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Primary Report AGM 2009 |
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Annual Report 2009. Primary Section 2009 has been a very exciting year for the Primary section of the Blackrock National Hurling Club. Over 270 boys aged between 5 and 10 registered as Rockies during 2008. Each age group is provided for and 50 coaches give a year round commitment to the club in order to coach these children in the skills of hurling. About 150 attend the Saturday indoor hurling programmes at St Anthony’s School Hall in Ballinlough and at the Blackrock Hurling Hall. In recent weeks it has literally been the only show in town due to the bad weather. The Blackrock Super leagues The Rocky Super league competitions were again the main feature of our Saturday mornings. These resulted in over 30 games being played, with the Cup Finals providing great excitement. Huge crowds turned up for many of the games. Almost 200 boys enjoyed the regular matches with each child having the opportunity to play in several games. The leagues have really become the highlights of the season and they are always played in a great spirit of passion and commitment by the children encouraged by the Blackrock coaches and their parents. Cross channel swimmer Lisa Cummins presented the Under 6 medals These super leagues are sponsored by Carey Tool Hire, who has maintained the long tradition of practical support which began under the late Joe Carey. Thanks to Lisa, Alan and Ken Carey for their continuing support. Another feature in 2009 was the completion of the Micro Sports Indoor Leagues at St. Anthony’s School where over 60 games of indoor hurling were played in the competition. Our thanks to Victor Morgan of Micro Sports for his support. Cllr. Deirdre Clune TD again presented a cheque on behalf of her father, Mr Peter Barry to support the huge effort being put in to the development of hurling in our catchment area. We are deeply appreciative of their support and encouragement. Mention should be made also of the large contribution of Scally’s Super Valu towards the club as part of their sponsorship deal with Blackrock and St.Michaels. The progress of our panels. Both under 10 sides played in the Mick Cashman Cup, which was very well organised city wide by Jodi Crowley and the under 10 coaching group under Michael Scannell and Aidan Lougheed. Sarsfields eventually took the Cup with a powerful performance in defeating Na Piarsaigh in a great final. The visiting teams contribute hugely to the success of this tournament and we would like to complement the St. Finbarr’s club, Sarsfields, Eire Og, Ballinhassig and Na Piarsaigh. The Cashman family were present for the presentation and we wish to thank especially Anne Cashman for her kind words and support. 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 challenge and friendly games. The 8s participated in an interclub blitz involving the Barrs, Piarsaighs and the Glen. Almost 35 Rocky hurlers played in this competition organised by Coiste Oiliuna under Kevin O’Callaghan and were excellent young ambassadors for the club. There are excellently organised groups at under 6 and under 7 and their coaches report great progress. All the groups are very well looked after each Saturday by the committed coaches who are the unsung heroes of the club. The very young boys and girls have had a great time with Joe, Fiona, Ailbhe, Niamh, Aine, Aoife, Niall, Aaron and Ian all year. Indoor hurling continued through the Winter and Spring. We wish to thank Flor O’Sullivan, Principal of St. Anthony’s School, Ballinlough for the use of the hall. Developments during 2009 Full sets of SAQ equipment have been purchased and are now in regular use across all the coaching panels. Eight new coaches received their Foundation badges. Over 120 coaches from this club have now received their Foundation Coaching badges over the past 6 years. The schools of the area are being catered for under a hurling coaching scheme developed in conjunction with Coiste Oiluna of the County Board. Sliotars and hurleys have been made available to all schools by this club. We received a grant from Pobal to undertake this work. This was extended to cover the boys and girls of the Ursulines. We have recently added St. Anthony’s School Ballinlough to the coaching schedule. We must ensure that hurling continues to thrive in the local Primary Schools and the Blackrock Hurling Club must devote whatever resources it takes to ensure the continuing consolidation and growth of hurling across our catchment area. We are extremely grateful to Kevin O’Callaghan of Coiste Oiliuna for his practical support and assistance. If the GAA loses the schools, we lose the youth of our community and the lifeblood of our club. www.blackrockhurling.org 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 sections would submit material, photos, fixtures, results, plans or reports of matches. It is up to each section to submit their details and match reports to the site. Unfortunately it wasn’t done in 2009, unless people supply the information, regular visitors to the site cannot get access to the information. It is a club resource, so please folks, send in the reports. It only takes a few minutes after the games. Our thanks to John Green for his efforts, the site can be viewed at www.blackrockhurling.org, John can be contacted at johngreen@eircom.net . Hurlathon 2009. This was a huge event which took place at the club on the 7th February involving about 500 hurlers hurling in the Hall in a 12 hour period. Dozens of people contributed but a special mention should be made of the committee under Aidan Lougheed, Michael Scannell and Tom Cashman who quietly and efficiently put the programme together and ensured the day ran without a hitch. It was a significant fundraiser based on an original idea adapted to this club and making use of our wonderful indoor hall. The 2010 Blackrock Hurlathon will take place on Saturday 6th February and it will be even bigger and better. All sections of the club are asked to participate and make it a day for all the family and a day to remember. An amazing programme for the day and night is being put in place so Church Road is the place to be on that date. Saturday at the Blackrock Pavilion Many thanks to Lilian Daly, Kathleen Laide, Eithne O’Mahony, Mary Murphy and Diane O’Sullivan, Jean Hogan and Ann Ahern who run this very important operation. The financial contribution made to funds from this coffee shop is also quite substantial. John Vaughan took on the management of this undertaking in 2009 and along with the ladies above and others who helped during the tournaments this year has done a great job. Myles Balfe and his staff have cooperated totally with our efforts on Saturday mornings and we would like to thank them. May, Marie and Jim O’Brien and Brian Roche look after the Blackrock Sports shop which opens on Saturday mornings and enables parents to purchase Rocky jerseys and club gear. May O’Brien again did a wonderful job supplying jerseys when required for our teams. Thanks to Jane Lenahan for preparing and sending in the club notes to the Echo. Rory Noonan in the Echo deserves praise for covering the material. Leo Brownen at the Blackrock Link provided excellent coverage as does Whazon in Cork! Blanche Mulconry and Dave Cummins take care of registrations, while Pat Roche and Tom Daly supply the youngsters with the hurleys and helmets. We are appreciative also of the great work of Aidan Long in sorting out pitches and goal posts for us, and to David Barry for fitting us in to already difficult schedules. Colm Daly has been brilliant all year and especially in the set up every Saturday morning. Coaching. The club is very fortunate to have the services of very dedicated, committed and hard working group of coaches who turn out all through the year to work with the youngsters. These are extraordinary men and women who contribute so much to the Blackrock Hurling Club, they are irreplaceable and show what the true spirit of a GAA club is about. A pleasing feature of 2009 has been the number of young people who continue to help with all aspects of Saturday mornings, in particular Colm Daly, Donal Murray, Oisin O’Mahony, Ailbhe Crowley, Niamh Wedel, David Vaughan, Martyn Griffin, Ian White, Aaron Kennedy, and Aoife Barry. Rory Crowley, Ruairi Wedel, Niall Foley and Aine Kearney who have assisted with various aspects of Saturday morning work. They have become an integral part of the workings and are indispensable at a time when good volunteers are hard to find. The Primary coaches who helped out in 2009. Joe Phibbs Paul O’Callaghan Conor Butler Pat Harrington Aoife Barry. Jodi Crowley John Kennedy Jim Brohan Mike Broderick Sean Logue Ruairi Wedel Niamh Wedel Ailbhe Crowley Donal Murray Ciaran Desmond Charlie Barry Paul Reidy Donal O’Mahony Colm Daly Martin Hurley Allan Russell Donal Buckley Ian O’Sullivan Maurice Griffin. Fiona Kavanagh Fergus O’Brien John Vaughan Martin O’Sullivan Aidan Lougheed Ian White Aine Kearney John Golden Tom Kilcommons Tom Cashman Tom Riordan Oisin O’Mahony Michael Scannell Aaron Kennedy Mike O’Donoghue David Madden Niall Foley Martyn Griffin. David Vaughan Aidan Cotter Liam Kennedy Bro. Patrick Fitzgibbon The officers of the Juvenile section, Brother Patrick Fitzgibbon Chairperson, Ann Carroll, Runai, James O’Brien, Treasurer, Brendan Cunningham, Vice Chairperson, Tom Daly Equipment Officer and John Kennedy Child Protection Officer were outstanding and ensured everything ran smoothly in what was a truly extraordinary year on the field for the Blackrock underage sections. Our congratulations are extended to all the mentors and coordinators of all the juvenile teams. Cogratulations also to the Minor and Junior teams also on their achievements in 2009 brimming as they are with graduates from Saturday morning. Thanks also to St. Michael’s Gaelic football Club, especially Club Chairperson Pat Giltinan and Eamonn Kiely for their cooperation during the year and ensuring their facilities were made available when needed. The Blackrock Camogie Club were very cooperative during the year. Also we are grateful to all the officers of the Blackrock Senior Hurling Committee and other sections for their practical assistance and encouragement during the year and to the officers of the Management Committee for their work in providing facilities and support. Future. We are facing very difficult challenges in the coming years as the other sports such as rugby and soccer adopt a professional and targeted approach on “our” playing constituencies which we have very often taken for granted. Unless we face up to these challenges, provide the resources and practical coaching our numbers playing hurling will decline. We cannot emphasise how important our local schools are to the ongoing success of this club. The extraordinary story of 2009 is no accident; it is the result of hard work and ensuring that the school children from all schools are looked after. Many kids in the club have little or no hurling background, yet with the right coaching and sensitive coaching can develop into great hurlers. “Everyone gets a game” We should continue to organise regular friendly games for all our teams in the Primary Section, where the entire emphasis of the coaches, children and parents should be on every player receiving an opportunity to play the game in a happy and supportive environment. Winning is irrelevant in the wider context of having all the children hurling and having a good time. 2009 has well and truly seen the demise of the Celtic Tiger and the future may again see the emigration of some of our players. However we have the opportunity also to make this club a secure home for many of our young people where the voluntary spirit of this youth involvement in the GAA will see us all through the turbulent times that lie ahead. 2009 has been another good year for our section and for the Juvenile section; we have consolidated our position, and ensured that many young hurlers continue to arrive at Church Road with dreams to dream. The Blackrock senior, intermediate and junior players who will grace Church Road, when the club reaches its 150th birthday in 2033 are already playing and learning the skills of hurling at Church Road. That’s a wonderful achievement and a positive prospect to look forward to! Seamus Hartnett. Gerard O’Mahony. Chairperson Hon Secretary. December 09. Primary Section Blackrock National Hurling Club.
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