyone knows, we are able to go back inside when restrictions are back to level two, or if there are any other announcements made by the government that change the guidelines and allow us to. As soon as it is possible to return indoors that is where we will be!

I hope you all have a great Christmas period and I look forward to seeing everyone again in the New Year!

Thanks,

Jamie

Blanchardstown Closing

Hi Guys, 

It is with huge disappointment that I have to write this. Unfortunately with level 5 restrictions being announced last night we have to shut down Bar Monkey Blanchardstown. 

We have put a huge amount of effort in to making this place a safe and enjoyable setting for people with an interest in our sport. I am delighted that we achieved that. We had over 50 members in our first month despite the restrictions and I am very grateful to all of you for getting involved with us. 

Covid-19 has affected everyone, and unfortunately we are not immune to it and it has made Blanchardstown no longer feasible. 

Going forward we are happy to invite all of you to zoom sessions over the next six weeks. We have cancelled all payment collections and are happy to invite you guys to these sessions free of charge. Just let me know if you are interested and I will add you to the group. 

I would like to say thanks to all of you for your involvement with Bar Monkey the past couple of months, I hope you have enjoyed your time with us.

Going forward, when we return to Level Two Restrictions we will be establishing another facility in Collinstown. If this is something you are interested in please let us know and I can send you on more details. 

Please allow us a couple of days to process refunds etc. for classes that you paid for and will no longer be able to attend. 

Thanks again for your support and co-operation as part of Bar Monkey, and we hope when things return to normal it will be possible to see you all again! 

Thanks,
Jamie