Secretary's Report

Welcome to the AGM of Ballycomoyle GAA Club for 2010.  I am delighted to be reporting to you at the end of a very good year for the club.  As you know there are many different aspects to our club and they are working in their own area of expertise to ensure the future of our club.  I have asked the secretaries of the Ladies, Scór and Underage to report to you separately.  However, I will give a brief mention to these areas also. 

Our junior men & under 21 teams

Our junior men got 2010 off to a great start by winning the 2009 junior shield final.    Over seven rounds of the junior A championship, we won four games, drew two and lost only one game and this was to the eventual winners of the championship.  Unfortunately, luck was not on our side in the quarter final placing v Tyrrellspass losing out by a goal.  I do believe that this junior A team had the potential to win this quarter final game and progress further, but alas we will have to wait ‘til 2011 to achieve this goal. 2010 saw this team compete very effectively in the Division 4 League.  While we achieved only 2 wins, all games were very competitive and the standard of football being played throughout these games showed great improvement on 2009.

Our junior B team played in Division 7 and fulfilled all their league games, securing one win v Delvin.  While the score lines in these games did not flatter Ballycomoyle, there was certainly an improvement in the standard of football being played.  Participation in the junior B league is very important for the development of our fringe players and it gives them much needed match practice and helps them gain match confidence.  Our outing in the junior B championship saw us draw one game and suffer defeat in the other.  It was disappointing at the end of a good year overall that we failed to field a team for our last junior B game v The Downs. 

Well done to all the players who attended training on a regular basis and put in huge effort during the year.  Overall the teams played with great heart and determination throughout the year and have given many reasons to our club and supporters to be hopeful when we look at the year ahead.  I expect that with the vast improvements made this year, we will build even further on our success for 2011. 

To Pauraic Cullen, John Smyth, Pat Shryane & Michael Connell I say thank you for your work and commitment throughout the year.  Also our thanks to Johnny Corrigan who did first aid on many occasions.

Under 21s

2010 saw us competing for the second time in recent years in the under 21 championship.  Our outing v Shandonagh was a close encounter with us losing out at the final whistle by a single point.  While there was disappointment at the final whistle in this game, great encouragement can be taken from the performance of the team.  It will always take a few years to establish a team at a grade of football that we are not familiar with playing.  This was a big improvement on last year’s performance and I have no doubt that in the coming years we will be a team to contend with in this competition.

Well done lads and well done to Johnny Corrigan, Dermot McKenna and Seamus Leahy for all your efforts in getting this team together.

Ladies Intermediate & Underage teams:

Our ladies saw their first year at Intermediate level.  It is always difficult to establish yourself at a new grade, but when this is coupled with injuries then this task is even more difficult.  While the gap between ourselves and the intermediate champions was substantial, we were better able to compete with the other teams in this grade.  With some restructuring of teams within the county, it looks likely that we will remain at intermediate level for 2011.  It is expected that we will field two teams for the league in 2011 and the county board have reorganised the leagues to accommodate this.  I take this opportunity to thank Marius for all his hard work with this team over the last few years.

Our under 12s and under 14s both got to county finals this year. The under 12s lost out to a very strong Loughnavalley team, and the under 14s had a win over Kilbeggan/St. Josephs in their final.  The Under 16 team played up in the top division of their competition and were beaten in the semi final by the overall winners.  Our under 10 team participated in a blitz in St. Lomans and it would be fantastic if there were more games organised for this age group.  It was disappointing not to have fielded at minor level and hopefully in 2011 we will rectify this. 

Congratulations to Katie Egan, Shannon Farrelly and Ruth Daniels who represented our club on the county under 12, under 14 and minor panels this year.  The under 12 and under 14 teams attained honours in Leinster and the minor team were beaten in the All-Ireland shield final.

Thanks to the following people that looked after teams: Kevin Walsh, Sabrina Dermody & John Coyle – Under 12s, Helen Coyle & Gerry Farrelly - under 14s, Sinead Gallagher, Marius Reilly & Claire Coyle, - under 16s & Minors and Marius Reilly – Intermediates and to Micheál Fagan who was on hand to many of the teams with his first aid expertise.

Underage - Boys

Our underage structure continues to work very well, with boys and girls from 4 to 12 training from 7 – 8pm on Friday evenings.  This is still an area where much more help and expertise is always needed.  I would appeal to our players both male and female to consider lending a hand for this hour on a Friday night to help develop the younger members of our club.  It is a huge commitment for any one individual to attend every Friday night and with more help this could be eased.

Once again our underage members were treated to a day out, the under 12s to Funtasia, Drogheda, the Battle of the Boyne visitor centre and the cinema.  Those over 12 went to Downpatrick for a day of coasteering, grass sledging and orienteering.  Thanks to all who helped with organising these two days and supervising on the day.

Our members that play under St. Michaels have had a very good run this year.  The minor team moved up a division this year to division 2 and were beaten in their final by a very strong Moate team.  Our under 16s were also up a division on last year and progressed to the division 1 semi final only to be narrowly beaten by Caulry.  Our under 14s are through to the division 2 final v St. Lomans this coming weekend.  There is a good representation of Ballycomoyle players on these teams and it is fantastic to have them playing in the top 2 divisions.  I look forward to seeing these players move into our adult panels in the coming years.  There is still room for representation from Ballycomoyle with all these teams on the sideline.

Thanks to the following who looked after teams during the year: Sinead Gallagher, Kelly Coyle, Ciara Walsh and many other occasional helpers – Under 6s, Paul Mooney & Micheál Fagan – Under 8s, Noel Morgan, Derek Cheevers – Under 10s, Marius Reilly & Paul McCrossan – Under 12s, Seamus Leahy – Under 14s, Dermot McKenna -  Under 16s and Johnny Corrigan & John Smyth - Minors.

Schools teams:

Fore school entered the cumann na mbunscoil competitions in boys and girls.  The girls reached their semi final but lost to Milltown who were the outright winners.  It is encouraging to see Castlepollard school participating in the football competitions again this year.  I would like to thank the teachers for their continued support and encouragement of football in the schools.  Well done to all concerned.

The results of all games played by all age groups can be seen in the appendix attached.

Our 2010 scór na nóg saw us represented in four items for each of our clubs at the county final.  Well done to all our participants in the county final who all gave of their best on the night.  Congratulations to Sarah Fagan for her outstanding performance and for taking home county honours in the solo singing.  Sarah has represented our club and county in singing the Amhrán na bhFiann at Leinster and All-Ireland Scór na nÓg finals.

The 2011 scór na nóg is currently underway.  Our club has two teams entered and has the full compliment for both teams.  Great credit must go to Catherine Daly and her team of helpers in preparing the teams.  With a number of new faces taking part this year, I expect that this will raise the bar for everyone for the years ahead.

Thanks to Catherine Daly, Gráinne Healy, Sinéad O’Neill, Siobhán Murphy and Anne Flanagan for preparing these groups for the occasion.

Scór Sinsear 2010

We participated in seven of the eight disciplines in Scór Sinsear, reaching the county final in four items – solo singing, recitation, ballad group and novelty act.  Well done to all who participated as a huge amount of work went into preparations for all items.  Congratulations to our Ballad Group for retaining their county title and giving of their best before being beaten by the eventual All-Ireland champions for the second year in a row.

On national culture night our scór members provided entertainment for all in the square in Castlepollard.  Well done to all.

Finance & Fundraising

Our Treasurer, Ann Dermody, has once again kept a very tight eye on the finances of our club.  This year saw us try out some different ways of fundraising.  The following is a list of the fundraising events that we organised – table quiz, fashion show, sponsored walk, clothes collection, camping night & race night. 

It was our first venture at running a fashion show and camping night and doing a clothes collection.  Our fashion show night was a huge success and everyone who attended was treated to a night to be remembered.  With such an athletic membership, models for the night were in abundance and they paraded up and down the catwalk like professionals – male and female. 

The camping night was most enjoyable.  The campers were treated to a night of fun and entertainment.  Campfire, toasted marshmallows, night walk, family games, rounders, sing-song, bar-b-que and a fry up for breakfast. Sleep was never going to be an option for most of us. 

Great credit is due to the fundraising committee for having these events run off as if we were doing this for many years. Well done to all the fundraising team for their hard work throughout the year, the success of any fundraising event is not by chance.

Our lotto is run every second Tuesday night by a dedicated lotto group.  This has been our greatest source of income over the last few years.  Thanks to everyone who make these events happen and all who supported them.  There is always room for more people to get involved with this on an ongoing basis or even on an ad hoc basis.

This year we adopted a policy whereby only paid up members could participate in club activities.  This policy together with a lot of work by our club registrar to increase membership saw a huge increase in our membership (increased from 327 in 2009 to 542 in 2010) and our income from same. 

We hope to put up better flood lights in the coming year and I ask that all players both ladies and men get behind the race night to raise the funds to make this possible.  With any fundraiser we need the support of all our club members to maximise our profits.  In these recessionary times I would encourage all our members to get behind and support all our fundraising adventures.

Communications: 

Communications in a club is of huge importance.  Thanks to our PRO who has submitted notes to the papers almost every week this year as well as keeping our website up to date.  Communications in a club is everyone’s responsibility.  The club notes are an important source of information for our members in general, but we do need a better flow of information from all the sections of the club to obtain full advantage of this source of communication.  It is not practical to expect that any one person can know and report about everything that is happening in the club and to this end I would like to see a greater input from team mentors about the teams that they are involved with for 2011. 

Lá na gClub.

Once again this year we set aside a Sunday in May to celebrate club day.  This year took the same format as in 2009, with football games for all age groups.  A BBQ was on hand for all the hungry mouths.  I wish to express my thanks to all those who made this day a success.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

We participated in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Castlepollard in 2010.  Our theme this year was to have all 32 counties represented and our members were very resourceful in rounding up various jerseys from around the country.  The Dublin, Meath, Kerry, Cork and Kilkenny jerseys were easily come by however, it was the Leitrim, Carlow and Wicklow ones that posed more of a challenge.  This day was a good opportunity to show case our trophies from 2009 – Men’s Junior Shield, Ladies Junior Championship and Under 14 Championship and Féile Shield.

Grounds Upkeep

Once again we had the service of Jimmy Fagan for the upkeep of our grounds for 2010.  Jimmy always had the grounds in top condition and for that we thank you Jimmy. 

Garda Vetting

It will be a requirement at national level that all underage mentors require Garda vetting in order to take charge of a team.  Our Children’s Officer, Seán Dermody, has made great progress with this.  Getting clearance from Croke Park can take some time but it is encouraging to know that we are not holding up the process.

Annual Dinner Dance:

Our annual dinner dance was held in Crover House Hotel, Mount Nugent.  The attendance at this was again beyond our expectations.  We honoured our success in Ladies Junior champions, Men’s Junior Shield winners, County Ballad Group Champions Senior Scór & Ballycomoyle members of the St. Michael’s minor team.  A great night was had by all.  Thanks to everyone who supported the night.

County Board Delegates:

I would like to thank our county board delegates that make the journey to Mullingar at least once a month to represent our club both in Ladies and Men.

My Vision for 2011
For the year ahead I would like to see improved flood lights erected at the pitch.  This will give us an improved window of opportunity for training for all our teams.  With a growing problem with quality referees, I would like to see us having our own referees trained up for both ladies and men and anyone willing to give this a go should make it known to the secretary.  I would like to see reports for all games, regardless of the results, making it to our club notes as they occur and this may involve roping in more help with each team.  And lastly I believe that to continue to make improvements with our teams we need to strive to give every opportunity to our coaches to improve and advance with the age groups. I would like to see more coaches going on coaching and games development courses in 2011.

Thanks:

Many thanks to Martina Murphy, who on several occasions during the year, gave willingly of her photographic expertise. 

I would like to extend a huge thank you to Niall McKenna, who, as in previous years was very willing to provide our club with sponsorship.  Thank you, Niall. 

Thanks also to our many supporters who cheered our teams on during the year.

To those who suffered bereavements during the year I would like to express my sympathy to them.

Congratulations to all those who have had reason to celebrate in 2010.

Finally, I would like to thank my fellow officers for their support, their patience and their hard work when ever it was needed throughout the year.  Thanks to everyone who contributed at meetings during the year for the benefit of our club. 

To the new committee I wish you the very best of luck but I have no doubt that with the level of support that exists within the club your jobs will be made as easy as possible.

Thank you

Helen Coyle

Underage Secretarys Report (Issued by Kevin Walsh)

2010 was another very good year for all concerned with the Ballycomoyle and St Michael’s underage teams.   The weather this summer was excellent for our Friday night training which was busy but yet a great success. Our Friday night bus ran well with the help of a small group of people who we owe our sincere gratitude.

All our underage teams preformed well reaching semi finals and finals in all grades and although the results did not always go our way, there is no doubting the skill and commitment of our young players. If the club can keep these players together and interested then its future is looking very bright. This in my opinion is the biggest challenge we face as a number of trainers moved on to higher grades this year leaving gaps that are hard to fill. We must get more new people involved and trained. This is the responsibly of every member of our club and to ignore this would be the beginning of the end for us, any help in this department would be greatly appreciated.

St. Michaels has been an area of great success and debate for us in the last number of years and this year is no different. I was lucky enough to see the semi finals of the minor and under 14 a couple weeks ago and was very impressed with the manner in which they despatched Athlone and Milltownpass respectfully. These games would only enforce the idea of St. Michaels as Ballycomoyle were well represented on both teams

Scór has again been a large part in our underage year with a huge number of children getting involved. This interest has meant that Ballycomoyle was represented in the county final. We had one winner in solo singing. This puts the clubs name into the public eye and shows everyone what our young people can do if given the chance.  Other clubs have begun to ask what we are doing right in under age.

This is the time of year when we all sit back and enjoy the memories of the summers GAA highlights which will include many from our own small club. So while we are getting ready for another year I would ask everyone to think about what they did this year and ask themselves if they were happy with their year in Ballycomoyle.  What needs to happen next year? And how can we get more people involved to make life easy for everyone.

I would like to take this chance to thank everyone who helped in any way with the running of the underage, especially the coaches who gave so much of their time to the club and children of our community. I would like to thank the parents for encouraging their children to play for us and congratulate all the teams’ young and old who represented us in the last year.

Many Thanks

Kevin Walsh

Ladies Secretary Report (Issued by Clodagh O'Neill)

I welcome everyone to the AGM of 2010. I would like to thank everyone for there help and co-operation throughout the year, the committee Ray, Anne, Sinead and Helen who were a great help to me. I would like to thank all the team mentors who put in such great work over the year and also the children’s parents for there support.

U6
We had a great turn out of under 6's this year with between 20 - 30 boys and girls this is great to see as this is the future of our club. There was a lot of interest in this age group from there parents who encouraged them night after night.  Thanks to Sinead, Aoife, Ciara Kelly & Co for all their hard work.

U8
Trained with the boys and played Delvin in a challenge match.  Thanks to Micheál Fagan and Paul Mooney.

U10
Our U10's competed in a blitz in Cullion unfortunately there was not more of these or games at this level. Hopefully next year this can be looked at and organise something ourselves to get this age group more experience of playing games.  Thanks to Kevin and Sabrina

UNDER 12 GIRLS
The girls played seven games in the first round of their league winning two losing three and drawing two .This left them in group 3 against Ballinagore, Delvin, Shandonagh Clan Gales, Loughnavalley and St. Joseph’s/Kilbeggan. This was a hard group but the girls won their way to the final. The highlight of the year been a one point win over Devlin in the semi. They lost to a very good Loughnavalley team in the final. One of the girls Katie Egan was picked for the county which went on to
win a Leinster medal.  Thanks to Sabrina & Kevin

U14'S
Our under 14 girls competed in the Féile competition again this year.  Winning their group and progressing to the semi final stages.  However, they were beaten by the eventual winners in the semi final which left them playing for the shield competition which unfortunately did not go our way.  In the league there was a lot of good football being played throughout the year and some of our closest encounters were against the
teams at the top of the league.  We finished up competing in Division 3 where we accounted for all our teams that played.  Unfortunately there was difficulty in getting opposing teams to play in this division but when it came to the final day we proved to have what it takes.

U16
The girls played in the top division this year despite this the girls had victory over Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downs but losing to Moate. Garycastle pulled out of the competition and Athlone declined to travel to Ballycomoyle. They reached the semi-final against Moate but unfortunately due to being in the top division and Moate being one of the stronger teams we faced defeat.  Thanks to Marius, Claire and Sinéad.
 
U18
Unfortunately due to lack of number in this age group it was impossible to field a team.

Intermediate Shield
We started off the year training in February with good numbers turning out for training but over the course of the year we lost a number of key players due to injury and other commitments. First we played Athlone in the shield. Ballycomoyle gaining victory we also won against Clann Gaels and St Josephs, unfortunately we were defeated against Loughnavalley and Moate. Despite these defeats we were surprised to be told in October that we had reached a semi-final having finished training in August. We lost to Clann Gaels on the 16th of October with a skeleton team of 15.5 players, very disappointing end to the year.
 

Championship
Having successfully gained Intermediate status we realised that the year ahead wasn’t going to be easy. Unfortunately we failed to win any of our games against Moate, Kilbeggan and Rochfortbridge. We played Rochfortbridge in the semi-final and we were defeated again and then Moate in a relegation play off which we also lost. This was a major disappointment to players, management and supporters alike. The good
news is due to a change in the format of fixtures in the county we will still be able to compete at Intermediate level next year and hopefully we can enter two teams in at least the shield competition. Our aim for 2011 is come back fighting as Ballycomoyle don’t and won’t take defeat lying down.

Finally I would to take this opportunity to give a big thank you to Marius for all his hard work and dedication over the last number of years unfortunately he has made the decision to retire as manager.  Marius invested a lot of time and effort in our Junior/Intermediate team and we would never have got to the places we did or had the night out if it was not for him. All the girls would like to wish him the best in his business for the future. Thanks Mar.

Clodagh O'Neill

Culture and Language Officer report.

It gives me great pleasure to present my 2010 report as Culture and Language Officer of Ballycomoyle GAA Club.

SCÓR NA nÓG.

2009/10.
In 2009/10  Ballycomoyle Ladies were represented in seven of the eight categories in the first round of Scór na nÓg and Ballycomoyle GAA club were represented in all of the eight categories. At the time of last year's AGM we had reached the county final with eight groups - 2 Solo Singers, 2 Recitation entrants, Quiz team, Instrumental Music Group, Ballad Group and Novelty Act.

Sarah Fagan competed in and won the Solo Singing Competition in the County Final. Sarah represented Ballycomoyle very well and we can all be very proud of her. She was subsequently asked to sing Amhrán na bhFiann at the Leinster and All-Ireland finals of Scór na nÓg. She also sang Amhrán na bhFiann before the Westmeath Senior Camogie Final. Sarah received a presentation in recognition of her achievement at the club's underage presentation night held recently.

2010/11
The current Scór na nÓg season is well underway, with the County Final scheduled for Sunday next, November 28th, in Ballymore.

As in previous years we entered two groups of competitors representing Ballycomoyle GAA Club and Ballycomoyle Ladies. We were delighted to be represented in all eight categories by both clubs this year. I have attached a full list of this year's competitors. In total 46 young people, ranging in age from 6 to 16, were involved in the first round.

22 competitors represented Ballycomoyle Ladies in all eight competitions. We hosted this first round in Coole Hall on Saturday, November 6th. Many thanks to all who helped to make this night the success it was. Of the eight competitions we had representatives in, five reached the semi-final on Friday night and our Ballad Group and Novelty Act have qualified for next Sunday's final. Those representatives are Lauren Devine, Marie Egan, Saoirse Farrelly, Kelly Coyle, Clíodhna & Bláthnaid Daly, Avril & Nicola Fagan (Novelty Act), Clíodhna Daly, Marie Egan, Amy McNicholas, Shauna Coghlan and Saoirse Farrelly (Ballad Group).  

Ballycomoyle GAA club was represented  in all eight competitions by a total of 24 competitors. Of these eight, five reached the semi-final last night and four acts have qualified for the final. Representing Ballycomoyle GAA Club in the County Final, next Sunday, will be Sarah Fagan (Solo Singing),  Andrew Leahy, Peter McKenna, Killian Daly (Quiz), Hillary Gaffney, Alice Murphy, Agnes Hogan, John Coyle (Instrumental Music Group) and Sarah Fagan, Maria & Anna Henry, Killian Daly and John Coyle (Ballad Group).
Of the 46 competitors who represented the Club a few weeks ago 20 have progressed to the County Final. I would like to take this opportunity to wish them the best of luck next week and also to thank all our young competitors for their interest, efforts and enthusiasm and for the manner in which they represented our Club in this year's Scór na nÓg competition. They are a credit to our Club, their families and, of course, to themselves. We should all be very proud of each and every one of them.
Many thanks to Anne Flanagan for her work with our Figure and Set Dancers. Thanks also to Helen Coyle, Gráínne Healy, Siobhán Murphy and Sinead Fitzpatrick for their help in preparing these teams. Thanks also to all the parents for all their help, support, encouragement and patience.

SCÓR SINSEAR.

2009/10.
In Scór Sinsear 2009/10 the club was represented in all of the competitions except the Instrumental Music competition. It was great to be represented in so many of the categories. Four of these made it to the County Final, namely Recitation, Solo Singing, Novelty Act and Ballad Group. The Ballad Group were delighted to retain their county title from 2009. The members of this group were Siobhán Murphy, Grainne Healy, Doreen Farrelly, Catherine Daly and Micheál Fagan. This group were beaten by Clara in the Leinster Final, who went on to retain their All-Ireland title.
At our annual Dinner Dance in January this group were honoured for their 2008/09 success.
Hopefully we will enter two teams in Scór Sinsear this coming season.

Culture Night.
I was asked if we would be willing to do a 'Ballad Singing' slot at the Culture Night, which was held in Castlepollard on September 24th last. In total 15 singers from the club came together for the occasion. The group comprised of members from our junior and senior ballad groups and  provided an hour's entertainment on the night. Many thanks to all our singers who, again, represented the club very well on the night and for the efforts they put into the preparation for the Culture Night.

Conclusion.
As can be clearly seen from this report there is huge interest among our club members in Scór. Hopefully we will taste more success this season in Scór na nÓg and in Scór Sinsear after Christmas.
Finally I would like to express my thanks to all those, family, friends and fellow committee members,  who helped and supported me in this role over the past year.

Many Thanks,

Catherine Daly.

Fixtures and Results for the 2010 season

Club Contacts:  

 
Last modified: May 03, 2013