Introduction
It is my pleasure to present this my second report as Secretary of St. Ergnat’s GAC Moneyglass.
Football
In the past year we again completed in all categories both in the South West and at all County level.
Senior Football
With regard to senior football, 2010 was another good year for Moneyglass. Our senior team performed very well and, despite a slow start to the season, finished 4th in the League. In the Championship a draw with the All Ireland Champions was a daunting task in the first round and with such a draw defeat to St Gall’s was no disgrace. Our Reserve team also performed very well in Division 5 and had some very good victories; they were against the odds on a good number of occasions due to having to play at the same time as the seniors. The reserves were finalists in the Reserve Shield but unfortunately were defeated by Glenavy. It is good to see so many young players in this team which I hope augers well for the future. I wish to thank both Charlie and Mark for their hard work over the past year and wish them good luck for the future and to Kevin and Eamonn thank you for your hard work with the reserves. To all the Ladies who helped with catering throughout the year, a sincere thank you to each of you. I also want to thank Hugh once again for looking after the fixtures during the year.Underage Football
At underage level we competed in all South West competitions but unfortunately had no success. The Minor all County League and the Minor Championship brought little success to the Club and as with last year numbers at this level continue to be a problem. At u16 level numbers are also a problem with managers trying their best to field competitive teams. This is something that will have to be looked at this year at Minor Level. U14 and U12 competed in SW leagues with U10 and U12 playing in various blitzes. At this point I would urge young members of our Club to get involved in coaching and to get their coaching qualifications. At U6/U8 large numbers of children have attended training throughout the year and undertook a 6 week Gaelic Start Programme in February and March of last year. During the year the children represented the Club at Go Games Blitzes in Glenravel, Cargin, rasharkin and Dunloy. At all these blitzes the children proved formidable opponents and have really improved in the basics of football skills. I thank all of our underage coaches for their hard work and commitment during 2010. Cul Camp/Saffron Og Camp took place this year from 9th – 13th August. 89 children attended the camp which proved a huge success Thanks to our own coaches Kevin Brady, Benny Marron, Niall Boyd, Ryan McGreevy and Ciara McCoy and to all the DENI and Ulster coaches that attended throughout the week. Thanks also to Paddy Cunningham who came and spoke to the children on the 13th and to Michelle O’Donnell for registering the children and organising the kit. A big thank you also to Alice Boyd who organised the purchasing and distribution of new kit for all ages throughout the year.
Ladies Football
Our ladies competed well again in 2010 at County level under the guidance of Darren McCormick. The Senior team is made up of very young players and hopefully this will auger well for the future. Congratulation must go to the U12 girls coached by Anita, Eddie, Peter and Ursula who won our only silverware this year by winning the Scullion cup at Glenravel. Well done to them. A highlight of the year for our U14 girls was the visit to the Club of the New York U14 team in June. Despite meeting a very strong New York side our girls remained very positive to the end. Afterwards both clubs presented each other with a memento to mark the occasion. I would like to thank all those coaches, parents and helpers that have worked so hard this year both with our senior girls and also at underage level.
Social and Cultural
During 2010 considerable finances were raised for the Club via numerous events that ranged from quiz nights (one of which was in aid of the Pakistan Flood Disaster Appeal) to ‘Crazy Folkers’ and to the Fun Triathlon Day. I wish to thank Leo and his Committee for all their hard work in 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
I wish to thank John Graham, the Development Committee and the Club Maith Sub-Committee headed by Gerard Trainor for all their hard work to date. John will give an update on Development later.
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 the 200 Club Draw. We also receive other income for using the Clothes Bank and from members using Gaelic Telecom. Thanks to all those who have contributed in any way towards fundraising for the Club, your efforts in difficult circumstances are very much appreciated.
200 Club Draw/ Lotto
The second 200 Club draw has been well supported and I thank all those who have again 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, which is the main source of regular income for the club, I thank all those who purchase lottery tickets, sell lottery tickets on a weekly basis and also those who organise the weekly draw. Once again I would like to encourage all members present tonight to help out with selling tickets for the lotto in order to raise more funds to assist with the ever increasing day to day running costs of the club.
Sponsors
I would like to say a very big thank you to all our sponsors who have helped us out during 2010 and who hopefully will continue to provide assistance in the coming year. Your sponsorship is greatly appreciated particularly given the difficult economic climate of today. I would once again ask all our members to support our sponsors whenever possible.
Membership
There are currently 322 (156 youth members, 149 full members and 17 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 and I thank all those who collect membership for the Club on a yearly basis. Membership for this year will be collected during March. For all our players it is imperative that their membership is paid prior to the end of March to ensure that they are covered by the Players Injury Scheme.
Communication
Communication to our members is of vital importance and this area continues to improve through the use of: the Club website, text alerts, the local and national press, together with the parish bulletins and Club newsletters. I thank Stephen our PRO and Sean for all their hard work in this area in keeping members informed.
Grounds
I would like to thank all those who helped to maintain our buildings and grounds and particularly to those who gave up their Saturdays and worked to tidy up the grounds during the summer. Thanks to Sean O’Boyle for organising the “volunteer days” and ordering the materials. More work is needed this year to further improve the grounds and I would hope that many more members will assist with this work. I would also like to thank those who collected at the gate during the year, thank you all very much. To our referees, to our linesmen, umpires etc, thank you very much. I also thank Noel for co-coordinating pitch bookings both for matches and for training during the year.
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. I would particularly like to extend the Club’s sympathy to Anthony Kearney’s family. Anthony served the Club for years both as a Committee member and as Chairman. I also extend sympathy to the family of Alex McCoy on the death of Alex who was a founder member of the Club
The Year Ahead
For the year ahead the Club has now in place a new Coaching and Games Development Committee. This Committee has been in place for a number of months now and has been responsible for putting in place a new coach for our Senior Team and for obtaining sponsorship for the team. Sponsorship is also in place for the Reserve team. It is my opinion that with additional help and increased commitment from our members that we can build on the successes of the past. As I stated last year 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 would hope that in future more resources from the Club can be directed towards the underage sections of the Club and if any of you can offer help, either in terms of human resources or financially, please come forward and make this Club a better place in 2011.
Conclusion
In conclusion I would like to wish every one of our members and supporters a happy and peaceful 2011. I wish all our teams’ success for the coming year. On behalf of the Club I wish to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed in any way to the Club during 2010. It is my hope that all who helped in 2010 and many more will choose to be involved in the year ahead.
Bridie Scullin
Secretary
