National Student Bursaries Scheme 2017/2018

National Student Bursaries Scheme 2017/2018

The GAA have again reiterated their commitment to the ongoing educational development of its players and members by announcing details of the 2017/2018 GAA National Student Bursary scheme. Now in its eleventh year, the scheme is open to members of the Association who are attending a full-time Higher Education course (except those who hold another GAA-related or college scholarship/bursary) and who are active participants in their Higher Education club; to date the GAA has invested over €2million in the past decade that the Bursary Schemes have been in existence.

The schemes are administered by the respective Provincial Councils and recipients will again be selected based on a range of criteria, including their playing, coaching or administrative commitments to the GAA. A number of awards in each province will be reserved for those excelling in the areas of coaching and administration.

Applications for the scheme will be considered by a sub-committee in each province; each bursary granted will be for €750 in Munster, Leinster and Connacht (Ulster Amount TBC).

Further information and application forms for this year’s scheme are available to download from www.gaa.ie, the various GAA Provincial Council websites (see below) and offices and from the Higher Education Colleges website http://he.gaa.ie/. Students should apply using the relevant application form to the Provincial Council of their home GAA Club.

All completed forms should be returned to the relevant Provincial Council and the closing dates for applications is Friday October 6th.

Senior Inter-County players who were on their County’s Senior Panel in 2017 should apply for Bursaries via the Gaelic Players Association; further information at www.gaelicplayers.com.

Munster GAA Third Level Student Bursaries Scheme – Terms and Conditions

The GAA’s schemes are allocated by its four Provincial Councils. Some elements of the Bursary scheme are common across the four provinces; other elements are left to their discretion. Broadly speaking the following is a summary of the various elements of the Bursary schemes as they will operate in 2017/2018 –

a) Payment is made in two instalments of €375 (Munster, Connacht and Leinster) and one payment of €750 (£tbc) Ulster.
b) The application is open to members of the Association (be they male or female) who are attending a full-time Higher Education course and who are active participants in their Higher Education GAA Club
Notes
(i) those who are in their first year of 3rd level education are not eligible for the Bursaries distributed by the Ulster Council
(ii) in some provinces application is restricted to undergraduates only)
c) A general condition of receiving a Bursary should be the demonstration of a number of volunteer hours commitment to the College GAA Club. The conditions governing this are at the discretion of each province.
d) Those who hold another GAA related or college scholarship/bursary are not eligible. To ensure this:
• The Application Form for 2017/2018 includes a section that must be signed/stamped by the college registrar, confirming that a given student is not in receipt of a Bursary from that college.
• The GPA will provide each province with a list of its 2017 members on request to allow for cross-referencing on eligibility
• Provinces to supply list of recipients to Central Council once decided for sharing with GPA as appropriate and in order to draw down GAA allocation.
e) As the Camogie Association currently run a Bursary scheme, it is a matter for each province to decide if they wish to consider applications for Camogie players or refer them to the Camogie scheme
f) A set number of awards in each province will be granted to students who have shown a positive contribution in the areas of coaching or administration. This should be in the region of 20% but final figure is at the discretion of each province
g) Bursaries may be awarded in successive years; to a maximum of 2 years in total.
h) Elements of the Application form is standard across the four provinces but the criteria used to assess each application and the make up of the committee in each province is at the provinces discretion.
i) It is at the discretion of each province in a general context as to whether they want to award bursaries to students from their province studying in a college in a different province or not. However, if a Province does not cater for individuals in such circumstances, a small quota of awards should be set aside to ensure such cases are not excluded from applying.
j) As a general best practice approach, each Provincial Council should draw up and edit annually a terms and conditions document outlining how the allocation of bursaries will work in their jurisdiction which must be made available to Croke Park on request.
k) Senior Inter-County players who are GPA members should be dealt with under the GPA’s scheme only.
a. If senior Inter-County players are unsure if they should apply under the provincial or GPA schemes, they should contact the GPA directly to establish their eligibility.
b. As per (d) above, the GPA will provide each Province with a list of the players eligible for their schemes on an annual basis.
l) Ard Chomhairle funding to each province for Bursaries is based on the commitment of the individual provinces; where the same financial commitment as in previous years is made by the provinces, Ard Chomhairle funding will be as follows:
• Leinster €30,000
• Munster €24,000
• Ulster €15,000
• Connacht €12,000
• Britain €5,000