Primary Section AGM Report 2001

Primary Section Annual Report 2001

Primary School (Saturday Morning) coaching

Over 350 boys aged between 4 and 11 registered as Rockies during the year 2001. Each age group is now provided for and 25 dedicated coaches give a year round commitment to the club in order to coach these children in the art and shills of hurling.

There have been regular turnouts of over 200 children each Saturday morning while in one 24 hour period on a Friday/Saturday in mid September the Church Road pitches coped with over 400 boys and girls.

Superleagues

The Superleague competitions were the main feature of the year. These resulted in 24 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. It is hoped that the Blackrock Superleagues will become a permanent feature of the coming years.

Games and Competitions

We entertained many visiting teams during the year. Amongst our visitors were the Bray Hurling Club, which traveled to Church Road in September. They played a total of nine games against our Under 9 groups and later attended the Rockies Senior Match against Castlelyons. We enjoyed their company very much for the day and hope to go to Bray this year. Other visiting teams included Blarney, Douglas, St. Vincents. Erin's Own, Bishopstown and Brian Dillons. Teams traveled from Blackrock to Thurles, Dungarvan, Eire Og, Erin's Own, and many venues in the South East.

All the teams performed exceptionally well in their various competitions. The Under 11's came out top in their City League competition and performed well in the South East under 12 Leagues. The under 10's reached the final of the Nemo tournament, did exceptionally well in the South East ground hurling competitions and in challenge matches. The Under 9's and 8's also gave good account of themselves in their various challenge games. A notable feature of all groups was the improvement in hurling kills during the year.

Coaching....the emphasis on enjoyment and fun

Under age hurling should be interesting and fun for the children and all coaches have emphasized these aspects in their approach during the past year. The emphasis is on the enjoyment while learning the skills. We are proud of the fact that we had no complaint of misbehavior by any of the children throughout the year. Many of our coaches attended a very informative coaching session organized by Ray Kelleher.

Indoor Hurling

The indoor hurling season commenced on the 2nd/3rd November in St. Anthony's Hall in Ballinlough and has continued with over 200 boys participating each week-end. The Under 11's group have been hurling successfully at the magnificent Ashton School Astro-pitch on Friday nights. Hopefully the Blackrock Indoor Hurling Hall will be ready for out indoor hurling next winter.

The Future

The new Code of Behaviour will be introduced in 2002. in addition the upgrading of the Rocky website has commenced and should be of benefit to young Rockies. Other plans include coaching courses and hurling discussion night for our coaches. A very enjoyable social night for coaches and social partners was held in November in the Club bar and was a great success; another one is planned for February.

Exciting Times

These are exciting times for all Rockies as the Senior hurlers are now the undisputed County and League champions in Cork. Several of these hurlers have helped us during the year in coaching and presenting trophies to their young admirers, who all want to go on and emulate their heroes. The sight of the new hurling hall and the other developments on Church Road are a clear indication that the Club is investing in the future of all the hundreds of children who are so proud of being Rockies. well done to all concerned for making the vision a reality. We have has a great year, our thanks to the children and their parents who have provided encouragement throughout the year.

Cohesive structures

The fact that the club can now provide good quality hurling coaching for the huge numbers of children in a well organized manner is a good indicator that the existing structures at the Primary level are working in a cohesive manner. The structure is providing for the natural progression of children and coaches onwards through the various age groups into the more competitive 12 to 18 age groups, which should contribute to the continued participation of large numbers of our youth and the future success of the Club.

Our thanks to the people who made it all possible,

Joe Phibbs, Peter Fitzgerald, Tom Daly, Jim Tyner, Nicholas Bond, Jamie Harrington, Liam Meaney, James O'Driscoll, Ray Kelleher. Mairead Ni Mhaoileoin, Richard Stokes, David Coakley, Sean O'Sullivan, Noel O'Keefe, Kieran O'Sullivan, Brother Patrick, Tom Quirke, Donal Buckley, John Vaughan, Jim Cashman, Maurice Griffin, Brian Roche, Pat Roche, Seamus H artnett, Blanche Mulconry, Gerard O'Leary, Kevin Cummins, Charlie Barry, Maye O'Brien and Aidan Long.

A special word of thanks to the officers of the Minor Board, Eamon O'Donoghue, Sean O'Keefe, John O'Halloran and Billy Reidy for all their assistance during the year. it is impossible to quantify the enormous amount of time, effort and commitment which all these coaches, officers and support people provided to the underage activities of the club during 2001. Our club is extremely fortunate to enjoy the benefits of these dedicated men and women who make our co-ordination job so easy over the last twelve months.

We were shocked at the passing of Gerard Dineen in August. Gerard made a massive contribution to the Saturday Mornings over many years, He went about the business of providing the support and practical assistance in his own quite and friendly way and enjoyed the craic and banter when coaching was over. We miss him every Saturday.

Martin O'Farrell, Gerard O'Mahony

Joint co-ordinators

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