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Mionr and UnderAge AGM Report 2004 |
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Minor-Under
Age Committee Annual
General Meeting January 2005 Agenda 1.Chairman’s
Address 2.
Secretary’s Report 3.
Team Reports 4.
Treasurers Report 5.
Election of Officers Under-age (Vice-Chairman,
Secretary, Treasurer) 6.Election
of officers Primary Section (Chairman/Secretary) 7.A.O.B.
You
are all very welcome to the annual review of the activities of the
Minor/under-age and primary sections. Overall we can be well satisfied with our
efforts in the promotion of hurling in the past year. The
Primary section was, as always, very organised. They did an excellent job
catering for the huge numbers every Saturday. The super-leagues were again a
great success and they also ensured the smooth running of all the activities in
the Pavilion. The
Bord Na N-Og, non-exam and Minor Teams all acquitted themselves well. We
competed in the Premier grades in all competitions. Congratulations to the under
14 and Minor B Teams each of which won their respective city championships. We
had some excellent tournaments during the year commerating some former great
clubmen: Mick Cashman, Ger Dineeen and William Ahern. Our under 11 team captured
the William Ahern Trophy. Due
to the increase in the number of players we will have additional teams in the
coming season. A new structure has been put in place to ensure that everybody
who wants to play hurling is given an opportunity to do so. It is imperative
that the proper infrastructure is in place to meet the increase in playing
activity. I would like to thank all those who have worked in this section during the past year and to all club members who have helped us in any way. Eamonn
O Donnchú (Cathaoirleach) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Secretary’s report A
Chairde, Cuirimse an tuairsc seo fé bhrád baill den gcumann faoi
chursai an Roinn na Mionúir agus Bord na N-Óg Cumann na Carriage Duibhe don
bhliain 2004. Blian
ina raibh glionadar agus
briseadh chroí agus ag a deireadh tá an Cumann láidir agus súil again don
todhcaí. It
is with a satisfaction and excitement that I present this Secretaries report of
the Under-age and Minor Committee for the year 2004.Satisfaction with the very
high volume of activity, successes gained and excitement as we look to a bright
future with all our under age teams being competitive in all age groups as will
be seen in later sections of the report. At
the outset I would like to thank my fellow officers, Eamonn O Donoghue, Br
Patrick, John O Halloran, Ger O Mahony and Martin Farrell for the high work rate
they showed and the great sense of direction and purpose which they all in their
own way, brought to the operation of the Minor and Under-age section this year.
Management
Committee. Our
thanks to the Management Committee
for the work they do on behalf of the club. We did write to them during the year
with a number of issues of concern and these were dealt with. Senior
Hurling Committee. Our
thanks to the Senior Hurling Committee for their encouragement and support
during the year and hopefully it won’t be too long before the Sean Og Murphy
cup returns to Blackrock. Grounds
Committee.
The
voluntary Grounds committee do their level best to maintain the pitches and
surrounding grounds. However it is the firmly held view of this committee that
the work involved is too onerous for a voluntary committee and we still consider
that a full time grounds-man/caretaker is required. The grounds committee were
of great help in the erection of goals for some matches particularly the
Wednesday night ones but the issue of under-age goals and their placement for
matches place a big demand on team mentors whose energies might be better used
in the coaching and management of teams. Pitch
Allocation. The
high level of activity in Blackrock Hurling Club, Blackrock
Camogie Club and St Michaels Football places a huge demand on the
facilities. I would like to thank Roger Ryan for his courtesy and efficiency in
this difficult work. I would also like to thank Jim Foley for his co-operation
with respect to pitch booking. Club
Hall. We
are most disappointed that we need to continue to play all our indoor hurling in
St. Anthonys in Ballinlough
while our own hall is unused. It is interesting to read later about the progress
of our teams and to note that we were beaten in Minor Championship, under12
championship and league, under 14 league final , Feile na nGael and under 15
league semi-final by Na Piarsaigh. The
Na Piarsaigh mentors speak highly of the value of their indoor facility in
terms of the skill development of their players. Hopefully in the not too
distant future we will be able to do likewise. Coaching. In
April all our coaches attended a session where we went through our codes and
general procedures for the following year. This was a most beneficial night. A
total of 15 members acquired the G.A.A. Foundation Certificates following an
in-house coaching course in April. Seven more completed the G.A.A. Level 1
Course. Further courses are available early in the New Year and we are urging
all coaches to avail of these if possible. Bag Packing. During
the year we were involved in fund-raising through a number of bag packing
evenings at Dunnes Stores. Whether this is an appropriate form of fund raising
is open to debate and the officers are not of one mind about it. Points for discussion 1.
Is the Féile na nGael competition one which we should continue our involvement
with? 2.
All our games, league and championship are now highly competitive affairs. This
means that we always start our best 15 from under 12 to Minor in every game
consequently fringe players never get a start and therefore never get an
opportunity to develop their skills. They then become disinterested and move to
other codes. As well as this the high intensity of games leads to a less
enjoyable experience for coaches and players. This is something to be looked at
by the incoming committee. Under-age
wish list 1.
Appointment of a complex manager/promoter. 2.
Appointment of a full-time grounds-man 3.
Opening of the Hall 4.
Development of Hurling alleys. 5.
Development of pitches in Mahon 6.
Development of the ground behind the convent field as an all-weather flood
lit playing surface. 7.
The involvement of more former Blackrock players as coaches and selectors
with under-age teams. We
see these as being necessary if we are to maintain our position as one of
the premier hurling clubs in the country. Some of these activities could
be self-financing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team Reports Premier
Minor No
of players on Panel: Martin Lyons MINOR B CHAMPIONSHIP
- PLAYED 3 WON 2 Won
city championship v Passage West Playing
a team of players all minor again in 2005, with 10 underage again in 2006,
we won the only adult championship for the club in 2004. A
superb semi - final performance against Brian Dillons in difficult
conditions resulted in a 1 point win. Mention must go to Paul Reidy with a
personal tally of 3.4. Against
a resolute Passage team, in the City final we triumphed by 4 points with
huge contributions again by Paul Reidy with 1.5 and ably assisted by Eric
Hegarty with 0.4. We
were beaten by Ballygarvan in the County championship they were undoubtedly the better team on the night 23
players assisted in this championship win and with the u16 management team
in tow this team provided the silver lining for Blackrock in 2004. Under 16 Under16A competition League
- played 5 games - won 2 lost 3 ( 2 of those by a point) We
qualified for league semi-final v Bishopstown. we were short 7 of our
championship team including 4 of our 6 forwards. Despite heroic play by
our defense, we did not have the penetration up front in a game played in
Bishopstown. Conceding
a last minute goal, we lost 1.8 to 0.5 Championship
- played 3 games won 1 lost 2 Qualified
for City championship semi final v Glen Rovers We
started with a great victory over Bishopstown in Togher winning 5.8 to
1.9. We were confident of a good performance against the Glen in the
semi-final . Following a poor first half performance, a huge improvement
in play typified by JP Carroll resulted in us outscoring
Glen Rovers in the 2nd half but losing overall 1.5 to 2.11
Under16B competition League
- played 4 games - won 2 lost 2 Qualified
for league semi-final v Whitechurch Championship
- played 2 games won 1 lost 1 Qualified
for city championship semi-final v Mayfield 2
great wins over Nemo Rangers & Passage West first teams positioned us
well for both Championship & League semi finals. An
extremely strong Mayfield side defeated us (after 2 rounds of the A
championship had robbed us of 8 players) in the championship We
were extremely unlucky in the league semi final v Whitechurch with 2
soft goals costing us victory in the end by 3.9 to 1.7. Despite an immense
performance by Graham Howard. A
mixed year for the under 16's with injury & illness difficulties. This
allied to dual player involvement and the participation of 6 on the minor
panel meant it was hard to get a full squad together. The
u16's played 12 competitive games. with a further 4 practice matches. We
had 37 training sessions over the year. This has averaged at 2 sessions
per week from April to October. Over 41 players contributed to the playing
teams at u16 level and all are staying involved again in 2005. JP
Carroll represented the club at county u16 level, giving a man of the
match performance in the drawn All-Ireland final v Galway. Mark
Drummond, Brian Ahern ,JP Carroll ,Karl Leonard and Shane O'Sullivan
represented the club at minor premier grade. Huge
credit must be afforded to my management team of Jamie Harrington, Liam
O'Brien, Barry Hennebry and Br.
Patrick (regularly consulting from Africa!) LIAM
MEANEY Under 15We
have 27 players on this panel and 9 are members of the Seandun panel. Mentors.
Ger O Mahony, Jamie Harrington and John Long After
a very successful campaign in the previous year he team began the year
with a league victory over Glen Rovers. We followed this with victories
over Iniscarra, Bishopstown and St Vincents. During
the Summer we played with some games at less than full strength due to
holidays and injuries and we lost to St Finbarrs, Sarsfields and Na
Parsaigh. We
qualified for the league semi final against Na Piarsaigh and after a
wonderful game including extra time we were beaten by a five point margin. In
the Championship we were beaten by a single point by Glen Rovers having
been 11 points down at one stage. Brian Ahern, Roy Power and Brian O
Sullivan played key roles in this game Under
14 2004
was a very successful year for this panel; they are Cork City under 14
Champions, played in the Cork Féile Final and
reached the City league final. In total they have played 12
competitive games in
2004, and performed well in virtually all matches. In addition they played
four challenge matches against teams such as Durlas Og, Na Piarsaigh
(Limerick), Dungarvan, and Dicksboro (Kilkenny). Biggest
success was overcoming a very strong Na Piarsaigh team in the City
Championship Final while losing to the same team in the Feile Final,
despite a fantastic fightback was a disappointment. The panel consists of
about 25 players, a worrying aspect is that we have lost a number of
players this year due mainly to the lack of regular games Ten
of the panel was asked to attend the Seandun under 14 hurling selection
and eight eventually were chosen for this squad. Two were also chosen on
the Cork under 14 panel, Patrick Parfrey, (captain) and Robert Creagh.
These are a smashing panel of youngsters and have a great future in
hurling if they stay with the game. Some of them are extremely talented
hurlers and with the right coaching and encouragement could bring great
glory to the club and themselves in the coming years. Mentors:
Pat Roche, Maurice Griffin, Bobby Thornhill, Seamus Hartnett, Tony Falvey,
Brian Roche and Gerard O’Mahony.
Ger O Mahony Under
13
Coaches: David Coakley, Ronan Coakley, Br. Patrick. Captain for 2004: Patrick Deasy. Training
began in April 2004 with a training session every Wednesday Our
first three games resulted in defeat and the next three were won before The championship was played in September against Douglas and was lost by 6 points. Training
has continued once a week since the close of the League. For the
past month the Astra-turf is used in the Ursuline Convent once a Br Patrick Fitzgibbon Under 12
The
year started with training in Ashton for a squad of 33 players on Monday Competition
proper got under way with in the City league following a series The City Championship began away to Douglas and resulted in a good win for Blackrock at the Semi-Final stage . It was then on to our nemesis Na Piarsaigh for the Final of the City Championship , once again we were unlucky against a very good side . The Semi-Final of the league was next and we were once more pitted against Na Piarsaigh . Na Piarsaigh were very lucky to come out on top of an epic encounter in which we would have won but for the concession of a very , very late goal . We
played in the Bray Hurling Tournament and were beaten in a very The Ger Dineen tournament was next up and once more we reached the final only to be denied by a very fine Dicksboro side from Kilkenny Training Sessions: 32 Matches Played : 21 , lost 10 , Won 11 Overall
we feel the squad this year showed a great improvement throughout the year
, something emphasised by Eddie Murphy ( Munster Council Coaching ), who
took the lads for a two hour training stint in mid November , which was
very beneficial to both players and coaches alike . While we feel we were
unlucky not to have any silver ware to show for our efforts this year ,it
is only a matter of time before this will be back to winning ways , such
is the commitment and enthusiasm shown by this group of young hurlers . Kieran O Sullivan Under 12 B No of players on Panel: 28 No
of training sessions (approximate):35 No.
of games played / Won /
Lost :20 Matches played (Won 16/Lost 4) Level reached in league/championship: Lost the Under12B League Final to Nemo. Lost
12 B County Championship Final to Millstreet Trophies
won: Won William Ahern tournament A
very successful year for the team, playing above their age group, they
reached the finals of both the City League and County Championship,
failing narrowly in both finals. The experience gained
playing at this level will stand to them in future years. They
also won out a highly competitive William Ahern
Tournament which included teams from Cork/Limerick/Waterford/Tipperary and
Kilkenny. Overall,
a highly committed bunch of players with a bright future on the hurling
front ahead of them. JP
Devine
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Primary
School (Saturday morning) coaching Almost
400 boys aged between 4 & 11 registered as Rockies during the year
2004. Each age group is now
provided for and 24 coaches give a year round commitment to the club in
order to coach these children in the skills of hurling.
There have been regular turnouts of between 150 and 250 children
each Saturday morning while about 170 attend the Saturday indoor hurling
programmes at St Anthony’s in Ballinlough. The
Blackrock Super leagues The
Rocky Super league competitions were again the main feature of the year.
These resulted in 32 games being played, with the Cup Finals
providing great excitement. Huge
crowds turned up for many of the games.
Almost 250 boys enjoyed the regular matches with each child having
the opportunity to play in four games. These leagues have really become
the highlights of the season and they are always played in a great spirit.
Teams’
progress All
the teams performed exceptionally well in their various competitions.
The Under 11s reached
both the under 12B county final and the Under 12B league final which was a
fine achievement. While they had to give second best in both, they fought
right to the end and although giving a year to the other teams showed no
fear of their older opponents. This amazing panel also captured the
William Aherne Trophy in September in a competition organised by J.P.
Devine which featured the very best of under 11 teams in Ireland. The
under 10s reached the semi-final stages of the Mick Cashman Cup, which was
organised city wide as a league by Nicholas Bond and produced some very
good quality games and an excellent standard of hurling. The under 10s
also performed very well in various challenge matches during the year.
The Under 9s and 8s also gave a good account of themselves in their
various challenge games, with the under 8s achieving success in the
Sarsfield Tournament in September. There are also good solid groups at
under 7 and under 6 and their coaches report great progress. The very
small lads have had great fun with Joe, Michael and Paul all year. Sport
should be fun! We
must look at organising regular friendly games for all our team in
the Primary Section, where the entire emphasis of the coaches and parents
should be on every
player receiving an opportunity to play the game and enjoy the sport in a
friendly and appreciative environment. I
am somewhat concerned that far far too much emphasis is being placed on
winning and introducing competitiveness for children at very young ages. I
believe this may contribute to the big fall off of children from sport
later and really requires to be looked at as a matter of urgency. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coaching. The
club is very lucky to have the services of a group of very dedicated and
committed coaches who turn out all through the year to coach the
youngsters. Without these men it would not be possible and we would like
to thank them. A
special coaches training day has been organised for Saturday April 2nd
at Church Road, which should be of benefit to all coaches working with
youth. A
growing feature of 2004 has been the number of young people who help with
all aspects of Saturday mornings, in particular Paul Reidy, David O’Shea
and Paul O’Sullivan who have become regular coaches. A number of other
young people help out in the pavilion and we would hope to see a further
influx in 2005. Indoor
Hurling The
indoor hurling season commenced on the 2nd November in St Anthony’s Hall
in Ballinlough and has continued with between 150 and 200 boys
participating each weekend. The
under 10s trained at the Ursulines Under 11 group have been hurling
successfully at the magnificent Ashton School astro-pitch on Monday
nights. We resume again on Saturday 15th January. A
major disappointment has been the continuing non-availability of the
hurling hall, hopefully it will open in 2005. We must also look seriously
at the position of developing a series of hurling alleys or walls in
Church Road where youngsters can practice their hurling skills. The
feasibility of an all-weather pitch should also be looked at. There is a
growing sense that the under-age clubs with ready access to these
facilities are beginning to open up an increasing gap in the hurling
skills area on the clubs such as ourselves, which passion and commitment
alone will not close! Developments
during 2004 A
new revised printed Code of Good
Behaviour was introduced for 2004 and all the underage members have
signed up to same. A well designed Rocky car sticker was also produced and
given to each new Rocky in 2004. (sponsored by Cummins Sports) The
ongoing maintenance of the Rocky website was undertaken by John Green and
is proving to be of immense benefit to the young Rockies. It is vital that
all other sections would submit material, fixtures, results, plans or
reports of matches. Many people especially Rockies living abroad are now
viewing the site as a source of up to date information about the club and
it is therefore important that it is kept up to date at all times. Our
thanks to John Green for his efforts, the site can be viewed at www.blackrockhurling.org
and John can be contacted at johngreen@eircom.net
. The site has now has had over 13500 hits. Media
We
would like to thank the Evening Echo newspaper especially Paul Daly for
allowing us to avail of a weekly column to publicise our activities,
forty-five columns of notes were supplied during the period.
Likewise, Douglas Weekly allows us to make regular reports for
which we are grateful. Inside Cork has been most helpful. Donation. Our appreciation also goes to Peter Barry for his donation towards under-age hurling in the club earlier this year. Councillor Deirdre Clune presented a cheque to Mr. Eamonn O’Donoghue on behalf of her father. It was a very generous gesture by Mr. Barry. Sponsorship Our
thanks to Ken and Alan Carey of Careys Tool Hire for their continued
sponsorship of the Super-leagues Saturday
morning at the Pavilion This
has been a great addition to the Saturday morning proceedings and one of
the high spots each week is to ramble into the pavilion once the hurling
is over, have a cup of coffee and a delightful homemade cake and relax and
listen to the coach’s ,parents and children talk about the morning’s
events. Noel Carroll
organises this along with Kathleen
Laide, Lillian Daly, Eithne O’Mahony and Gobnait Burke. May
O’Brien now looks after the Blackrock gear shop which enables parents to
purchase Rocky jerseys and club clothing items. Blanche
Mulconry and Seamus Hartnett take care of registrations, while Pat Roche
and his young hurley salesmen supply the hurleys and helmets. It is a very
busy place on Saturdays. Our
special thanks to Timmy Murphy for his willingness to come along on
Saturday mornings to present medals and trophies to the super league teams
and for his words of encouragement. Many members of the senior team came
in regularly on Saturday mornings for various presentations.
Thanks to Wayne, John, Alan, Fergal and the other players on the
senior team for being available! The
coaches who made it all possible.
The officers of the Minor Board and Juvenile sections, Eamonn O Donoghue, John O’Halloran , Billy Reidy , Brother Patrick Fitzgibbon and Martin O’Farrell provided massive assistance and support during the year. Also we are grateful to the Senior Hurling Committee and Eamonn Kiely and Jim Foley of St. Michaels under-age section for their cooperation during the year. Ger
O Mahony Treasurer’s
Report (John
O’ Halloran)
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