West Kerry man Jamie Finn plans to use his experience of growing up on a farm, playing football and soccer, as well as harnessing the county’s natural beauty, in the organisation of ‘On the Ball’ team building weekends.
“I grew up on a beef farm in Annascaul and was involved in GAA and soccer all along but wasn’t among the talented ones,” Jamie said.
“I saw how the talented players had a natural network and how there was a gap between the less talented and those who were really talented. I could see that teams weren’t playing to their real potential because of team morale.”
Rose Escort
Having been a Rose of Tralee escort in 2016, Jamie, who graduated from University of Limerick with a business degree, followed up with a master’s degree in risk management and insurance, witnessed the power of the festival’s bootcamp.
“60 lads who never knew each other could very quickly work as part of a team. It made me sit back and analyse what was going wrong in many teams.”
In 2017, Jamie, who works with GAM asset management in Dublin, acted as manager for his cousin Shane Finn who ran 24 marathons in 24 days.
“I was very involved in the media promotion and social media for him and saw how important it was for him to have a strong team behind him so he could get from Donegal to Dingle.”
Natural Resources
Jamie now plans to host ‘On the Ball’ team building weekends, initially for GAA teams, but with an eye on the corporate market, using the resources on his doorstep such as the farm; the mountains; and the local GAA pitch; as well as the proximity to Dingle.
“I did a trial last weekend and the feedback was fantastic. I’m planning to host the first event at the start of February and I will have three ‘On the Ball’ packages on offer,” said Jamie.
Detoxing will be part of the offering, and digital detoxing won’t be a problem, due to poor mobile phone coverage locally, he said.
“From talking to some people in sporting organisations, a lot of teams are finding that young players have difficulty interacting with people due to the knock-on effects of all the time they spend on their phones. My team building weekends will offer them a chance to switch off and work together against a naturally beautiful backdrop.”
Further information is available by emailing: [email protected].