Moneyglass GAC

St. Ergnat’s GAC Moneyglass
Secretary’s Report 2009

Introduction
It is my pleasure to present this report as Secretary of St. Ergnat’s GAC Moneyglass. 2009 has been another extremely busy and eventful year for the Club in the year that the GAA celebrated its 125th Anniversary.
Senior Football
With regard to senior football, 2009 was a very good year for Moneyglass. Our senior team performed very well and more than justified their promotion from Division 2 by finishing a very respectable third place in Division 1. Our Reserve team also performed very well in winning Division 6 and in doing so have gained promotion to Division 5.
The results of both teams were due both to the dedication and efforts of the players and to the commitment of the managers and trainers concerned. Thirty plus payers trained on the hill on cold winter nights throughout the year - something that was unheard of in our Club in previous years. It would be remiss not to thank our 2 senior coaches Barry and Anthony for their hard work over the past two years and wish them the very best of luck for the future. To Kevin and Eamonn thank you for everything you have achieved with the reserves. To all the Ladies who prepared tea and made sandwiches throughout the year for the seniors after training, a sincere thank you to each of you. I also want to thank Hugh for looking after the fixtures during the year.
Underage Football
At underage level numbers continue to be a problem however I would hope that this situation will improve with the appointment within the Club of a Schools Liaison Officer who will help promote St Ergnat’s within our feeder schools. On a very positive note 18 of our coaches have recently undertaken a Foundation Course in Coaching and I believe that this will improve performance in this area. I thank all of our underage coaches for their hard work and commitment during 2009 and I hope to see you all again in 2010.
Ladies Football
Ladies football continues to be a growing area in our club with large numbers turning out for training. Our current Senior Team has to be one of the youngest with some very good players; this was borne out by the number on the County panel that lifted the Junior All Ireland. This was a tremendous result and our players have to be congratulated for their part in this. I would also like to thank all those coaches that have worked so hard this year both with our senior girls and also at underage level. I would encourage any underage coaches that have not already done so to avail of the Coaching courses that are currently being run throughout the County.
Social and Cultural
During 2009 the Social and Cultural committee raised a considerable amount of resources for the Club via the numerous events that ranged from quiz nights to ‘Moneyglass Has Got Talent’ and ‘Blind Date’ and to the Fun Day in May to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the GAA. This year the Social and Cultural Committee organised a number of Cultural classes including tin whistle, violin, Irish singing and Irish language. These classes were very popular and I would hope that they will resume within the coming months and that this year St Ergnat’s will take part in the Scor Competition. The Committee also organised a very successful Suicide Prevention Talk that was attended by a variety of statutory and voluntary groups who operate in the Moneyglass, Toome, Duneane and Grange areas. I wish to thank Elaine and her Committee for all their hard work and long hours spent organising these events and to all those outside the Committee who helped in any way make the events the success that they were and I thank all our members who supported these events.
Club Development
The development process continued steadily throughout 2009, following the extensive consultation that was undertaken in 2008.
In May last year, the draft Strategic Plan was published and issued to our members on ‘Club Day’ seeking further feedback. The Plan is currently being updated to ensure that it is consistent with the requirements and recommendations of the Club Maith sub-committee.
Earlier in the year a public call for land was made, since approaches to adjacent land-owners proved unproductive. A number of site options were put forward for consideration. Having taken the advice from both Ulster Council and Antrim County Board – and advice from a planning advisor- the club is currently collating information for each of the site options- to include matters such as archaeology, flood plain restrictions, and environmental issues, which may affect any future planning application for new facilities.

The site information (once established and clarified) could well determine which site option (if any) is most suitable to consider for new training or playing facilities in the future.
Timing – Due to the lack of grant funding for major sports projects, the club will concentrate its efforts in trying to establish which site option is most appropriate and a recommendation will hopefully be put forward by the Development Committee to the members later in the year. As part of the Club consultation process,  presentations  were also made to both the Community Hall Committee and Community Hall Trustees, to determine whether they would consider and explore the possibility of developing proposals for a ‘combined community and football facility’ on one site, - which if agreed, would hopefully act as a central hub of the community. The joint “Community and Football” approach is similar to other successful redevelopment schemes that have been completed in recent years such as Lavey, Glenravel and Ahoghill etc.
‘Club Development’ matters will continue to progress throughout 2010 and hopefully, the site planning issues will be clarified in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2010. The Club will aim be in a ‘state of readiness’ when the major sports funding returns. No-one knows when the major grants will return – but the Club hopes to have the process advanced significantly in 2010. I wish to thank Des, the Development Committee and the recently established Club Maith Sub-Committee for all their hard work to date.
Funding
The treasurer will give an overview of the financial position of the club after this report.
The main sources of funding for the Club continue to be the weekly lottery, social events, sponsorship and more recently the 200 Club Draw. 
200 Club Draw/ Lotto
The 200 Club draw has been widely supported and I thank all those who have purchased tickets for the draw. Many thanks to the Finance Committee and all the sellers for making this draw a success. On the weekly lotto, I thank all those who work tirelessly to sell the tickets and organise the weekly draw but I would like to issue a plea to the members today to help out with selling tickets for the lotto. More people selling tickets would increase funds to assist with the ever increasing running costs of the club.
Golf Classic
This year saw another golf classic which was a huge success and brought much needed funds into the Club. To the organising Committee and to all those that who took part and provided sponsorship, I thank you all very much. 
Sponsors
I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all our sponsors who have helped us out this year and who hopefully will provide continued assistance in the coming year. Your generosity is greatly appreciated particularly given the current economic climate. I would ask all our members to support our sponsors whenever possible.
Membership
There are currently 346 (156 youth members, 162 full members and 28 over 65’s) Junior and Senior members in the Club; I thank each of you for joining our club and for supporting St Ergnat’s in any way. Membership for this year will be collected during February.
Communication
Throughout the Club Communication continues to improve through the use of the Club website, text alerts, the local press, together with the parish bulletins. All of these mediums help the Club keep our members informed. I thank Stephen and Sean for all their hard work in this area. In 2009 the Club successfully entered two competitions in the Irish News and won £250 towards sports equipment for all our teams. We also were runners up in the competition to send a team to the All Ireland club finals and received a runners up prize. A total of 6500 Tesco vouchers were collected this year which enabled us to purchase new football nets for the youth teams along with bibs that arrived at the end of the season. 
Grounds
I would like to thank all those who helped to maintain our buildings and grounds and to those who undertook to collect the gate during the year, thank you all very much. To those who referee, to our linesmen, umpires etc, thank you very much.
Sympathy
I would like to extend my deepest sympathy on behalf of the Club, to all officers, players, members and friends who have suffered bereavements during the last year.
The Year Ahead
It is my opinion that with additional help and increased commitment from our members that we can build on the success of 2009. To bring the Club forward we need more of you to take up posts on our Committees and sub Committees and we need more of you to assist with Coaching. I already mentioned that a number of our coaches have already taken Foundation Courses and that a number have completed the Nursery Programme provided for 4 to 7 year olds. This year we need more parents and helpers to get involved and to undertake these courses and we need all those in contact with our Children to undertake the Child Protection Courses. It is of vital importance that our children are protected. If any of you feel that you have anything to offer our Club please come forward and make this Club a better place in 2010.
Conclusion
In conclusion I would like to wish every one of our members and supporters a happy and peaceful 2010. I wish all our teams’ success and I wish all our County Players good luck for the coming year. I thank all of you who supported the Club in 2009 and I hope that you all continue to support it in the coming year.

Bridie Scullin
Secretary