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Sligo Handball Board A.G.M. 2009 Tuairisc an Runai
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Article Date: 05/12/2009
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Sligo Handball Board A.G.M. 2009 Tuairisc an Runai
40 X 20
Walsh & Maye reach All-Ireland handball final
The 40 x 20 season started earlier this year on account of the World Handball Championships which took place in Portland Oregan last October.
The Castleconnor Handball Club hosted their annual tournament for the Gerard Jones Memorial Club on Sunday 15th February last. Although the number of entrants was down on previous years there was still plenty of quality handball on display with 14 teams taking part. After a long day's play victory in the main event went to the Castleconnor-Bofield combination of Joe Gorman and Michael Ginley who get the better of Jason Judge and Larry Jones. The Plate event was won by Pat Foy and Thomas Tuffy who beat Mark Murphy and John Gilmartin in the final.
Unfortunately only Paddy Walsh & Padraic Maye in the Ruby Masters A Doubles and Tom Foody & Joe Gorman in Junior C won Connacht titles. Seamus Duffy & Pat O’Sullivan did reach the Emerald Masters A doubles but were defeated by a strong showing from Tim Hennelly & Pat Hughes Mayo in the provincial final. Paddy Walsh & Padraic Maye reached the All-Ireland final in Abbeylara on March 29th last but had to settle for silver against a resolute Dublin team in the form of Ned Flynn & Pat Ryan. Castleconnor were beaten by Ballinrobe (119-91) in the Junior B Interclub Connacht semi-final by a strong Ballinrobe side from Mayo. On the Castleconnor side were Michael Brown, Mark Murphy, Michael Murphy, Tom Foody & Larry Jones.
St. Mary’s land Sligo league title
The inaugural Sligo Handball League final took place in St. Mary’s. Four teams entered 2 from Castleconnor and 1 each from St. Mary’s and Collooney. St. Mary’s took the league title with a 78-20 victory over Castleconnor A who were missing a number of their top A players. The wining St. Mary’s side were Michael McMorrow, Bill Carney, Paddy Walsh, Seamus Duffy & Pat O’Sullivan. It was a great competition but the final itself was overshadowed somewhat by the late arrival of a number of players from Castleconnor. Overall the competition was very beneficial for the club players.
The National handball roadshow travelled to Sligo centres in early April and attended the Regional Sports Complex and Oxfield Sports Complex. Niamh Egan, Joe McCann and Vinny Moran gave of their time coaching the young Sligo pupils and deserve the Board’s appreciation of this initiative. Hopefully it could turn into an annual event. Ballymote,Collooney, Drumcliff, Rathcormac schools took part in this initiative.
60 x 30
Collooney win Connacht Club title.
The G.A.A. celebrated its 125th Anniversary this year and handball clubs in Sligo organised a number of events to commemorate this and make it extra special. In the Interclub 60 x 30 Collooney had narrow victory’s over St. Mary’s 102-99 and 90-89 v Castleconnor. Collooney qualified for the Provincial final as both Leitrim and Mayo had no teams entered. Collooney represented Sligo in the Connacht final where they faced a fancied Ballymoe side from Roscommon. Saturday 23rd May proved an historic day for the club with Michael McGee, Sean Coen, John McLoughlin Stanley Harte and Peter Davey. It was Peter Davey who had to come from a 10 point deficit and giving 34 years to his opponent and still won by 5 points in an amazing final. It tells much about Peter Davey’s handball spirit. With Davey’s stunning performance helped Collooney record an 101-96 victory over the shocked and well fancied Ballymoe Club. The Club defeated Ulster champions Kingscourt in the semi-final. In the All-Ireland club final Collooney played Cashel of Tipperay in Mullingar. The final proved a step too far and disappointing as Cashel totally dominated. Despite the efforts of Michael McGee, Sean Coen & John McLoughlin on the day the Munster champions were far superior. Still it was a fantastic achievement by the Collooney Club to reach the final. Hopefully with better preparation the club can go one better in the coming year.
The One Wall Nationals for the 1st time in 10 years has a new home in the Breaffy House Hotel in Castlebar. Sligo has been the spiritual home for the One-Wall championships and I certainly enjoyed my travels over to Sligo from my base in Meath & Dublin at the time. Sligo did a fantastic job and in hosting the championships since 1999 numbers trebled and it says much to the efforts of the Sligo Committee each year. This was acknowledged by Handball President Tony Hannon who praised Sligo for hosting the Nationals for the past 10 years.
It should give Sligo some more time to organise its own County Adult & Juvenile championships and club coaching as a result. Over 250 players took par in this year’s nationals in Castlebar and even a 20 members of the English team were welcome visitors to the event. It proved to be a first class facility with 5 courts being used at any one time all under the one roof. Unfortunately there was no success for Sligo players with only Seamus Duffy & Michael McGee taking part. Our own Connell Cannon worked tirelessly on the one-wall event for a number of months beforehand and I thank him on behalf of the Sligo Board for ensuring the games would be an outstanding success. In fact Connell is very deserving of the Official of the Year Award and I sincerely hope he gets it especially after 10 years running the One-Wall Nationals.
In the Connacht 60 x 30 handball championships many of the players had little or no competition to get to finals while other players like Paddy Walsh Ruby Masters Singles and Doubles and Pat O’Sullivan, Seamus Duffy had no opponents at all in Connacht. Joe Gorman & Tom Foody from the Castleconnor Club were attempting to do a double of Junior C Connacht titles but found the Galway pairing that little bit stronger. Eight teams won Connacht titles but unfortunately a number of them had no competition at all at Provincial level.
Hugh McGarry’s side win Collooney handball tournament
Collooney held their annual 60 x 30 team handball tournament. Over 32 players took part with players from Mayo,Roscommon and Sligo taking part. The winning team captained by Hugh McGarry defeated Connall Cannon’s team B in a tense close final by 105-90. The winning members were Mark Murphy, Ted Collins, Michael Ginley, Sean Delaney, Stanley Harte, Shane Bruen, Jason Judge & Hugh McGarry. Connell Cannon did Trojan work in the organising of the event and I want to thank him for all his efforts in this regard.
There was welcome news for the Collooney Club in August with the presentation of $2000 dollars to the Club from Andy Healy the President of the Boston Sligo Association. I certainly wish Hugh McGarry & the Collooney Club well in its endeavours in its fundraising efforts in a facility that will benefit all handball players in the County.
Walsh & Maye win All-Ireland Ruby Masters doubles title
Paddy Walsh reached the final of the Ruby Masters singles final. Having won the first game by 21-11 and leading 18-14 in the second he came unstuck and Dublin’s Mick O’Brien squeezed past him to win the second and in the end despite Paddy’s best efforts O’Brien won the day. In the Ruby Masters Doubles final Paddy Walsh & Pauric Maye played the following week. The duo played great handball to defeat Dublin’s Mick O’Brien & Pat Ryan by 21-10, 21-7. Walsh has now 26 All-Ireland titles to his credit and an great inspiration to us all. Also the Emerald Masters doubles pairing of Seamus Duffy & Pat O’Sullivan came up against a very strong pairing of Andy & Sean Ryan from Carlow and had to settle for silver on the day. It was an eventual week by all standards for Padraic Maye not alone did he win the All-Ireland Ruby Masters 60 x 30 doubles final in Mullingar with Paddy Walsh. He also found time to win 2 Gold and 3 Silver in the Irish Veteran Athletics Championships in Tullamore the previous week. Maye’s gold medals were in shot putt and Javelin. Prior to the week's heroics Maye had a massive haul of 62 gold medals in 9 events. A staggering achievement by all accounts. I congratulate Pauric on all his achievements in athletics and especially in handball.
Duffy & Murray win Hannon Cup final
Ballymote held its annual tournament for the Michael Hannon Perpetual Cup with players from Leitrim ,Mayo and the host County taking part. Six teams entered and after competitive qualifying games the finals of the Plate and Cup were decided. In the plate final Martin Golden from the host club Ballymote partnered Larry Jones from Castleconnor as they beat Michael McMorrow & Mark Murphy both Sligo by 26-20 in an entertaining final
In the final for the Michael Hannon Cup was Seamus Duffy from the St. Mary’s Club in Sligo partnered Jamie Murray from Fenagh in Co. Leitrim. They faced Michael Ginley (Mayo) & Joe Gorman (Sligo). In the end Duffy & Murray did just enough to clinch the Michael Hannon Cup against Ginley & Gorman who fought for the finish but their comeback just fell short in the end. The final scoreline was 31-26. I would hope the Hannon Cup will continue to be organised by the Ballymote Club in the years ahead after an initial break.
Juveniles
Castleconnor hosted the Sligo 1-wall championships with over 30 youngsters taking part. The winners were U-12 Brendan Foody, U-14 Tommy Trill and U-16 Conor Meehan. I would like to pass on my thanks to Official Oisin Quinn who officiated at many games and to the Castleconnor club for the use of their facilities and for providing refreshments on the day.
Ross Taheny is Connacht Champion
In the Connacht Championships there was further good news at Juvenile level and the work being done on the ground by a small number of dedicated club coaches. Ross Taheny was the toast of Sligo when winning an historic U-12 singles title played in Williamstown. Stanley Harte also reached the final of the U-13 singles and Adam McGoldrick is also making an impact in the competitions. In the B championships 60 x 30 finals there was wins for Keith Earlis & Noel McLoughlin in the Boys U-15 doubles finals while Martin Foody Boys U-16 singles and Eamon Tighe & Mattew Davey U-16 doubles reached finals that have yet to be played.
County titles for Ross Taheny, Noel McLoughlin & Conor Meehan
The County Juvenile 60 x 30 Championships took place in September and finished on October 11th last in Collooney. Ross Taheny accounted for Brendan Foody in straight games in the Boys U-12 final while the U14 & U-16 finals both went to 3 games to decide the winners. Noel McLoughlin from Castleconnor had to be on top of his game before emerging the winner over club mate Jason Earlis in an exciting final. McLoughlin was victorious by 15-8, 2-15, 15-11. It was an all Ballymote pairing in the Boys U-16 final with Conor Meehan facing Steven Booth. Meehan like McLoughlin was pushed all the way before clinching the title by 15-8, 14-15,15-9. Francis McCann deserves every appreciation from the Board for organising the championships draws and along with Connell Cannon it proved a great success.
Wins for Foody, Harte & Quinn in John Gaffney Memorial Tournament
A number of Sligo juvenile handball players attended the 2nd Annual John Gaffney Memorial 60 x 30 Handball Tournament for Boys & Girls at U-14 level. The matches took place in Ballymoe & Williamstown Handball Clubs on Sunday October 25th last.
Overall 44 young players from 10 different clubs from all over the Province took part in the tournament. Unfortunately the Sligo players did not reach any of the Cup finals but performed exceptionally well in the plate competitions.
In the Boys U-14 plate final Stanley Harte from the Collooney club teamed up with Alan Scollan from the Fenagh Club in Leitrim. The duo went all the way to an 21-8 win over Chris Finn & Patrick Flanagan
The Castleconnor club were well represented in the Girls U-14 plate final. Aoife Quinn Castleconnor and Sarah Ruane Belcarra held a huge advantage when leading by 30-15 with just 4 minutes left to play. Castleconnor’s other representative Marianna Foody & Hazel Lynch St Coman’s Roscommon, then found an extra gear and began to eat into the huge lead.
Foody in particular put in a storming finish and quickly reduced the lead. Foody hit a purple patch when winning 13 points in a row. Unfortunately for Foody/Lynch time ran out on their brave comeback. Quinn & Ruane were mightily relieved when the referee called time on this exciting contest. In the end Castleconnor’s Aoife Quinn & Sarah Ruane did just enough to win by 30-28. Our own Francis McCann & John McLoughlin worked hard in the organisation of the tournament and Collooney’s Hugh McGarry was the chief sponsor.
Our young members need regular games and the possibility of challenge matches with other County’s. This should be explored in order the players get plenty of handball and keep them interested in the sport all throughout their lives. Same for our adult players as taking part in the Co.Championships before the provincial games, gives our players game time before the opening of the Connacht Championships. We have plenty of adult players who have the ability of winning Connacht Championships each year, but lack of preparation and competitive games prior to the championships hinder the players progress, to go on and win Connacht and National titles. This needs to be addressed in the coming years.
Co. Board
I would like to thank all my fellow Officers for all their support during the year. Martin Golden as Chairman for all his encouragement throughout the year. Martin was always available day or night whenever I needed his council on matters. John McLoughlin our P.R.O. gave me outstanding assistance with getting the Sligo handball website off the ground over and above the call of duty. I would go on to say it is one of the best County handball websites in the Country at this present time. I encourage members to look it up it is http://Sligo.handball.gaa.ie . It is kept up to date weekly with reports, results, fixtures and photos of players and is an excellent medium to have at our disposal. I welcome suggestions on how we can improve on this. John, has kept handball in the local papers on a regular basis and this is very much appreciated. Also I would like to thank the local Press Sligo Champion, Weekender, Sligo Post Darragh Cox and David Hosey Sligo G.A.A Website for all their excellent coverage of handball during the year. Ocean FM is there also and we need to use this medium to our advantage. Mary McLoughlin our Treasurer kept the finances running smoothly over the year and I thank Mary for all her hard work. Shane Bruen our handball delegate on Sligo G.A.A. Board for attending the monthly meetings and keeping our parent body up to date on all handball related matters. Thank you Shane.
To all those involved in Juvenile Coaching the likes of Paddy Walsh, Stanley Harte, Martin Golden, Francis McCann & Tom Foody deserve the highest of praise as they year in year out coach the younger members in our clubs without any recognition. They are the real heroes in Sligo handball who continue behind the scenes in clubs spreading the prefect game of handball to the young players in their clubs. Without these people involved there would be no handball in Sligo. Connell Cannon Connacht Secretary, Francis McCann Connacht Juvenile Chairman , John McLoughlin Connacht Juvenile Secretary and National Promotions Chairman & Michael McMorrow Facilities National Committee represented Sligo extremely well on Provincial & National Committees and I thank them for all their hard work and effort .
We are a small committee but very dedicated and this was brought home to me last August/September when the Board did fundraising for Juvenile handball. Even with the bad weather members were out day and night in the pouring rain fundraising and this was highlighted when the final figure was known. I thank everyone who helped out with the fundraising. I would hope in the coming year the Board can come up with more imaginative fundraising ideas to boost Sligo handball’s coffers. And it is my wish that all Sligo handball players will be kitted out in colourful Sligo handball shirts in provincial and national competitions. The idea of an sponsor(s) should be looked at and it would be a worthwhile project. Perhaps in the coming year this could be explored even in these difficult economic times.
There is still a lot of work yet to be done in promoting handball especially in Sligo. From attending handball competitions our young players are finding the step up hard against better prepared opponents. The likes of Williamstown, Michael Breathnach Club, Moycullen Clubs in Galway have great facilities and coaching up to 4 times a week for its younger members. Sadly we are being left behind but I am hopeful with everyone on board that we as a unit can make a significant contribution for the well being and future progress of handball in the county.
We have some of the top officials in the country and the next stage is to have the top Juvenile players and facilities. With hard work all round this can be achieved and put Sligo handball back on top where it belongs. Future generations will thank us for the work we do today. I would hope in the coming year that we will have closer links with our G.A.A. Parent body and assistance in a number of important areas to promote the perfect game of handball even more to a higher level. Some clubs particularly the Curry Club will need greater assistance from the Board in order to keep handball alive in the area.
I would like to acknowledge the assistance received from Chris Curran and Niamh Egan in Headquarters. Chris took over as National Handball Manager from Lorcan O’Ruairc who gave 30 years as valued service to the Association as Riarthoir Naisiunta. I wish Lorcan well his retirement. Already Chris is bringing in new fresh ideas into the Association and is working hard on a number of fronts. Our own Connell Cannon Secretary on the Connacht Council has been ultra efficient and has always been very helpful to me since taking on the Secretary’s role here in Sligo. Connell has a heavy workload and gets through an enormous amount of work throughout the year Always obliging and cheerful I want to thank him and the Connacht Handball Council for all their great work throughout the busy year. In the coming year only 1 entry from each grade from the County will be allowed to enter the Provincial Championships so we must make sure our County Championships have taken place in advance before and that the players have time to prepare for the Provincials.
Finally I would like to pass on condolences on behalf of the Board to members who had bereavements throughout the year.
Michael McGee Runai Liathroid Laimhe Contae An Sligeach 2009
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