Juvenile and Primary sections review of year 2003

Review of 2003.

The Blackrock National Hurling Club, juvenile and primary sections catered for over 500 young hurlers during 2003. Under the Chairmanship of the indefatigable Eamonn O' Donoghue, the emphasis has been on enjoying, learning and playing the game of hurling in a structured, safe and disciplined environment. The club grounds at Church Road have resounded all year to the sounds of hurleys and sliothars. Central to this huge operation has been the year round commitment of approx 50 hurling coaches and supporting personnel who have devoted countless hours to the progress of the young hurlers ranging in age from 4 years to 16. Without the active support of all these people, the sections would simply not function; no praise is too good for these great heroes.

County Final success.

On the competitive playing fields, pride of place must go to the under 14 panel, who captured the County Final victory from a gallant Newtownshandrum. Captained by Stephen Guerin, they fashioned an amazing victory, when despite being 6 points down with eight minutes to go, ran out winners by 4 points. Earlier they had also captured the City Championship when they defeated their Feile na nGael conquerors, Glen Rovers. Ten of this panel are now playing on the Seandun panels. Roy Power, Brian Ahern, Christy Bonus and Gerard O' Regan have contributed enormously to the ongoing success. Coaches Jamie Harrington, John Long, Ger O'Mahony, Gerard Murphy and Donal Buckley have overseen to the development of the talents of these Rockies over the past years. This victory represented a third under-age County final triumph in three years for the resurgent juvenile hurling section of the Blackrock club.

City Championship success.

The under 13 panel under the captaincy of Patrick Parfrey achieved success in winning the City Championship by defeating Na Piarsaigh. Aided by such fine players as Richard Dineen, Stephen McCarthy, Raymond Norberg and Ciaran O' Herlihy this panel had captured the under 12 county championship victory in 2002. The panel also reached the league final, however the double was not to be as Na Piarsaigh turned the tables and ran out winners. Maurice Griffin, Pat Roche, Seamus Hartnett, Brian Roche, Tony Falvey and Gerard O'Mahony look after these Rockies, while Timmy Murphy regularly contributes his experience.

Cork Panel

While the under 15s under Brother Fitzgibbon tried hard, they were beset with injury problems all year to key players, and were defeated by Glen Rovers in the Championship. However J.P.Carroll, Mark Drummond and Billy Mc Carthy played on the Cork panel. With other players of the calibre of Colm O'Brien, Tony Linehan and Rory Wedell, there are grounds for optimism with this panel. Coaches, Ray Kelleher, Tom Daly, Jim Lonergan and Jim Tyner put in a lot of effort with this group of Rockies.

Likewise the under 16s performed well and gave a good account of themselves all year but did not secure any honours. Fr.Tony Finn, Frank Murray, Liam O' Brien, Gene O' Sullivan, Ray Delaney and Martin Lyons coached these lads of whom Paul Reidy and Paul O' Sullivan worked hard throughout the year.

Tournament successes.

The under 12s reached the final of the league and captured two trophies, the Tim Dennehy Cup and the Dave Hogan Cup. Players such as Patrick Deasy, David Healy and Paul O'Brien played well all year for this panel. Led by coaches Martin O' Farrell, John Vaughan, David Coakley, Michael Kilcoyne, this panel had a very good year.

The 10s and 11s also had a successful years hurling, winning several tournaments and more importantly the panels under Head Coaches J.P.Devine and Noel O'Keeffe looked after their teams of over 30 hurlers each. Kieran O'Sullivan, Norman O'Leary and Paddy Hayes are gearing up the under 11s in Ashton for 2004. The under 10s played in tournaments regularly during the year and gave a great account of themselves, winning several and reaching the final of the Mick Cashman Cup. Tim Aherne, Richard Stokes and Kieran Ryan provided the training and coaching for this extraordinary group of Rockies.

"The Jewel in the Crown"

Often described as the "jewel in the crown" of the Blackrock club, the Saturday morning coaching sessions have gone from strength to strength in 2003. With regular crowds of up to 250 young hurlers, the set-up is a model of organisation and efficiency. Young hurlers are taught the basic hurling skills in an atmosphere of fun and enjoyment, within a peer group of the same age, with whom the young boy then grows up with in a friendly and welcoming setting. . The coaches.

Former Blackrock hurlers such as the legendary Jimmy Brohan, Peter Fitzgerald, James Tyner, Richard Stokes and Jim Cashman are now coaching the youngsters and are joined by many other coaches such as John Cormack, Allan Russell, (who doubles up as a senior selector), Liam Meaney, Jamie Harrington, Tom Daly, Nicholas Bond and Gerard Crowley who all ensure that each age-group is well looked after. Harry Canning, John Kennedy, Sean Logue, John O'Brien, Killian Hurley and Donnacha O' Flynn also assisted with the coaching and organisation. All coaches have now completed their foundation coaching courses and many have also completed the Level 1 Coaching course as well as attending regular in-house courses.

The Blackrock hurling superleagues.

The Blackrock Super leagues (sponsored by Carey Tool Hire) have now become an institution at Church Road and 2003 saw 12 teams compete at all age groups representing some 250 young Rockies. Some of these games were tremendously exciting and were watched by enormous crowds, who witnessed some first class hurling. One has to experience at first hand the excitement these competitions generate among the young Rockies to appreciate the benefits of these leagues for the young fellows.

The most important panels in the entire Blackrock club are the fours, fives and sixes, where over 130 young Rockies were registered in 2003. Expertly run by the unflappable Joe Phipps, ably supported by Paul O' Callaghan, Michael Dunphy and Joy Hennebry, this section is one of the most exciting places to be in Church Road on a Saturday morning. Also just watch the steady improvement over a few months of some of these youngsters who are immersed in hurling from a very young age.

Indoor hurling.

Two indoor hurling programmes are held each year at St Anthony's School hall in Ballinlough for all the young hurlers aged between 4 and 10. The next programme will begin on Saturday 17th January at 9am. Special thanks to Mr. Flor O' Sullivan, principal St. Anthony's for his cooperation.

The Blackrock club indoor hurling hall is nearing completion and is expected to be open very early in 2004. This wonderful building represents an investment of almost 1.5 million euro by the club and the government through the National Lottery and will provide much needed sports facilities for the young people of the area. Fundraising is ongoing and when one sees what benefits it will provide for the coming generations, it should encourage the raising of the finance to see the project to completion.

Coordinating structure

The supporting structure, which coordinates the operation and ensures the supply of good hurleys, helmets etc to all the Rockies is comprised of the experienced Pat Roche, who certainly knows a good hurley. Colm Daly assists him. Noel O' Flaherty did a brilliant job in repairing the many broken hurleys. Co-ordinators of the hurling coaching are Martin O' Farrell and Gerard O' Mahony while Blanch Mulconry, Seamus Hartnett and Brendan Cunningham look after registrations. May O'Brien looks after all the jerseys for the various and many teams and she has done a fantastic job. Noel Carroll and his team of Anne O'Callaghan, Gobnait Burke, Lillian Daly, Eithne O' Mahony and Kathleen Laide look after the coffee shop and refreshments for everybody. Congratulations also to St. Michaels G.F.C. on their successes on the playing fields during 2003.

The Blackrock website

This is operated by John Green in conjunction with the Primary section and has been a valuable addition to the provision of up to date information, details of matches, fixtures etc to club members, parents, young Rockies and the wider community. The site has recently had its 6000th hit for 2003, which just shows the amazing level of interest in the club. All are welcome to enter our special Christmas quiz competitions sponsored by Cummins Sports. It can be accessed at www.blackrockhurling.org.

Further publicity for happenings in Blackrock is obtained through the help and cooperation of the Evening Echo, in particular Paul Daly who has been extremely helpful, the staff of Douglas Weekly, which has consistently covered our reports, as well as Inside Cork. Our thanks also to the schools and clergy for bringing our notices and reports to a wider audience.

The officers of the Juvenile section for 2003 are Chairman Eamonn O' Donoghue, Vice Chairman Brother Patrick Fitzgibbon, Secretary, Richard Murphy, Treasurer, John O Halloran. The officers wish to thank everyone who helped in any way during 2003 and are looking forward with optimism to 2004.