We expect to have the 2009 Award winners at about 10.30pm and the Chairman’s address shortly after.

REPORT IRISH CULTURAL AND SCÓR OFFICER 2009

A Cháirde,

Tá sé de pribhleíd agam arís mar Rúnaí do Scór agus Oifigeach Cultúra Gaelach do Chontae Chill Mhantáin cúntas a thabhairt don Comhdháil bhantúil ar conas mar d’eírigh nó nár éirigh le Scór I ngach Grád sa chontae.  Ba mhaith liom freisin tuairisc a thabhairt ar ghnéithe eile a bhfuil faoi chúram an post atá agam.

Ghlac ceithre club deág páirt I Scór I mbliana.  Ba mhaith tiom iacall a chur are clubanna an chontae claí le rialacha cumann lúithchleas gael agus na liostaí ainmneacha a scríobh as Gaeilge mar bhall den Coiste C.C. sa chontae feicim na liostaí scríofa as Béarla go minic.

Ba mhaith liom na clubanna a ghríosadh chun an t-ainm Gaelach a chur ar feisteas an chlub (geansaithe srl.).

Ba mhaith liom iarraidh freisim ar captaein Fóirne cúpla focal a rá as gaeilge nuair a bhíonn bronnadh corn á dhéanamh.

It is once again my privilege as Secretary of Scór and Irish Cultural Officer for Wicklow to report to our annual convention the success or unfortunately the lack of success of Scór in all grades within our County and on other related matters within my post.  As Irish officer I would again encourage clubs to keep within the rules of our association by writing team lists in Irish. As a member of the CC committee in our county I often see lists written in English.  Again I would encourage clubs to use the Irish name where possible on club gear etc., and encourage where possible team captains at presentation to say a few words in Irish. My appeal to all Clubs to support Scór in this our 40th Anniversary and the 125years of GAA did not improve matters.  This year a few extra clubs came on board in both Junior and Senior a total of 14 took part to keep Scór alive for another year or so in Wicklow.  We ended the year with no silverware for Junior or Senior, no Leinster or all Ireland success for the first time in years.  All our clubs performed well in all categories in Leinster, especially in question time in Scór Na nÓg when the Ballymanus team of Anna O’Keeffe, Darragh O’Keeffe and Deirdre O’Neill were fighting for three successes in a row but unfortunately this was not the case and so lost their crown by a narrow margin to Dublin.  Also Rathnew’s Recitation and Novelty Act, An Tochar’s Instrumental Music, Carnew’s dancers and Solo singers all performed very well on the night.  Some of these candidates were performing for their first time in Scór Na nÓg.

One of the highlights of the year for me or anyone involved in Scór was to see and hear our very own Mr. Tom Walsh (chairman) sing the National Anthem Anhran na bhFiann to packed houses in Aughrim GAA grounds during the Wicklow qualifiers.  We would like to see Scór events like this to be performed each year before the kick off of big games.

In the Leinster Senior semi final Carnew’s Ballad group, novelty act and recitation were successful on the night and went on to represent Wicklow in the Leinster Finals in Ballymore, Co. Westmeath.  All performed well on the night but no one got the nod of the Judges and so ended our involvement in Scór for another year.

I would again appeal to all clubs to get involved in some way in Scór during the coming year, as it’s a great opportunity for anyone to show their talents.

SCÓR NA NÓG

Scór Na Nóg was held in the Brockagh Centre, Laragh on Saturday 21st November, 2008.  The following clubs took part Ballymanus, Rahnew, Tinahely, Coolboy, Kiltegan, An Tochar, Dunlavin, Carnew and Annacurra.

RESULTS ON THE NIGHT

Céilí Dancing                          Carnew:  Niamh Kenny, Stefanie Nolan, Roisin Dolan,

Shealynn Doyle, Shannon Evans, Kate O’Keefe, Amy

Bermingham, and Toni Doran.

Solo Singing                            Carnew:  Aoife Moore

Instrumental Music                 An Tochar:  Siún O’Donnell, Iarla O’Donnell, Shauna

O’Toole, Eanna Drury, Phillip Hickey.

Recitation                                Rathnew:  Aideen Doyle.

Novelty Act                            Rathnew:  Christopher Duffy, Simon Dunne, Holly        O’Connor, Emma Gill, Emma Shortall.

Question Time                         Ballymanus: Anna O’Keeffe, Darragh O’Keeffe and

Deirdre O’Neill.

Tom Walsh was M/C on the night:

Andy O’Brien County Chairman presented the prizes on the night.

All the winners go on to represent Wicklow in the Leinster Semi-Finals on the 6th December in the Downs G.A.A. Club, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath.

Taking part on the night was Westmeath, Longford, Wicklow, Dublin, Laois and Kilkenny.

Leinster Finals took place in Ballymore, Co. Westmeath on the 11th January, 2009.

SENIOR SCÓR

Wicklow Senior  Scór Finals

The Wicklow Scor Committee were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the competition in The Community Hall in Newtownmountkennedy on Saturday – and what an occasion it turned out to be.

This was also the first major event of the 125 year of the Association to be staged in Wicklow

One man that was bridging the full 20 years was the MC for the night Liam O’Loughlin, the first Chairman of the Organising Committee (Incidently the first Secretary was Margaret Phelan (Walshe) of Ballinaclasah)

High amongst the History makers on the night was our own Co PRO Jackie Napier who competed to the very first finals and was competing again on the night.

Another survived from 1969 was the current Chairman Tom Walsh who was a competitor on the first night.

The O’Loughlin family from Ballymorris Aughrim was also very much to the fore on the night, as indeed they were forty years ago.

Ettie Kilbride of Carnew may not have been there on the first night but she is another  great veterans of the circuit and a great promoter of Scór.  She was another winner on the night.

Ettie can also take credit in bringing her club Carnew to three All Ireland Junior & Senior Successes.

If that great promoter of Irish Music John Joe O’Loughlin was looking down from on-high he has to be pleased.  His son Liam, now one of the veterans of the circuit was, as always doing MC and was also a competitor. He was on the Aughrim team that finished runner-ups in Question Time.  Liam’s Daughter Annie was also a competitor on the night.  Liam has been present and taking part in some way at every one of the Scór finals.

John Joe’s Daughter Breda Mulkern and her family were also taking part.

In fact Maraid Mulkern won the Solo Singing on the night.

Jackie Napier recited a poem by a former Co Secretary and great Wicklow bard WJ Duffy – ‘In praise of Derrybawn’ – the same poem he recited 40 years ago.

Tom Walsh, who amongst other things was the Question master for the night was on the Bray Emmets Ballad Group in the first score and down the years was often a competitor in Solo Singing.

Ten Clubs from all parts of the County took part, which is about enough to handle on one programme.  There were up to seven competitors in some section but sadly there was no Set Dancers on the night – a great pity because a lively Set was always a great way to finish off the night.  Ellie Brady, God rest her soul would not be too pleased.

The Winners

It was a great night for the Carnew Club who won four titles, but then they have been the dominant Club in Scór and Scór na nÓg for a number of years.

Céilí Dancing – Carnew Emmets – Rory Kavanagh; Aoife Haskins, Aiofe Donohue, Donie Hassett, Danielle Travers, Michelle Cullen, Rachal Murphy and Elane Stafford.

Novelty Act – Carnew Emmets – James Doran, Maura Doran, Fergus Kinsella.

Recitation –  Carnew Emmets – Ettie Kilbride

Ballad Group – Carnew Emmets – Emma Culkin;Ereca Kennedy, Christina Kicsella,                                                             .                                                       Laura Leningston, Stephen O’Toole.

Solo Singing -  Aughrim – Mireoid Mulkearn,

Instrumtal Music – Annacurra – Donal O’Keeffe, Marie O’Keeffe, John Teevan, Michael

Shannon

Question Time – Avondale – Paddy Sheehan, Brenda Sheehan, Seamus Doyle.

Some of the very unlucky losers on the night were Kelly Keogh from Annacurra in solo singing;

Aughrim  in Instrumental Music.

Jim Carney, Baltinglass in the Recitation

Rathnew in Ballad group and Aughrim in Question time.

The full ten Clubs that took part were -  Annacurra, Aughrim, Avondale, Baltinglass, Bray Emmets, Carnew Emmets, Dunlavin, Kiltegan, Newtown and Rathnew

All the winners went forward to the Leinster Semi Finals which took place in the Marion Hall in Birr, Co. Offaly on Saturday the 7^th March, 2009 with the following counties taking part Offaly, Laois, Wexford, Carlow and Wicklow.  Carnew’s Ballad Group, Novelty Act and Recitation won on the night and went on to represent us in the Leinster Finals on the 22^nd March, 2009.  Everyone performed well on the night but unfortunately did not make favorites with the judges.

In ending another year I would like to thank all the clubs that took part, the competitors and their families and the people behind the scenes who help organise the premises.  To the people who helped in organising the catering, ticket selling and raffle prizes, also to the judges for their contribution.  I would like to thank the committee of Tom Walshe, Des Burton, Seamus Doyle, Eddie O’Byrne, Jackie Napier, Liam O’Loughlin, Marian Murphy and the staff of the County Board office Mick, Margo and Jimmy.  I would like to offer my sympathies to Mr. Tom Walsh on the bereavement of his wife and sympathies to all who suffered bereavements during the year.

Ar dheis dé go raibh a h’anam.

Mise le Meas

Sean O’Tiomáin

Runaí

Secretary’s Report for Convention 2009

Tá fáilte romhaibh go léir go dtí an Chomhdháil Bhliantúil anocht. Tá sé de phribhléid agam an tuarascáil seo a chur faoi bhráid teachtaí Chill Mhantáin i Eachdruim Uí Bhroin. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a thabhairt do gach Chumann agus do Choiste Bainistí a chabhraigh liom i rith na mbliana.

Once again another year is over and it is time to present a detailed report to the delegates of all clubs for our games and activities during the past year. I will endeavour to be as comprehensive and detailed in the coverage of events as in reports of previous years.

I have to begin the report by mentioning our great run in the All Ireland Football Championship. We started with a win against Longford and then lost after extra time against Westmeath. However it was in the Qualifiers that we really raised the expectations of the County. Three great wins against Ulster Teams (Fermanagh, Cavan and Down) at Aughrim with huge crowds made our year. I have to thank all the Clubs for their wonderful support in every way and of course the supporters who gave “Standing Ovations” to the team for their displays. Our luck deserted us in Portlaoise against Kildare when once again after a tremendous display we lost by a small margin. I would like to express our thanks to the Senior Football Squad and Micko and all the backroom staff for the outstanding memories we will always retain for the year 2009. Hopefully they will be the first of many from this team.

Our year began with the Senior Squads being unable to train in the months of November and December causing problems for our preparation in Football and Hurling. Our U21 Football Squad was also affected by these new regulations giving them just four weeks to prepare for the Leinster Championship.

We were hopeful of a good run in the National Football League and maybe succeed in eventually getting promotion out of Division 4. The economic situation in the country did not help us either and we lost a few of our players to immigration. However once again we had Mick O’Dwyer and his backroom staff full of enthusiasm for the year ahead.

In Hurling we started the year in Division 3A but we were hopeful that we could look forward to a better level of success in the League this year. We had a new Manager – Michael Phelan of Kilkenny and we were hopeful that he could generate the extra effort required to get some success at this level and also in the Christy Ring Cup and make progress at least as far as the semi – finals. Unfortunately we had our worse year for some time and we did not win any game in the League or Championship.

We had tried to initiate a First Aid course for Clubs following on from an incident which took place at a game in 2008 but unfortunately due to a lack of response from Clubs the event had to be cancelled. We do encourage all clubs to ensure that a number of their members are adequately trained in First Aid.

I would like to congratulate Peter Keogh who received the President’s Award and celebrated his 80^th Birthday in 2009. Tom Byrne was also honoured and received a National Award for his service to Hurling Coaching in Leinster over the years. Kevin O’Brien who was also honoured on the Leinster Team picked over the last 25 years and Leighton Glynn and Ciaran Hyland for being selected as possible All Stars even though they were not successful on the night. Tony Hannon who received a Vodafone Player of the Month Award and Mick O’Dwyer who received a Phillips Manager of the Month Award.

County Championships

It is with great pleasure that I can report that all our championships under the stewardship of the C.C.C. will once again be completed on schedule despite our Senior Football Championship not beginning until August due to our success at Senior County level. We ran the Senior Football Championship in what is now accepted as the norm with four groups of four on a league basis. The top two qualify for the knockout stages and the bottom two, playoff for the Keating Trophy. The league was once again played for without status. However as last year it did not appear to lessen the competitive edge to the games. It also allows the county teams play without any effect on clashing with club fixtures. The league section of the Hurling did not run smoothly and games were being postponed without just cause and once again caused a delay in finishing the Championship. With the Christy Ring Championship in Hurling and with Wicklow having access to the qualifiers we will now have to start both the Hurling and Football Championships between the league finishing and the start of the Provincial Championships.

On the field of play there were no real surprises with the qualifying teams for the knockout stages of the S.F.C. Baltinglass, St Patrick’s, Newtown, Rathnew, Tinahely, Blessington, Kiltegan, Coolkenno. Baltinglass found it difficult against Coolkenno and had to rely on a two 2^nd half penalty’s to come from behind for their win. Rathnew had an easy win over a Blessington side that unfortunately did not perform on the day. St Patrick’s started in whirlwind fashion against Newtown but it was brought back to a few points midway through the 2^nd half but a strong finish from St Patrick’s gave then an easy win. Kiltegan were led by Tinahely at half time but a few timely substitutions and they eased to a win in the last 10 minutes. The semi – finals paired Kiltegan and St Pat’s last year’s finalists. This was a close game with never more than 2 point between the teams at any stage. St Pat’s eventually won with 2 late points. Rathnew played Baltinglass in the other game and held the upper hand throughout. However it was midway through the 2^nd half before they finally pulled away and finished easy winners. The final was eagerly awaited with St Pat’s and Rathnew being in the same Parish and close neighbours. Rathnew started the better with 2 quick points but St Pat’s drew level within a few minutes. However Rathnew playing the better football pushed on and led by 9pts to 3 at half time. St Pat’s came more into the game at the start of the 2^nd half and following an error in the defence St Pat’s scored a goal to bring the sides within 2 points  1 – 5 to 10pts. However once more Rathnew pushed on adding 4 more points and despite St Pat’s best efforts they could not close the gap to less than 2 points and eventually Rathnew ran out worthy winners on the scoreline 0 – 14 to 1 – 8.

At Intermediate level Annacurra once again reached the semi – final following a playoff with Kilcoole to face their neighbours Aughrim. Dunlavin and Avondale faced each other in the other semi – final. Annacurra and Aughrim was a close game with each team scoring point for point. At half time a point separated the sides. Aughrim upped their game in the 2^nd half and scored a goal following Annacurra’s failure to pick up an inside forward that was left on his own and finished well. Annacurra raised their game and replied with some fine points to leave a single point between the teams. However another error following a free out for Annacurra ended with the goalie being disposed and Aughrim scoring a 2^nd goal. This put 4 pts between the sides and despite Annacurra’s best efforts they failed to close the gap. The other game between Dunlavin and Avondale turned out to be very one sided with Dunlavin never being tested by Avondale. They led by   point at half time and ran out easy winners on a scoreline of 2 – 13 to 0 – 8. The final looked as if it was going to be a close affair with both Clubs striving for Senior Status. On the day a strong wind blew towards the town end in Aughrim making it difficult to play against. Aughrim playing against the breeze got an early point but struggled against Dunlavin who had the advantage of the wind and made good use of it scoring 3 early points. Dunlavin scored an additional 3 points with Aughrim adding 2 to leave the half time score 6 points to 3. Dunlavin started the better with a great score from Stephen Miley in the second half even though playing against the breeze and added another point to leave the score 8 points to Aughrim’s 3. Dunlavin still enjoyed the better of things and after about 50 minutes led 11 points to 4. Eventually Aughrim started using the breeze and kicked in long quick balls to their forwards putting pressure on Dunlavin. They added 4 additional points but Aughrim had left their effort too late and Dunlavin ran out worthy winners 11 points to 8 to once again attain Senior status.

The Junior “A” championship had a very attractive pairing of Coolboy and Knockananna contesting the final. These were two genuine Junior Clubs facing each other following comebacks by both Clubs in the semi – finals. Coolboy elected to play against the breeze and it proved a good decision with Knockananna failing to settle and only managing to score 2 points. Coolboy replied with 3 of their own towards half time and led by a single point and having a breeze in their favour for the second half. However the wind died considerably and Knockananna known for their comebacks were hoping to get back in the game. Coolboy began by adding another 3 points stretching their lead but Knockananna slowly got back in the game. However it was the 29^th minute before only the minimum was between the sides. This was due to some poor misses and some good defending by Coolboy. It was 4 minutes into injury time before Knockananna tied up the scores and gave both teams another day in the sun. The replay surpassed the drawn game with wet and windy conditions not taking away from the excitement. Knockananna started the better and had the ball in the net early in the game and missed a few other chances. However then they went a long spell without scoring and Coolboy slowly brought the margin back with only a point between the sides at half time – 1 – 3 to 0 – 5. Coolboy started the 2^nd half with a goal inside 2 minutes. Knockananna responded with a few points but Coolboy remained in front until half way through the 2^nd half when Knockananna gained parity. Once again Coolboy managed to up their game and led by 3 points but Knockananna once more replied and as we entered injury time scored another point to once more leave the minimum between the sides. However time ran out and Coolboy held out for a great victory.

The Junior “B” championship was contested by An Tochar and Éire Óg following good wins at semi – final stage. An Tochar were hoping for better luck this year following a one point defeat last year. After a tremendous game with the advantage going from one side and then to the other Éire Óg scored in injury time to level the game forcing a replay. The replay though played in wet conditions did not take from the excitement of the game. Éire Óg started well and took the lead from early in the game and led 6pts to 2pts after 20 minutes. Then Éire Óg struck for a goal and An Tochar only replied with a point to leave the score line 1 – 6 to 0 – 3. However An Tochar started the 2^nd half in determined fashion and had scored a goal and a point within a few minutes to bring then right back into the game. With 10 minutes left the margin was only a single point in favour of Éire Óg 1 – 7 to 1 – 6. Points were exchanged still leaving the minimum between the sides. Once again Éire Óg stretched their lead with 2 points but with injury time approaching An Tochar had once again brought the margin back to the minimum 1 – 9 to 1 – 8. However try as they might they failed to equalise and Éire Óg had another victory in 2009.

The Junior “C” championship was contested by Avoca and Rathnew and a close encounter was expected. Avoca were quickly off the mark and led by 1 – 4 to nil after 15 minutes playing with the breeze. Rathnew scored a point after 17 minutes and added another before half time with Avoca also adding a further point to lead by 1 – 5 to 0 – 2. Rathnew playing with the breeze found scores hard to come by and as we approached the last quarter were still a goal down. Avoca lifted the pressure when they had a player pulled down in the box and were awarded a penalty. The penalty was converted and they led by 2 goals. They added a point to leave a score line of

2 – 6 to 0 – 5. With a few minutes left Rathnew had only managed a point when Robert Byrne was fouled in the box and they were awarded a penalty which was converted leaving a goal between the sides. We were now in injury time when Rathnew scored a point to leave 2 pts between the sides. A long ball pumped into the box seemed to fool the Avoca goalie and defenders and it hit the angle of the bar and upright and ended in the net. Rathnew had gone in front for the first time in the game just as the final whistle sounded. I had to feel sorry for Avoca but once again Rathnew proved that you had to play right to the final whistle and one could not fault them for their efforts.

In Hurling people were looking no further than Carnew and Glenealy again for who would win the Senior Hurling Championship. The format was changed back to the top 4 teams would qualify for the semi – finals. The losing semi – finalists would play for the Dessie Murphy Cup. The remaining teams would play for the Billy Byrne Cup. Once again when the league section began the only discussion was what teams would be likely to join Carnew and Glenealy for the knockout stage. The deciding game for the league was Carnew v Glenealy. It was a closely contested game with Carnew eventually winning by a single point. This left the Kiltegan v Bray Emmets game to decide who was going to join Arklow Rocks for the last semi – final spot. After a close game Kiltegan got the last place. Kiltegan played Carnew and Glenealy played Arklow Rocks. However it was as expected with Carnew and Glenealy winning easily to book their place in the final. Carnew and Glenealy knew each other so well that everyone expected a close final. Glenealy opened with an early point but Carnew replied with 2 points. Then Leighton Glynn got free of his marker and made good use by cracking the ball to the back of the Carnew net. However Carnew met the challenge head on and replied with 8 points, five from Don Hyland to lead 10 points to 1 – 1 after 26 minutes. Both sides traded further scores to leave Carnew leading at the half way by 13 pts to 1 – 5. The second half began with Glenealy coming more into the game and after 10 minutes the deficit was down to 3pts. Carnew while under some pressure were not yielding many scores and after trading some more scores there was still 2 pts between them with about 8 minutes left to play. Despite a lot of Glenealy pressure in the last 10minutes Carnew held out to win by 2 pts on a scoreline of 18pts to 1 – 13. Carnew deserved their win and Glenealy failed in their attempt at getting their 3 in a row.

In the Intermediate Hurling Carnew once again showed their pedigree by reaching the final. Their opponents this year were Newcastle who had come up from Junior grade and had not won this competition since the early nineties. Newcastle started in whirlwind fashion and had scored 2 – 1 to no score after about 5 minutes. However Carnew were not going to give in easily and by the half time break had narrowed the score line to 3 pts 2 – 5 to 0 – 8. A point from Newcastle was quickly replied to by Carnews Tom Darcy, with a goal leaving the minimum between the sides. A point still separated the sides as we entered the last quarter. However Newcastle finished the stronger with 4 pts giving a winning margin of 5 and making their return to the Senior Hurling grade.

In the Junior “A” championship we had a new contender this year. Fergal Óg from Bray were back again hoping for better luck and Éire Óg from Greystones were hoping also that their young side would prevail. This was a great game of Hurling and Fergal Óg began quickly with Andy O’Brien scoring 1 – 1 inside four minutes. However Éire Óg responded quickly and were leading inside 20 minutes. They traded further points and led by 1 – 8 to 1 – 5 at the break. The second half gave us more good hurling and the sides could not be separated trading score for score leaving them tied at 1 – 9 apiece at 52 minutes. Peter Keane gave Éire Óg the lead from a free and the following a long ball out of defence Paul Sutton once again scored a great goal to put some daylight between the sides. Once again Fergal Óg were beaten by late scores and Éire Óg celebrated a great win and hope for the future.

The Junior “B” final was contested by old rivals Carnew and Glenealy. The first half was very evenly contested with the score 4 pts apiece. However Carnew made a few astute substitutions at half time with John Joe Myers scoring 1 – 1 within minutes of the restart. After another 10 minutes the score line was 1 – 7 to 0 – 7 for Carnew. However it was Carnew who pushed on and finished the stronger adding 4 pts to Glenealys 2 pts giving a final score of 1 – 11 to 0 – 9.

This year we had a Junior C Championship for the first time. Barndarrig and Kilman/Enniskerry contested the final. A hundred per cent effort was given by both sides but Barndarrig had the edge and led by 2 – 2 to  0 – 2  at half time. Enniskerry narrowed the gap after pointing 3 frees early in the 2^nd half but Barndarrig pulled away again thanks to Jim O’Briens free taking and a few good saves from their goalie Michael Murphy. The final score was 4 – 8 to 0 – 7.  

Inter County – Football

The Senior Footballers began their season with a visit to Blessington and their fine facilities in the O’Byrne Cup against Carlow. Following a good display they ran out easy winners over Carlow. Next up were the Dubs in Parnell Park and Wicklow continued their good form with a good win in wet and windy conditions. Next up was Louth in Drogheda. After a good 1^st half the sides were tied 1 – 6 a piece at half time. However with Louth playing with the breeze in the second half we were unable to match their scoring and they ran out easy winners 2 – 19 to 1 – 10.

The National Football League began with an away game against Antrim and a new set of Rules to be implemented. Also with injuries and players away we were not at full strength. The first half was not great and Antrim led by 8pts to 3pts at the break. The second half however was a lively affair and Wicklow played with great determination. However we had 2 players sent off and scored 3 goals to eventually give us a draw in our first game. Next up was Waterford at home and after a very close game we survived a strong finish from Waterford to share the spoils. Mervyn Travers made a few crucial saves during the game to keep us in the game. Kilkenny away gave Wicklow a chance to get back on track in our next game and it was an easy victory on a score line of 7 – 23 to 0 – 3. Our next opponents Leitrim away proved a much sterner test. On the day we played reasonably ok as a unit but failed to take our chances. With a few minutes left and only a point separating the sides John McGrath had a great shot come back off the crossbar and that was how things went on the day. We lost on a score line of 13 pts to 11pts. We had Clare at home in our next game and after a bright start led 3pts to 2pts after 15 minutes. However we faded away and Clare led at the break by 1 – 8 to 0 – 4. We again began the second half brightly and we were level after 15 minutes 1 – 9 a piece. Clare got another goal and once again we had to come from behind and to the teams credit they did holding Clare scoreless and scoring 6 pts to win on a score line of 1 – 15 to 2 – 9.  We were home to London for our next game and had an easy win 1 – 20 to 0 – 9. It was also good to see James Stafford back in a Wicklow jersey after returning from Australia. Next up was Carlow at Dr. Cullen Park. This was a make or break game for promotion. This was a strange game scoring 2 goals in the first 5 minutes. At half time we led 3 – 3 to 9pts. In the second half Wicklow just faded away and despite Carlow being reduced to 14 men we lost by 5 pts – 2 – 15 to 3 – 7. This ended our promotion hopes. Our last game was at home to Sligo and despite missing several regulars through injury we played very well. The sides were level at the break on 6 pts each. Sligo started the second half well and led 0 –10 to 0 – 6 by the 3rd quarter. Wicklow finished strongly and with only a point between the sides Leighton Glynn hit the cross bar with a great shot with time nearly up. Sligo won promotion on a score line of 11pts to 10pts.

Leinster

On May 24^th all roads led to Portlaoise where we took on Longford. Wicklow put in a great display and led though playing against the breeze with Tony Hannon converting four frees. Longford played their best football in the last ten minutes of the first half to lead by 7 pts to 6 at the break. However as the second half began Wicklow started brightly once more with Rory Nolan scoring a great goal and then we added 5 more pts to lead 1 – 11 to 0 – 7 by the 57^th minute. Longford then hit a purple patch scoring 1 – 4 in a 6 minute spell and tying up the scores. Wicklow pressed on and following a good move by the forwards Paul Earls struck a great goal to ease Wicklow into the next round on a score line of 2 – 12 to 1 – 13. This was a day where Wicklow showed belief in themselves and gave our supporters great memories. Next up was Westmeath in Tullamore. We started the game very nervously spilling a lot of possession. However in our first attack we won a penalty when Paul Earls was brought down but Tony Hannon failed to convert. Westmeath went 3 pts ahead before Tony Hannon scored our first free. Leighton Glynn got another and Tony scored a second to bring us back into the game. On the stroke of half time a long range effort by Thomas Walsh resulted in Paul Earls jumping with the goalie and the ball broke to Dean Odlum who stroked it home. We led by 1 – 3 to 4 pts at the break. Dean Odlum scored another point but then in a 5 minute spell we lost 3 defenders – Paddy Dalton Alan Byrne and Damian Power. The situation was made worse by the fact that while Damian was getting medical attention by 2 doctors the referee decided to leave play go on and Westmeath scored a point. Westmeath tagged on a further 5 pts before Wickow got back into the game and held Westmeath scoreless for 20 minutes. By the 30^th minute Wicklow had pulled them back level. Leighton Glynn then put us ahead before Westmeath equalised in injury time. We had one chance of going ahead but missed a 45 metre free. Extra time began with little change to the scoreline. Westmeath led by a point at the break. Westmeath were the fresher team and added 3 pts to Wicklow’s 1 and ran out winners 16pts to 1 – 10. We now had to look ahead to the qualifiers but with at least three long term injuries.

Qualifiers

On Saturday July 4^th we began the 1^st Round of the qualifiers at home to Fermanagh. This was an outstanding game for Wicklow where we really showed determination and grit to get an outstanding win. The game began with Fermanagh first to score and we traded scores leading by a point at 25 minutes when Tony Hannon was sent off on a 2^nd Yellow Card. Fermanagh took advantage and scored a goal to lead by 1 – 5 to

0 – 7 at the break. The 2^nd half begins with Wicklow playing well with 14 men and leading by 4pts coming up to the hour mark. However by the 69^th minute Fermanagh had brought it back to the minimum. Disaster strikes for Wicklow again and Tom Walsh receives a 2^nd Yellow Card to leave us with 13 men. Wicklow really show their stuff and add 3 pts in a matter of 3 minutes. Fermanagh add a point but Wicklow run out winners 0 – 17 to 1 – 11. Wicklow face Cavan in the 2^nd round of qualifiers on July 11th. The game is played in atrocious weather conditions of wind and rain. After trading scores the sides are level at 4 pts each after 20 minute. Then in a 5 minute spell Wicklow score a goal and a point to take the lead. Cavan reply with a point to leave the half time score 1 – 6 to 0 – 5. Wicklow continued their good play adding

4 pts to Cavan’s 1 in the first 20 minutes of the 2^nd half. Cavan add a further 2 pts but Wicklow reply with 2 pts also and we have another win under our belts 1 – 12 to

0 – 8. Once again we face an Ulster Team. This time it is Down who are the opponents and unlike last week the weather is good if a bit windy and another great crowd. Down started well and were 2 pts up inside 2 minutes. However Wicklow playing with the wind replied quickly and Leighton Glynn scored a goal and a point inside the next few minutes to get the crowd in full flow. The scores are traded back and forth but Wicklow lead at the break by 1 – 9 to 0 – 9 after a good save by Mervyn Travers. The 2^nd half began with Mervyn once again making a good save and after both sides traded points it was Wicklow led 1 – 14 to 0 – 15 after 25 minutes. Down still came forward aided by the breeze and added 2 pts to leave the sides level as we approached 35 minutes. Down then kicked 3 wides one an easy free. As we entered the 38 minute Wicklow attached and James Stafford shot for goal when he probably should have taken the point. It was blocked and ran out for a 45 metre free. The Referee informed Tony Hannon it was to be the last kick of the game as he stepped up to take the free but despite all the pressure he stroked the ball over the bar and against a strong wind to have the “Aughrim Roar” heard all the way West of the hills as we hailed another famous victory. Micko was especially delighted as he had beaten his “bogey” team at last. The 4^th Round of the Qualifiers brought our old enemy out of the hat as we were drawn against Kildare. This time it was a neutral venue and the Wicklow supporters turned out in there thousands for the trip to Portlaoise. Kildare started well and had a few points on the board inside 8 minutes. Wicklow however did not panic and a goal and a point from Seanie Furlong gave us the lead 1 – 2 to 0 – 4. After half an hour we still led 1 – 4 to 6 pts but then Kildare struck a purple patch and kicked 5 pts without reply to lead at the break 11pts to 1 – 4. Wickow started the 2^nd half well but two great saves by the Kildare goalie and then a shot coming back off the post and into the hands of the goalie showed you need some luck also. Kildare added 2 points to stretch their lead. However Wicklow did not give up and at 48 minutes Tony Hannon struck for an outstanding goal which was followed by 2 pts to tie the scores 2 – 7 to 0 – 13. Kildare brought on 2 substitutes at this stage and their fresh legs gave them a slight edge where they aided in setting up a goal and a point. We traded further scores but Kildare ran out winners by 1 – 16 to 2 – 9. Our exploits finished for another year.

Junior

This year once again Leinster ran a league for the Junior teams. Wicklow beat Meath on a score line of 3 – 9 to 1 – 11 and then got a walk over from Kilkenny. Once again they faced Kildare this time in the final. Kildare led by 7pts to 2 at the break.   Wickow had levelled the game with 4 minutes left but Kildare added 2 pts and while a last minute attack by Wicklow nearly resulted in a goal Kildare held on to win 0 – 13 to 1 – 8. Wicklow manager Kevin O’Brien was pleased with the players who played but was still missing some players. We drew Kilkenny again in the Championship and ran out winners 13pts to 1 – 6. Next up was Longford and we left it behind losing by the narrowest of margins in a midweek game after missing a penalty and several other good chances towards the end of the game on a score line 8 pts to 7pts.

Under 21

Wicklow U21 were once again managed by Philip McGillacuddy. This maintained a link with the Senior Squad. They had put in a lot of effort at training for their first championship game against Longford. On February 14^th they travelled away to play Longford. Wicklow started slowly and 2 goals from Longford midway through the half gave them a lead of 2 – 3 to 1 – 3 at the break. Wicklow played a little better in the 2^nd half but it was the 60^th minute before they drew level with a great point from Anthony McLoughlin. Three minutes into injury time following a great interception we went and scored the lead point and following a 45 in the 5^th minute of injury time we added the final score for a 2 pt win. Our next game was in Aughrim against Laois. We started well and led 1 – 1 to a point after 10 minutes. However we missed a few easy scores and Laois led by 0 – 6 to 1 – 1 at the break. Once again we missed a few easy scores as the 2^nd half began and Laois added a pt but then Wicklow added 2 to leave the margin at the minimum. John O’Loughlin (Laois Snr Team) then came on as a substitute and began to deliver great ball from centre field to his forward line. Laois stretched their lead and won easily 1 – 18 to 1 – 4 after a bad display from Wicklow.

Minor

On April the 18^th the Minor Footballers began their championship campaign against Kildare in Aughrim. Wicklow did not perform against a good Kildare team. The game was over after 15 minutes as Kildare lead 2 – 5 to 1 pt. At the break this was 3 – 10 to

0 – 3 after playing against the breeze. The 2^nd half was one way traffic and the final score was 4 – 19 to 0 – 5. Wicklow faced Carlow in the losers section and redeemed themselves with a good display. Carlow led by a point at the break but Wicklow were ahead 2 –5 to 1 – 5 after 5 minutes of the 2^nd half. They ran out winners on a score line of 2 – 12 to 1 – 8. Next up was Kilkenny again at home in Aughrim. This was a one sided affair and apart from giving Wicklow a work out was of little use as we won on a score line of 8 – 15 to 1 – 1.  We then had to face Offaly away in Tullamore. This was a very good game, and despite a slow start we only trailed by a few points at half time. Tommy Kelly was having an outstanding game and despite being double marked continued to torment the Offaly defence. However we lacked some addition scoring power up front and eventually failed by four points despite giving our best display todate. It was good to see the team recover following their display against Kildare in the first round.

Hurling

Wicklow began the season with a new Manager Michael “Titch” Phelan of Kilkenny, a double All Ireland winner being appointed. He also brought a new trainer with him from Waterford Frank Ryan as his assistant. This had taken some time to organise following late minute withdraws from other interested parties. In their opening game in the Kehoe Cup Mick Hagan acted as interim Manager versus Trinity College. It was a dreadful day with wet and windy conditions but Wicklow elected to play against the conditions knowing it would take time to settle in. Trinity started the brighter with a few early points but Wicklow had levelled with 10 minutes. Trinity however showed good touches and added 2 goals prior to the break to leave the score

2 – 4 to 0 – 5. Wicklow took over in the 2^nd half with Trinity only managing to add a point. Wicklow scored freely and ran out easy winners 1 – 19 to 2 – 5. Wicklow met Westmeath in the 2^nd Round and they knew they had stepped up a class. The new manager was in attendance but decided just to watch the game. They started ok for the 1^st quarter but between the 15 and 20 minutes Westmeath had scored 3 goals. It did not get any better and the final score was 4 – 21 to 1 – 5.

National League

Wicklow were away to Kildare in their first game following the postponement of the Armagh game the previous week. Wicklow started well and raced into a lead of 6 pts to 2 after 20 minutes. However Kildare struck back before the break to leave the half time score with Wicklow leading 7 pts to 6. Kildare started the 2^nd half well and led after 10 minutes 9 pts to 8. Wicklow continued to work hard and were level after 20 minutes 12 pts each. Wicklow then had a bit of luck with a Jonathan O’Neill long range free going all the way to the net. Kildare struck back and levelled the game and then they exchanged points before Kildare got the winning point in injury time. Wicklow’s next game was against Mayo in Arklow. We started well and led on 4 occasions during the half before Mayo surged ahead 8pts to 5 at the break. Ten minutes into the 2^nd half and Mayo had stretched their lead to 1 – 11 to 7pts. Wicklow struck back and inside 10 minutes now had the score line back to the minimum 14pts to 1 –12. A few minutes later Mayo struck for another goal and then pushed on to win by 2 – 15 to 0 – 16. Next up was our postponed game against Armagh where it was felt we could at last get a win. Wicklow started well with a few early points but as Armagh settled they took over and it was only a well taken goal by Anthony Driver allowed us to be level with Armagh 1 – 4 to 7 pts. Armagh started the better on the resumption scoring 3 pts without reply. Midway through the half Wicklow once again hit a purple patch scoring 3 pts to level the scores. Armagh however struck back with a goal and a point to lead 1 – 13 to 1 – 8 with 7 minutes left. Joe Murphy managed a goal from a free and then added another pt but we failed to score again leaving Armagh with a 1 pt win 1 – 15 to 2 – 11. Next up was Meath away in Navan. Wicklow started smartly and scored 1 – 3 inside 7 minutes. Wicklow continued to play well but let Meath in for 2 goals to leave the half time score 1 – 11 to 2 – 4. Wicklow added 2 pts but then Meath hit 5 pts to leave just a pt between the sides. Meath then added a few points to lead but Wicklow hit back to level the scores after 30 minutes. Wicklow added a point in injury time which looked like a winner but once more following an easy free Meath levelled the scores for full time. Wicklow played Derry away in their last game knowing they needed a win at least to stay in Div 3A. Following their good display against Meath we hoped it was a good omen. However it was not to be as Derry went into the lead 2 – 5 to 3 pts after 15 minutes. Things did not improve and Derry led 3 – 8 to 1 – 4 at the break. The 2^nd half did not improve and Derry ran out easy winners 3 – 18 to 1 – 6. All we could now look forward to was the Christy Ring Cup and hope for an improvement.     

Christy Ring Cup

The 1^st Round game was against Carlow in Arklow. Wicklow were in this game right up to the final 10 minutes. They led 4 pts to 3 after 15 minutes. Carlow then scored 2 goals to leave Wicklow with an uphill struggle but they managed it by the break and led by 2 – 7 to 2 – 6. Carlow struck again early in the 2^nd half and led by 3 – 13 to

2 – 9. With ten minutes left Wicklow got a goal to leave just 4 pts between the sides. However Carlow finished the stronger and ran out winners 4 – 16 to 3 – 9. We now had another chance if we could beat Derry once again away in Derry. Wicklow played reasonably well in the 1^st half trailing by 1 – 7 to 6 pts. The 2^nd half proved a journey too far for Wicklow as we managed to add only 3 pts. Derry ran out easy winners

2 – 15 to 0 – 9. We faced Westmeath in a playoff for relegation and like earlier in the year we lost heavily once more. However following decisions taken later in the year we will now remain in the Christy Ring Cup.

Under 21

Martin Barnes and his backroom staff tried very hard with this panel but more commitment is needed from the players. They had only lost 3 players from last year and were fancied to beat Louth. However Louth had other ideas and playing with the breeze in the 1^st half had run up a good lead of 1 – 11 to 0 – 4 at the break. The 2^nd half did not improve matters and Louth continued to dominate running out winners on a score line of 2 – 14 to 0 – 9. Wicklow lack of commitment in training etc was shown up on the day.

Junior Hurling

Once again Wicklow entered a second team in the Leinster Junior Hurling Shield in 2009. This competition is run on a league basis and we faced Leitrim away in our 1^st game but we had to concede a walkover due to not being able to field 15 players and travel to the game. Our 2^nd game was at home to Warickshire and while we fielded a team we lost narrowly after a competitive match. We will really have to review entering a team in this competition for 2010.

Minor

The Minor Hurling began with an away game against Meath. They contested well in the 1^st half and trailed on a score line of 1 – 8 to 1 – 4. However 2 quick goals at the start of the 2^nd half killed their resolve and Meath ran out easy winners 7 – 21 to 1 –8. Wicklow played Louth in the Minor Shield in Drogheda and following a good start led by 1 – 8 to 1 – 1 at the break. They continued their good play in the 2^nd half and ran out winners 2 – 12 to 2 – 5. They faced Carlow at home in the next round and despite a good display in the 1^st half there was too much of a difference in class and Carlow proved too strong and ran out winners 4 – 22 to 2 – 6. We faced Westmeath away in the All Ireland B Championship. This was a strong Westmeath team who had already taken part in the Championship proper earlier in the year. They proved much too strong for a much weakened Wicklow Team short at least six players and ran out easy winners 4 – 21 to 3pts. Once again being unable to get out our best players was the main obstacle at this level. Clubs will have to give better support from players.

Leinster Club Championships

This year Rathnew represented Wicklow in the Senior Football Championship. There opponents were Ballyboden from Dublin. Rathnew started the game well and had a three point lead after about 20 minutes. Ballyboden came back strongly but with Tommy Gill in good form they held their lead at the break. Ballyboden started the 2^nd half the better and had levelled the scores 7 pts each after about 10 minutes. Leighton Glynn struck back for Rathnew with a great goal chipping the keeper in the process. However Ballyboden struck back again and scored a goal followed by three points to take the lead. Rathnew had a few chances but eventually lost by 2 pts. In the Intermediate Football Dunlavin went down to Tubberclair. Following a bad start and trailing badly at the break they put in a good display in the 2^nd half eventually losing  by a three point margin. In the Junior A Championship due to a draw in the Final we were unable to take part in the Leinster Championship. In Hurling Carnew took on the Kilkenny Champions St Lachtain’s and a very close contest developed. At the break Carnew were behind by a point 1 – 7 to 2 – 3. The 2^nd half was very tight and there were no scores until the 17^th minute. With only 10 minutes left only a single point separated the sides. St Lachtains pushed on at this time and added 1 – 1 without reply. The final score was 3 – 11 to 3 – 5. Newcastle beat Craanford in the 1^st Round of the Leinster Junior Hurling. They led by a point 1 – 5 to 1 – 4 at the break. They continued their good play in the 2^nd half and scored a 2^nd goal to run out winners 2 – 10 to 2 – 6. In the 2^nd Round they played Naomh Fionbarra (Dublin) in Arklow and following a hard close game they lost narrowly to complete a good year for the Club. Éire Óg have still to play in the Leinster Special Junior Hurling competition following a number of delays.

Competition Controls Committee

The C.C.C. should just have completed our programme of games for the 2009. Chairman Mick Hagan together with Secretary Tom Byrne and a hard working committee have done well to finish all competitions within the year. Competitions in general ran smoothly but the Senior Hurling despite the small number of teams still proved difficult once more. We will have to tighten our Match Regulations to avoid games being called off for little or no reason. It is also hoped to have definite days for each Div in the leagues to allow players know when games will take place. Croke Park are now looking seriously at Club Competitions and it is important that they are run to schedule for all concerned. I thank everyone for their commitment and time during the year.

Discipline

Discipline is an area where both Clubs and players do not give enough consideration in relation to games. Once again there was an increase in the number of disciplinary cases before the C.C.C. and once again it was very disappointing to see the increase in Juvenile Disciplinary cases.  Again a lot of the discipline issues related to abuse of referee’s especially from mentors and club people on the sideline. At the risk of repeating myself again I ask clubs to ensure that respect is shown to referees for the year ahead. Referees are not always right but without them we will not have any games. We should also acknowledge that referees are only human and mistakes will happen from time to time but hopefully they will learn from it given a chance. It is my belief that all Clubs should have to provide “Qualified Referee’s” at Juvenile level otherwise they do not get home games. I would like to thank the Hearings Committee members who once again were called on at short notice many times and who never failed to provide members to hear cases. It is not a job where people are waiting to serve on the committee and I especially thank the few for their commitment during the year.

Referees

Once again I will state the obvious that we still need additional referees especially in hurling as stated in my reports of previous years. Trevor Culbert has taken over the roll of Referee’s Administrator with assistance from Tom Byrne. I thank him for his commitment and look forward to his suggestions for 2010. We began a new system during the year for notifying referees and for results to be forwarded by text to update the Web site and League Tables. This was very successful but a few Referee’s did let us down from time to time. We are hoping for a better response for the year ahead. Hugh Kenny has continued with the “Young Whistlers” at 2^nd Level schools and once again it has proved popular with the students and a high number of them attained the qualifying mark in the written exams for referees. It would be important that these students are given a chance at “Under Age” level and hopefully encourage them to continue to adult level. If these Referee’s receive abuse at this level the Teams concerned should be disqualified from the competition. The Clubs have to understand the need to encourage young people towards refereeing.

County Committee

The Coiste Condae held six meetings during the year. As can be seen from the records some clubs have failed to have delegates attend any or very few meetings. Clubs also need to ensure that delegates report back to their clubs relevant issues that are discussed. Proper discussion of matters affecting Clubs need to be discussed fully at Club level. I thank all the Clubs who attend and take part in items of interest to Clubs and hope that more Clubs will be encouraged to do so.

Committee Attendance Record

Andriú Ó Briain          6                                   Máirtín Ó Colmáin                  5

Micheál Ó hÁgain       5                                  Des de Burtúin                         6

Micheál Ó Murchú      6                                   Máirtín Ó Bearáin                   5

Éamann Ó Caoimh      5                                   Tómás Ó Broin                        6

Seán Napier                 6                                   Buach Ó Seachnasaigh            5

Seán Ó Tíomáin           5                                   Tómás Ó Gréacháin                6

Damian Ó Broinn        6

County Management Committee

The County Management Committee met on fourteen (14) occasions during the past year. A lot of work was dealt with and even though we do not always agree on every issue being discussed the democratic process was accepted by all.

Attendance Record

Leinster Council & Central Council

Des Burton and Martin Coleman represent Wicklow at Leinster Council. Martin is on the Leinster Management and as always looks after any issue relating to Wicklow. Des is on the C.C.C. in Leinster and also looks out for issues relating to Wicklow. Trevor Culbert as Referee’s Administrator does a lot of work at this level also. Eamon O’Keeffe is secretary of the finance committee and assists all counties on financial matters. Mick Hagan is our Central Council representative and keeps us informed on all matters being discussed at National level that may affect Wicklow.

Media

The media plays a very important role in the G.A.A. It assists with the promotion and of course the reporting of our games for all our supporters. However the reporting at Juvenile level has experienced a set back this year following the loss of Pat Mitchel and Eddie Leonard. It is up to Clubs to assist in this aspect of games even if only the Result and Scorers are reported back to Coiste na nÓg. It would allow us to send these

Reports weekly to the Wicklow People or for inclusion on our Web Site where the children could access. The Wicklow People of course sponsor all of our Championship Competitions at underage and also the “Man of the Match” for each final. We thank them for organising this sponsorship especially Dave Deveraux who has taken over responsibility for Sports. At adult level Mark Kennedy is still reporting at most of our games and of course we always can rely on Peter Keogh who gets around the county to every game no matter the venue or time. Mick Hagan also ensures that reporting of our games are not forgotten and is now a regular contributor to the Wicklow People. The Wicklow News closed this year and it was a big loss in the reporting of our games. Jack Napier as usual collates all the results and ensures that they appear in our Sunday papers as well as the tele – text for all Wicklow people who live abroad and around the country. Nuala Kenny keeps us up to date on the Web Site with fixtures and results and in conjunction with Jack Napier and Jimmy Dunne ensures we have our year book ready every year. Thanks also to Mick and Garry for the photos each week. I also thank Dave Barrett for all his assistance especially for the Programmes and P. J. O’ Shaughnessy also for his help with all the photography. Michael Sargent is also to be thanked for his coverage of G.A.A. matters on East Coast Radio along with his many contributors. Last but by no means least I would like to thank Shane Kelly for keeping us up todate on all results on the Donard Web Site where many people check results and fixtures. As we move forward we are looking to see if we can expand our coverage of all G.A.A. matters on our new Website.

Scór

Seán Ó Tiomáin presents his report later in this booklet but I would like to thank himself and Tómás Breatnach and their hard working committee for their efforts during the year. Clubs now only have to enter one category to participate in Scór. We hope this will encourage more clubs to take part. 2009 was our 40^th Anniversary for Scór and held in Newtown.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is very important to our games whether it be Club or County level. Without it we could not provide the necessary back up to our teams at county level. Brennan Hotels have come on board this year to cover all our adult Football Teams for the next 3 years. Brian has been involved with the County over the last 10years and it is great to see him willing to invest even more with the county especially with the current economic times. Ballymore have finished their Sponsorship and we sincerely thank them for all their help and assistance over the last 3 Years. Cosgrave Builders continue to sponsor the adult County Hurling Teams and we are very grateful for their sponsorship. Internally within the county we also rely heavily on sponsorship of all our competitions and we thank all our local sponsors for their effort and committment. This year once again we ran a “Race Day” in April at Punchestown. Our committee under the guidance of Eamon O’Keeffee ensured it was a great success. We also thank our Golf Classic Committee for their fund raising efforts during the year. We began a County Development Draw and we thank all the Clubs who gave us their full support and who managed to make good sume of money themselves also. We would hope to continue it next year and we would ask all clubs to support it and make money for their own clubs also. We are very lucky to have so many people supporting us in so many ways and for that we offer our thanks. It is important that we as a county support these people in their business when we have the opportunity.

Coaching

This is probably the most important area of development of our games at all levels. This year we have agreed in conjunction with Leinster Council to introduce a new Coaching and Games structure. This has involved a large commitment of finance in a three year plan. We have employed additional staff – Michael O’Sullivan, Garret Doyle and Leighton Glynn to assist with Coaching both in Schools and Clubs. In conjunction with Colm Gaskin and Hugh Kenny the county is now broken up into areas with Michael, Garrett and Colm looking after an area with Hugh also assisting as well as having overall responsibility. Leighton has also had his role amended and he now assists a number of clubs together with Colm Gaskin look after the Schools 2^nd Level Hurling. They have already achieved some success in 2009. The continued success of “Go Games” has helped to persuade a lot of the smaller clubs to begin teams under their own club name and with the smaller numbers required allows them participate on an equal footing with the larger clubs. These games have proved very successful and it is important that all clubs take part to ensure that all children get to play our games.

Strategic Review Report

Croke Park launched a Strategic Review of all aspects within the G.A.A. This is a 5 year plan and is to be undertaken by all layers within the G.A.A. We have begun our County Plan and it is hoped to have in place targets for 2010 to ensure we are continually improving in Games, Structures etc. Clubs will also have to take on board this plan and set out their own targets over the next few years to ensure we all go forward together.

Development Committee

Victor O’Shaughnessy will give a full report on this area later in the booklet but I would like to express my thanks to him and his committee for all their hard work in the year gone by. The “Training Facility” at Ballinakill is well on its way and in 2010 we are looking at continuing this work. They also look after the clubs with any help required in improving their facilities. This committee also recognises the efforts of players and clubs in the “Awards Night” in the New Year.

Schools and Youth

This is an area where Coiste na nÓg look after all our games from U10 to U18 and if we are successful at this area we will always have a ready supply of players for the future. This year we once again had a large number of games to play and it did not always run smoothly. However with the support of the Fixtures Committee, Martin Barnes had the show on the road and we have completed a full programme of games within our calendar year. The clubs are now partaking in more games but it is important that they build on this for the future. A new programme of fixtures is being put together with involvement from all areas to ensure that the games will run smoothly. I would like to thank the District Boards and all the Development Squad Managers/Selectors for all the work put in during the year in promoting our games. In the Football all the squads performed well in the Leinster Blitzes. In the Hurling there was success at U14 (Tony Forristal Trophy) and at U16 who won their section of the All Ireland “B”. We would also ask the clubs to assist these people whenever possible by providing players when asked or by helping out at this level. This year we had two representatives at the Hurling Féile, Carnew Emmets and Bray Emmets. St Patrick’s and Michael Dwyers  represented the county in the Football. However despite some good displays we were unsuccessful in the All Ireland Football and Hurling Féile.

In the schools our games are being promoted as always but they do need our support. In years gone by we relied on teachers but this is no longer possible. As stated previously the clubs need to support the schools and the Club/School link is ideal for Primary Schools. Hugh Kenny is ensuring that the right people are going into the schools from the clubs. This year the appointment of Jim Murphy as a Fixtures/Games liaison officer at Post Primary Schools level was of great help to the schools. At second level we may also need to provide our grounds for games or training or possibly a set of jerseys or equipment where necessary. We will reap the benefits at a later date. Thanks once more to the Cumann na mBunscoil and Second Level Schools for all their commitment during the year.

Handball, Camogie and Ladies Football

It was another successful year in handball Shauna Hilley, Daniel Curry who won World Titles. Further success was had at Leinster and Tom Walsh was a recipient of the Leinster Hall of Fame. The Ladies Football continues to grow and this year they lost to Roscommon in Div 3 Final by 2 pts. The Arklow Geraldines Team won the Senior Club Final, congratulations to all concerned. The Camogie continues to have a vibrant club scene which produces exciting games. In conjunction with Jenny Duffy Leinster they held some coaching seminars and a Leinster Tournament. It is good to see all three associations continuing to grow and prosper within the county.

125^th Anniversary

The G.A.A. celebrated its 125^th Anniversary this year and we ran a number of events to honour the occasion. We had a special Football and Hurling competition and Rathnew and Glenealy took the honours in these competitions. We also held a Lá na gClub where all Clubs celebrated on the 10^th May at a local level by having an open day and having games and refreshments for the local community. We also ran competitions at Primary and 2^nd Level Schools and had a Parade of all Clubs with their banners before the S.F.C. Final. We had a Special Dinner where we honoured three winning teams from 1974 along with the presentation of medals to the Tommy Murphy Cup winning team. I thank Jimmy Dunne and his Committee for all their hard work during the year in running these events.

Finance

The Financial Report has been prepared for delegates by our Treasurer Eamon O’Keeffe. As usual it is a detailed report and gives everyone a clear view of the cost of running our county in the past year and as usual it is getting more expensive every year. I would like to thank Eamon on behalf of myself and the County Board for his new ideas in assisting with the financial running of the county.

Críoch

As I finish my report of all our activities during the year I hope that nothing has been omitted. I would like to congratulate all the Clubs that won the various competitions but I especially would like to thank all clubs for their commitment during the year. I also thank the clubs for their assistance and consideration shown to me during the year and I hope I was of assistance to them when required.

I would also like to thank Fás who assist the County and Clubs in running employment schemes where we have people looking after the grounds.

I am grateful to my fellow officers and the various sub-committees for their help during the year. A special thanks to the Chairman Andy O’Brien who is always available for consultation and hopefully I was able to assist him when required. Thanks to the staff at Croke Park and Leinster Council who are always available when assistance is needed. Thanks to the grounds staff and all the stewards and gate men/women who assist on match days especially this year at Aughrim for our big games. I would also like to thank the many clubs who sent us volunteers for our big match days and not forgetting Eamon O’Keeffe and Victor O’Shaughnessy who are always in attendance.

To Margo, Nuala, Tom, Victor and Jimmy Dunne who work with me in the office on a daily basis and without whose assistance I could not survive especially in those hectic days of the summer when competitions are at their height. A special prayer for all those “Gaels” who have passed away during the year, and gone to their eternal reward.

I ask everyone to look ahead to 2010 and strive to make it a better year for their club and county.

Is mise le meas,

Micheál Ó Murchú

Rúnaí, Coiste Condae Chill Mhantáin.

Coiste Condae Chill Mhantáin

Nominations for Convention 2009

Introduction: so far, so good

Looking back over the past while celebrating 125 years of the G.A.A., several trends can be identified. There is more communication between clubs and coaches, higher numbers of young players playing our games as a direct result of our under 8 and 10 Go Games Programme. All these trends have their roots in major structural and region club changes with the additions to our coaching staff of Leighton Glynn, Michael O Sullivan, Garrett Doyle supplementing the work carried out by Hugh Kenny and Colm Gaskin over the past couple of years: The spread of goodwill throughout our clubs; the development of a more complete coaching structure; and the increased focus on participation. Looking back over the last year, a strong coach education programme and high coaching levels in our Schools and clubs have maintained our progression, but also evident were our internal imbalances of fixtures at all levels. That, ladies and gentlemen, concludes my brief overview. Before handing over for you to analyze our work programme for 2009, it only remains for me to mention that there will have to be more support offered to our county Academy squads in 2010 from all our clubs in Hurling and Football, by each club encouraging our best players and providing the best possible support for them to represent our county.

County Plans 2010

GAA Grassroots to National Programme

Games Development activities are subdivided into four areas as follows:

1. Games Opportunities

To ensure that Players are provided with a regular programme of Games appropriate to their age and ability, e.g. Go Games and Super Touch Programmes.

2. Skill Development Initiatives

To compliment the Games with an incremental series of Skill Development activities – delivered in Clubs and Schools – to develop the player to their full potential, e.g. Primary Schools Coaching Programme, Cúl Camps.

3. Education Initiatives

To support the implementation of Games and Skill Development Projects with an integrated programme of Coach Administrator and Referee Education (CARE) within which provision is made for Applied Lifelong Learning (ALL), e.g. Implementation of the Games Development Plan.

4. Support & Capacity

Ensure the Games, Skill Development and Education initiatives are delivered in Club, School and Community settings by trained practitioners – predominantly volunteers – who work in collaboration with mainstream Officers and full time personnel within a joined up Basic Administration Structure

Developing Our Plan

Our aim: To provide games for everybody

In 2016 we will be able to say: “Every player in the county has the opportunity to play meaningful games in an informal, safe and enjoyable environment.”

Key project: Enhancing and integrating games activities for the benefit of all participants.

Annual County Games Plan

In accordance with national policy, we will develop an annual Games Development Plan linked to National Games Development Grassroots to National Programme (GNP) objectives. This will be submitted to the Provincial Games Manager and to Croke Park.

Focus on participation in clubs and schools

Modified small-sided games, known as ‘Go Games’, will be adopted as best practice up to and including 12 years of age. This will mean that all children under 12 will get meaningful playing time to develop the skills of our games in a challenging and fun environment.

Harmonise games development

We will harmonise games development and fixtures up to and including minor level to ensure a more balanced games programme is in place for all our players.

Player Pathway

We will implement the GAA players’ and games pathway from child to adult. It will promote full participation and encourage players to take part in our games in the long term.

Code of Best Practice

We will roll out the GAA’s Code of Best Practice for Youth Sport, incorporating a code of conduct that shows respect for fellow players, mentors and match officials. Best practice will also be developed in the recruitment and selection of those working with our underage players. This will comply with the appropriate legislation requirements and guidelines in jurisdictions in which we operate.

Respect Initiative

We will roll out the GAA Respect Initiative which promotes respect and discipline for players towards match officials and each other.

Qualified coaches

We will meet the national and provincial coach education targets to make sure every player is coached by a person qualified to the appropriate level.

Recreational Games

We will roll out the GAA recreational games for youth and adult players.

Schools

We will work with groups within primary, second-level and third-level educational areas to ensure their fixtures programmes are balanced with the programmes of other GAA units. We will meet the targets as set out in the Nationals Schools Development Plan to assist in the further development of Gaelic games in second level schools and colleges.

Club-School link

We will ensure that each club has a link established with each school in their locality in order to promote the club in the school and promote the development of our games.

Club Coaching Officer

We will promote each club appointing its own Club Coaching Officer whose main role will be to promote best practice in coaching and games development in the club.

Coach Education

From 2010 every coach who wants to enrol for any of our coach education courses can do so by registration on line – details will be forwarded to clubs shortly. All our Coach education  courses from Foundation, Award 1 Juvenile and award 1 Youth/Adult are recognised and certified by Coaching Ireland and any club who want to organise a foundation course must give us three weeks notice as this is a stipulation from coaching Ireland. The courses have to be approved three weeks in advance.

Foundation Courses

During the past year our Games Development Administrators completed a number of foundation courses in all regions. And 2010 will see the introduction of the new foundation courses in all regions. This course will focus on the Practical Application of coaching skills related to Technical Development. This will be achieved through Demonstrative Sessions taken by the Tutor and followed by the Course Attendees taking their fellow participants for application of the demonstrated coaching techniques. The emphasis is on learning by example. This new course last 7 hours

Level 1 Courses

A Football level 1 Course was held in Greystones in January & February 2009 with 25 coaches in attendance and the Hurling Course was held during November 2008 with 18 in attendance

All those coaches who have completed the course must now complete their logbook which accompanied this course. They will then be certified as level 1 coache’s at a presentation in Croke Park early in 2010. All coaches have been contacted and told to complete their logbook.

Award 1 Youth/Adult Football Course

This new Award 1 Youth/Adult Course has replaced the old Level 1 adult Course

The Award 1 course has been reformatted to take account of the different playing capacities that exist between Children (up to 12 years), Youths (age 13 – 18) and Adults (age 19+) and the competencies that a coach is required to display when working with each of the playing populations. Therefore coaches can specialise in coaching the particular players that they are involved in.

The Award 1 Coach Education course is the second award on the coaching pathway of Gaelic games. The course is aimed at coaches that have progressed through the Foundation Award and have experience as a Coach. The course aims to provide Coaches with the Information and with the Comprehension and Application abilities to know HOW to develop players’ capacities. The course aims to provide Coaches with the ability to introduce participants to sport in a safe, enjoyable and progressive way. Coaches will develop an all round ability which may lead to further development at a latter stage. The course will focus on the Practical Application of coaching skills relating to the 3T’s and the 3P’s. This will be achieved through Demonstrative Sessions taken by the Tutor and followed by the Course Attendees taking their fellow participants for application of the demonstrated coaching techniques. The Award 1 Youths/Adult course is Now 14 hours in duration and encompasses modules in:

• Introduction + OTú
• Communication
• Technical Proficiency
• Tactical Prowess
• Team Play
• Physical Fitness
• Playing Facts
• Psychological Focus Rules + Lifestyle
• Role of the Coach
• Conclusion

This course was run over two weekends Friday 13^th and Saturday 14^th November and Friday 27^th and Saturday 28^th November. Arklow C.B.S was the venue on both weekends and the Maximum total of 24 coaches attended the course.

Award 1 Juvenile

This new course will be piloted in early 2010 in south Leinster and our full time staff will be tutored to give this new course in the next few weeks.  I then expect this to be available to all clubs from March/April and October/November of next year.

New Coach Education Tutors

Leinster council will be providing a tutor trainer course in early January 2010 for our new coaches to help service the new coach education programme in 2010

Football Gary Duffy, John Paul Davis

Hurling – Eoin Dunne, Sean Hayes, Danny Curran

National Games Development Conference

As part of our relationship with the national games development we sent representatives from Cumann Na mBunscoil, Coiste Iarbhunscoileanna, our full time coaches and representatives for the Hurling and Football Academy squads to Croke Park on Friday 21^st Nov and Saturday 22^nd Nov to represent Wicklow G.A.A.

Wicklow G.A.A. Coaching Conference

We also organised our first ever coaching & Games Development Conference on Saturday 25^th April in An Tochar GAA. The Conference morning session was generic with speakers Mick O Dwyer, Fergus Connolly Welsh Rugby Union (Strength & Conditioning Coach) John Carey Cork Hurling Performance coach ( Mental Preparation & Motivation), in the afternoon we held two separate practicals Hurling Coaches – Jamsie O Connor Clare Hurler(Developing better Attackers), Donal O Grady  Former Cork Manager (Developing better Defenders) and George O Connor Wexford (Game related training drills) while the Football Coaches were Sean Dempsey Laois (Developing better Defenders), Trevor Giles Meath Developing better Attackers) and Pat O Shea former Kerry Manager (Game Related training drills) . All coaches were presented with a coaching Folder and 125 Commemorate Polo top to celebrate 125 years of the G.A.A lunch was also provided and the attendance of over 180 had an excellent day.

Hurling Coaching Clinic

“Making coaches on the ditch, more effective on the pitch” was the main theme of our Hurling Clinic which was held in Kilcoole on Saturday 10^th October from 10am – 1pm

The Clinic catered for Children, Youth and Adults

Guest coaches were National Hurling Director Paudie Butler who gave a practical presentation on Hurling Fundamentals. Martin Fogarty Kilkenny senior hurling team trainer gave practical demonstrations on advanced coaching drills while Tommy Dunne Tipperary hurler presentation was on full pace skills drills for youths. We had about 130 coaches in attendance. Each of the Hurling clubs that sent a Minimum of Five Coaches to the Clinic received 1 Dozen Sliotars FREE and all clubs were entered into a draw for a Hurling Fundamental Pack which was won by Blessington G.A.A. All coach’s that attending received a Sliotar bag.

Diploma in Training & Education

This course was organised by N.U.I.G, in Conjunction with the GAA

Hugh Kenny, Michael o Sullivan, Colm Gaskin, Garrett Doyle and Leighton Glynn took this Eight week course during the year – while Completing two Assignments in Observation, Feedback & Delivery of Practical sessions, lesson plans, and written critique on both Assignments and DVD presentation – it was most useful and will help us in our everyday coaching roll. I’m glad to announce that everybody received highly recognised marks

Nursery Programme Workshop

All our full time coaches held nursery workshops in all regions during the past year and have helped the vast majority of clubs setting up a club nursery programme. This area of juvenile coaching is very beneficial to all clubs as it starts them young and encourages parental involvement in the local club.

Go Games Workshop

Go games Workshops were held in the early part of the year in all regions prior to the commencement of the 2009 fixtures programme starting, to out line the rules and competition structures and details of young whistlers.

Vhi Cúl Camp Coaches Training

As part of the coach education training all our Vhi Cúl Camp coaches must under go Training before coaching on the camps as well as Garda Vetting. We held three training days for all our coaches in Aughrim. The practical session were provided by Aughrim national school when the entire school visited the county grounds where they were treated to a camp like situations for the entire day. Over 80 Coaches were tutored during the three days and they provided excellent coaching during the Vhi G.A.A. Cúl Camps

Code of Ethics

This course can be run by separately by contacting the Wicklow local sports partnership directly through Tracey Bunyan – Croke Park has trained Stephen O Toole from Carnew as our only tutor in Wicklow and I will be organising Stephen’s visits to our clubs.  Stephen will not be taking any bookings from individual clubs. The maximum attendance on each course is 15 and it is requested that all clubs avail of this and have a maximum attendance. Cost of the course is €15 per person and is run over four hours. Any clubs that wish to complete this course at the earliest opportunity please contact me directly and each club will be put on a waiting list in order of contact and Stephen will then visit each club individually. We hope to visit each club during 2010 as we get more tutors traing up to give this course it will speed up this process. Please have patience with the roll out of this programme in 2010. Our full time staff is not responsible for tutoring on this course.

First Aid Course

We had to cancel the three courses organised for Aughrim during the year – this course was organised at a special rate for clubs so as to certify a number of people who would be compent in dealing with first aid in all clubs. I must say I was totally amazed by the response from clubs with the lack of interest in this. That said don’t come giving out to the county board that First aid course’s were not organised or provided because by your response there must not have seen any need for them in the first place. So now if clubs want to run first aid course run them internally to provide this back up and support to your players.

Fun Do Coaching Resource Pack

We will hold an in service in February 2010 in all four regions to assist coaches in the use and benefit of this Coaching pack. The Fun Do Learning Resource Pack contains booklets, DVDs and DVD-ROMs aimed at parents, teachers and coaches. Specifically the pack contains:

• ABC/Have a Ball (Nursery) Resource and DVD
• Hurling Resource, DVD and DVD-ROM
• Gaelic Football Resource, DVD and DVD-ROM
• Go Games Resource
• Coaches Resource

Want to be a top GAA star like your heroes? Well you can be, if you work hard and spend lots of time mastering the skills of Hurling and Gaelic Football. And now the GAA have made it easier for you with the coolest, most exciting programme of skills and drills yet, called Coaching Classes.
Coaching Classes provide a range of activities that will help you to become more skillful at playing Gaelic games. Catch & Kick Coaching Classes is for kids who love football and Lift & Strike is for players who love the small ball. There are a set of skills and drills for U-8s, U-10s and U-12s so the whole school or club can all practice together. Coaching Classes will explain the Key Points and Common Errors of every skill and you can then Practice the Technique with cool drills before putting the skills into practice on the playing field with some Fun Games and Game Play Drills. Make sure that all your juvenile coaches have this pack to in sure a more Organised and planned coaching sessions during 2010.

Coaches Meetings

As Games Manager I hold regular meeting with our full time staff to plan and implement our strategic plans on a day to day basis and prepare our coaching budget. Then our county Coaching Committee are brought up to date each month on our progress – through Martin Coleman Chairman, Martin Barnes Coaching Officer, Eamonn O Keeffe Treasure and Jimmy Dunne H.R manager. This is followed by Martin Barnes coaching & games Developments Meetings incorporating the Primary schools, Post Primary Schools etc…. We also attend Leinster Coaching and Games meetings, Leinster GAA in Services and Coiste Na Nog meeting’s when requested.

Post Primary Schools

Teachers in Service:

During the month of September and early October our coaches visited the Post Primary schools to help teachers hold trials and coaching session’s with their various teams with a view to selection their school panels for 2009/2010 season. To supplement this programme we held a coaching workshop in Avondale G.A.A. on Wednesday 16^th September between 5.30pm and 7.00pm

Young Referees Course

Young Referee’s courses were held in Hollywood G.A.A. for all west schools and Aughrim County Grounds for all south schools and Bray Emmets for north east schools the attendance was up on last years numbers with approximately 140 students attending the course this time around. We currently are visiting each school individually for students to complete the referee examinations in Hurling and Football. Then we can look forward to 2010 with a completely new batch of young referees to referee Go Games, Cumann Na mBunscoil Competitions. As soon as the students have qualified as young referees their names will be put up on the Wicklow GAA Website. And sent out to all clubs. Thanks to Tom Byrne referee tutor for conducting these courses – the course consisted of two full days going through the rules of the game and Go Games Rules

Indoor Hurling

This competition was held over two days with all teams getting 6 games on a double round league and the top two schools contesting the final. This was held in the Arklow leisure centre on both days during the month of February Winners of this competition were Colaiste Bhride Carnew.

Internal Leagues Super 7’s Blitz

This successful competition is open to all Post Primary schools for first year students in Hurling, Camogie, Boys football and girls Football. The 4 four blitz are run on the same day in Kilcoole GAA on Wednesday 13^th May 2009 with 34 school teams taking part on six pitches. The idea is getting as many possible students playing our games as schools can’t have any players overlapping on any other teams. We are grateful to the young whistlers and senior referees for helping out on the day. Over 76 games are played in the space of three hours culminating in final in each grade. The winner of the perpetual cups was boys Football – Presentation College, Girls Football – Scoil Chonglais (Arklow) Hurling – Colaiste Bhride, Camogie – Colaiste Bhride Carnew. Every school that participated each player received t-shirts and the county winners received the perpetual cups and polo tops.

Transition Year Coaching Programme – Internal leagues Blitzes

We are no longer providing the Foundation Coaching Programme in Secondary Schools for the 2009/2010school year. Garrett Doyle organised courses in the north region in the early part of the year. We feel we have derived no great benefit from these courses. Now we have replaced this with special training for T.Y. students. The select school and students are broken into small committees where they have the responsibility to organise Go Games Blitzes with their first years and the local primary schools. These students have the responsibility for contacting the schools, Class teacher, Taking list of names of interested students, Picking Teams, Drawing up fixture lists, and Updating league tables, Promoting the Blitz in the local paper or school newsletter.  On Blitz days they have the responsibility of Refereeing, Linemen, organising teams etc… and reporting back to the Full time coach G.D.A and the school.

Primary Schools

Teachers in Service

We held a specially designed primary school teachers workshops in Newtown Community Centre, Hollywood G.A.A and Avondale G.A.A. on Tuesday 8^th October between 4.00pm and 5.50pm. The aim of the workshop was to help teachers plan their coaching sessions when taking our school teams in Hurling and Football, and practical ideas to use during their P.E. classes.

Indoor Hurling/Camogie

Our winter programme for Indoor Hurling /Camogie leagues took place over the last four weeks at various venues around the county. We had eight boys divisions with a total of 40 schools taking part. The following schools topped their group to go through to the semi finals and eventually making it through to the county final. Wicklow B.N.S. Barndarrig N.S. Coolfancy N.S. Rathcoyle N.S.  St.Bridget’s N.S. Greystones, Roundwood N.S. The eventual winners were Wicklow B.N.S.

In The Camogie section we had 6 groups with 34 schools taking part the following schools made it through to the County final Coolfancy N.S. St.Patricks G.N.S. Bray, St. Bridget’s Kilcoole and Hacketstown N.S. with the eventual winners Coolfancy N.S.

Thanks to all the competing schools in Hurling & Camogie and their teachers and parents for organising the teams and providing the transport. The winning schools were presented with specially designed trophies and the individual school a plaque all runners up received medals. Thanks to our full time staff for organising the annual indoor tournaments.  It takes a lot of time and effort coordinating the teams and assigning them to suitable days and venues, as not all schools can attend on the selected days we have set out for various reasons.

Cumann Na Mbunscoil competitions

All our full time coaches provide support to Cumann Na mBunscoil during the year in helping with their competitions and U Can awards finals

After School Coaching Programme:

Some of our clubs provide this scheme to our local schools. Garret Doyle for example helps Eire OG Greystones with this initiative. The local primary schools in the area visit the G.A.A. grounds after schools to play games and coached on the skills of Hurling and Football. The club also have a big advantage where they also provide 4/5 coaches to take the different age groups as well as the teachers help.

Nursery Programme

Throughout the winter/spring months we introduced the nursery programme to the primary schools. This consisted in a 3 week programme with each class of junior and senior infants within the primary schools. The idea behind the programme is to explain and demonstrate the programme to children and more importantly the teacher so after the 3 weeks they can continue to deliver the programme to the children. This has been a huge success, we rolled out the programme in 10 different schools in each region, and we will be continuing the programme starting in January 2010 with the remainder of the schools.

School Go Games Blitzes

We have also ran blitzes for schools and that were been not catered for, e.g. the blitzes in Blessington that were organised for the schools around the lakes and other venues around the county in Hurling & Football

U Can Awards

For the U Can Awards our G.D.A.’s met all the GAA teachers in each school to explain the programme to them so that they could deliver the programme along with the club/school link coach. We outlined the programme they agreed that it was the fairest way of choosing the players to represent Wicklow in the half time games in Croke Park over the summer. The programme work very well and the feedback from the schools were very positive.

Club/School Link Coaching Programme

The phrase “Club-School links” is a term often used in strategic documents, grant applications and general discussion within Sports Development/PE and School Sport. It is also used in the Irish Sports Council and the National GAA. The phrase is becoming more common and there is a great need for schools and clubs to work more closely together – if only just in communication!

Every child goes to school. The players the GAA will rely on over the next 20 years are all now at school. It’s therefore absolutely vital that the GAA gets these children ‘on board’ as soon as possible … and as effectively as possible!

Many young people take part in School sport, but there are fewer who take part in sporting activities outside of school. In addition, after they leave compulsory education most young people do not take part in any form of regular sport or physical activity at all. Establishing Club- School links gives young people the opportunity to continue participating in worthwhile sporting and physical activity throughout their lives. It allows youngsters to make the most of their experiences in both settings, to try out new sports and to feel comfortable in a club setting. As a result it makes them more likely to continue participating once they leave school. Every club in the county has an actively involved club/school link coach who delivers two blocks of nine week coaching in hurling and football in their local primary school. This is supplemented by internal school blitzes and localized blitzes Organised in each region. The response from teachers has been very positive and complementary to the G.A.A.

Five Easy Steps to Establishing Strong Club School Links

STEP 1:

• Work out what the Club wants from, and can give to, a Club/School link

• Talk to other Clubs which have taken this forward

• Appoint a School Liaison Officer (SLO) and make formal contact with the School

STEP 2:

• Meet the School Principal and teacher responsible for sport/games

• Outline the Club’s work; its aims and objectives; and the Go-Games model

• Outline the Club’s hopes and plans re its links with the School: support or encourage School involvement in Cumann Na mBunscol/ second-level schools’ GAA activity

STEP 3:

• Formalise arrangements re mutual use of each other’s facilities

• Establish, and keep updated, a Club notice-board in the School

• Provide (financial and other) support for Gaelic games in the School

• Provide coaching in the School setting

STEP 4:

• Host games/blitzes for School children

• Seek School input to the Club’s work regarding Scór and other aspects of culture and heritage

• Seek a Club input to and presence at School prize-giving and award ceremonies: ensure the “Gaelic ethos” is reflected in these

• Ensure Gaelic games/activities are highlighted in the School prospectus

STEP 5:

• Seek a GAA presence on the Board of Management

• Actively support School plans; projects; and bids for funding

• Support the School in its wider community activity

Club/School Coaches training Night!

Club/School coaches training took place on Wednesday 30^th September 2009 in Avondale G.A.A, Hollywood G.A.A. and Newtown Community Centre from 7.30pm – 9.30pm to outline the roll of the coach in the school and practical demonstrations. This workshop was also used to make sure all our Club/School coaches followed the guideline and procedures of child welfare while also completing the Garda vetting Forms.

Club Coaching – Structures

As part of our Strategic Review process on coaching and games during 2009.

We have now changed the structure and regions that our club support officers are working in. As part of Leinster Council revision of full time coaches – Our coaches are now given the New Title of Games Development Administrators – G.D.A.’s. On 21^st October in the four regions we held a review and planning meeting with all clubs in there regions given by the regional G.D.A.’s and a County Board Representative. To outline the change in regions and to outline the work covered to date and address the proposed plan to be implemented over the next 12 months

The 4 Regional club coaching Structures

Club Coaching Coordinator

All clubs in Wicklow have or are in the process of appointing a Club Coaching Coordinator. This position is not to be taken lightly and it is very important when making the appointment that each club carefully selects the right person to develop this roll.

The club coaching Coordinator’s are seen as an increasingly important two way link between the G.A.A. and the local game. The main benefit of the C.C.C. is to witness the development of the players (numbers and Quality) through the development of coaches at their clubs. There will also be opportunity for personal development-management, communication, presentation, planning and Liaison. In the past, overworked club secretaries have been inundated with communications from a wide range of sources. Not surprisingly in some cases not all the information was communicated to club members. Now we have established as a direct means of contact between club coaches and the County Coaching & Games Development Committee, County Games Manager and Club support officers.

Roll of the Club Coaching Coordinator

• To recognise, promote and manage personal development opportunities for club coaches
• To encourage all coaches within the club to become formally qualified
• To identify potential coaches to fill coaching posts within the club
• To actively promote all G.A.A. courses and code of conduct for coaches/players or develop an aligned club policy
• To seek support from, and keep in contact with all coaching personnel within the Wicklow County Board G.A.A.
• To be the main point of contact for the club coaching department
• To be a main contact at the club for all club coaches
• To help implementation of or initiate a club coaching development plan

Club Coaching Visits

I am glad to report that all coaches have held coaching session in all clubs in the county.  The variety of session varies from club to club. Most of our clubs are making great use out of this programme, and we have spent an average of 3 sessions over 3 weeks with these clubs. We have also spend a lot time working with clubs with their nursery, u8’s, u10’s, u12’s,

Fixtures Harmonisation:

In line with national policy

We meet the following coaches over the five different age groups

From U/12 U/14 U/16 in Hurling and Football on the last week in October and 8/10 and Minor on the first few weeks of November. We begin this process by getting the current situation in relation to fixtures in each age group and assisting the feelings and knowledge of team coaches with a view to preparing suggestions and proposals on fixtures for 2010. Our next step will be to investigate the possibility of drawing all this information together into getting an agreed template in Conjunction with all clubs. This will help to identify possible areas during the year when the provision of games at a particular age group could be enhanced.

Vhi GAA Cúl Camps

The 2009 Vhi Cúl Camps have given us an increase in numbers again on last year despite the economic crisis and competition from other sports camps.

Close on 2,200 young players attended our camps during the summer. This year’s Vhi GAA Cúl camp kit was based on the Ireland international rules jersey with shorts and socks and excellent kit bag. Our camp fee was €60. Once again very competitive compared to other summer camps. We selected more experienced coaches from the application forms submitted and we also had the added incentive of Senior county Footballers and Hurlers coaching on the camps. We held three training days for all coaches in preparation for the camps. The host club and coordinator play a major part in ensuring the camps are run successfully and I pay tribute to that. Our Primary schools are also very accommodating in our distribution of application forms in the schools.  The Wicklow Coaching and Games development also provided a customised Football and Sliotar to all children attending free of charge. While Vhi Healthcare provided Medals and certificates to all children. Leighton Glynn and PJ Ryan the Kilkenny Goalkeeper visited many school during our promotion in all regions.

During the month of June we held 26 camps in which 14 were solely Football, 2 combined camps and 10 hurling. Sometimes holding up to six camps a week, the logistics and preparation for all these camps are serious.

A new camp was held in Avoca for the first time attracting over 80 children. We also had responsibility for coordinating the Bray Emmets camps this year.

The big advantage for parents this year was they could register their children on line. Despite our usually wet summer every child that attended the camps has a great time and they are already looking forward to 2010 camps.

Vodafone Easter Camp

Leinster 125 Under 14 Football Feile

This Under 14 Football Feile took place on the same weekend as the national event in Co. Kildare and it was open to all clubs that didn’t qualify for Kildare. The host counties were Laois and Westmeath. The lack of interest among our clubs to attend this weekend still astounds me only Baltinglass, St. Kevin’s, Blessington and Bray Emmets took part.

Go Games – Under 8/10

Monthly Blitzes June – October

After meeting all juvenile clubs at the back end of last year we put in place a fixture programme for 2009 that all clubs agreed on. Between April and October we held two Football blitzes and one Hurling blitz each month. Groups and venues were rotated each month. Some clubs played their games on a Friday night and other on the Saturday morning. I must say this was the best age groups for completing their fixture programme during 2009.

Since then we held a review meeting with all clubs to coordinate the 2010 fixtures programme. This was a very positive and constructive meeting and the changes that were recommended for next year will go along way to enhancing the spirit and organising of these games at Under 8 and 10 during 2010. Also on the night we gave a video presentation and presented Go Games medals and certificates to all clubs that had children playing and 8 and 10 during the year.

Under 8 Croke Park Games

As you are aware the Play & Stay days in Croke Park took place on July 1^st and 2^nd this year.  Over the two days we hope to over as many U/8 club players from around the province the opportunity to play on the hallowed turf of Croke Park.

Schedule of Events:

• Arrival to Cusack Stand Car Park (minimum 45 minutes prior to their allotted match time)
• Meet with arrivals steward in Car Park and be escorted to the Cusack Stand
• Teams were registered (only numbers given prior to event can be catered for)
• Teams were allocated to a dressing room. Using the dressing rooms is all about the Croke Park Experience rather than to be used for unnecessary team talks etc. Players lined up in the tunnel and ran out onto the field in individual groups
• Matches were 40 minutes in duration (including half time)
• There was only 2 Mentors allowed per pitch per team
• Each team will played 1 match
• After the match teams and mentors made their way to the Hogan Stand Presentation Area
• We also asked that 1 mentor from each club would bring a digital camera to take pictures of their players in the presentation area

I would like to thank Leighton Glynn for dealing with such a sensitive matter in Croke Park on the day when Ciaran Shannon former Wicklow Football who died during the year under such tragic circumstances. His Children attended representing Annacurra were made a special presentation on the day.  Wicklow clubs that took part on the day we selected from an open draw at a juvenile county board meeting by Hugh Kenny. Any club that did not take part in the last two years will automatically is allowed to go in 2010 and an open draw being held for the rest of the clubs once again

Club that attended Croke Park

U Can Awards

The response to this programme was very good. We ran workshops in Hollywood, Newtown, and Aughrim on Wednesday 29^th July for all club coaches in their coaching regions, to outline the importances and the different skills tests that were going to be focused on throughout the county. All the coaches involved with their teams delivered the programme in their clubs, each club sent players to compete in each section in Hurling and Football. The County Skills final for Hurling too place on Saturday 15^th August and Football on Saturday 22^nd August. Presentations were made to the Under 8, Under 10 and Under 12 Skill winners.

Half time Go Games During Championship Semi Finals and finals

Once again we organised Go Games during the Half time in the Senior Football Championship Semi Finals and during the Intermediate Football Final, Junior A Championship Final and Replay. These games are organised for Finals in Aughrim if the clubs request them. During the coming year we intend to use Aughrim County Grounds for more Go Games Blitzes and give every club the oppournity for their young players to wear their club jersey in Aughrim.

Super Touch Blitzes

Once again we provided additional games for Under 12 and 15 in Hurling and football on a 7 aside blitz format. The idea of these games was for players who didn’t make their clubs 15 aside teams and for small clubs to play as an individual club so their players could get valuable game time through these blitzes. Some clubs had a great time playing in these games others looks at us as if we had three heads claming they knew nothing about these games. (Where’s the open line of communication in our clubs) Next year we will take names of only the clubs that want to take part. Otherwise it is total disruption to our programme not playing these games?

Hurling Promotion

The number of games currently being played at juvenile level is inadequate for the promotion of hurling and the development of players and clubs. There is a general feeling at the moment that the standard of hurling and the number of kids playing has declined in the last 12 months.

This is totally unfounded as a brief out line of activities are address underneath. It is the reality that all clubs don’t realise the amount of Hurling activity that is going on in the county. All they are really interested is pointing the finger. I admit that the fixtures programme is the leading topic as far as Hurling is concerned. We held a fixtures meeting over the last number of week’s to address this problem under the strategic plan 2010 and only three hurling clubs were represented. You don’t make changes from echo’s rebounding around the county. Please take a look at our Hurling activities compared to the football element and you will soon realise that hurling gets more promotion than football. We have now divided the County into four regions and each of the full time staff are responsible for promoting both games in their regions. This is a major step in assigning 10 clubs to each coach so help on the ground is more available than ever before.

Hurling Activities

Post Primary Schools – Indoor Hurling, Wicklow Coaching Conference ,West Indoor Hurling – Clubs 8 weeks, Club Hurling Visits, 5 Sessions Organised by Inter County Players

Hurling Coaching Clinic, Hurling Go Games 8/10, 7 a Side Blitzes U12 & U15

Vhi Cúl Camps 8 & 2 Combined plus Easter Camp in Fergal OGS, Primary Schools Indoor Hurling Blitzes, Astro Turf and Hurling Wall Ball – Games & Skills, Primary School Visits by P.J. Ryan Kilkenny, Under 13 Hurling Feile – October, Under 14 Hurling Feile – July

County Academy Squads – Guest Coaches taking sessions ,Primary School Blitzes, Coach Education – Coaching Courses, Nursery Hurling Programme in Primary Schools & Clubs

Club/School Link Coaching in Primary Schools, Wicklow Senior, Junior, Juvenile Hurling Schools Teams, U Can Awards Skill Tests – Clubs & Primary Schools

Under 12 County Hurling Squad, Post Primary Schools Hurling Blitz

Plans/Suggestions

1. Fixtures – Monthly blitzes invited teams to play our clubs at U /14 U / 16 and Minor – to provide extra games for our clubs – Redesign our fixtures programme
2. Additional Go Games Fixtures in 2010
3. Additional and capable coaches working with our Development Squads
4. Look at the possibility of have group teams in all regions to provide more games
5. Games & Skill coaching days on the county boards Astro turf in Arklow and using the wall ball for skill training

Any other suggestion from clubs would be most welcome as we are all in this together

Wicklow County Juvenile, Junior, and Senior schools Hurling Teams

We had three team’s competing in Leinster competitions during the year. They were organised and selected from all the post primary schools in the county with the exception of Colaiste Bhride Carnew who entered an individual school team in the competitions. Colm Gaskin and Leighton Glynn were the main organisers with the help of Shelia Driver from Glenealy. The Under 16 /Junior team defeated Ballyhale Kilkenny in a fantastic game of Hurling in Carlow to win the Leinster C competition. The senior team was very unlucky in their section and failed to qualify for the final. The under 14 /Juvenile competition will take place in March 2010

Poc Fada

This competition was organised during the summer in Pearse’s Park in Arklow with the help of Colm Gaskin, Michael o Sullivan and Martin Barnes. The Poc Fada catered for club under 14, and Senior Hurlers with the winners representing Wicklow at the annual Martin Donnelly/Leinster Poc Fada finals will take place in the Curragh, Co. Kildare on Thursday June 25^th. Once again when the competition was over there were noises coming out that this player should have represented Wicklow at this age group etc… But you can only send the players who came to the Wicklow competition. Despite notice received by all clubs the participation level was very, very poor indeed with only two player’s contesting the under 14 and one player contesting the senior competition enough said.

5 Hurling Sessions given by Inter County Players.

A number of top county Intercounty Hurling Players from Kilkenny, Wexford, Dublin and Tipperary agreed to take 5 Hurling sessions in each of the hurling clubs:

Clubs arranged the five coaching sessions by contacting the guest player directly to arrange suitable times and dates. Clubs then paid each guest player €100 Expenses after each visit. On completion of the 5 coaching sessions the Club will be paid directly by the county board on submission of the completed coaching form. Clubs were to organise the teams they want coached and to make sure all juvenile coaches were present to learn and pick up new ideas to help their coaching programme. Clubs were to provide coaching equipment i.e. Helmets, Hurley’s, Sliotars, Cones Bibs etc… It was vitally important that all clubs were professionally organised to conduct the Five Coaching Sessions. Any club that have completed the sessions were paid we are still waiting to receive these documents from other clubs. Some club’s did not take up this opportunity to avail of the 5 coaching sessions.

West Indoor Hurling leagues

Michael o Sullivan organised an indoor hurling league in late January for all the clubs in West Wicklow in St Kevin’s Community School. The league ran over 8 weeks, with U10’s one week and U12’s the next week. This league was very successful and hopefully more clubs will take part next year.

Hurling Skill relay races

As part of the 125 Celebrations Cumann Na mBunscoil in Conjunction with Cill Mhantáin Coaching & Games Development Committee organised three skill relay races before the Senior Hurling Final. Each Juvenile Hurling Club was required to send two players at 12 years of age wearing their club jersey to Aughrim on this day. All selected players brought their own Hurley and Helmet.

Leinster U-12 Hurling Festival

Wicklow Representatives that took part on Saturday 29^th August in various venues in Dublin  Avondale, Carnew Emmets, Glenealy, Arklow Rocks, Eire Og Greystones, Michael Dwyer’s, Bray Emmets

125 Leinster Under 14 Hurling Feile

Leinster GAA in partnership with Wicklow GAA and 125 Celebrations organised The Under 14 Hurling festivals in conjunction with the national event. This was to be treated as an opportunity for clubs from different counties to get the opportunity to play against each other in a structured and organised format, with the emphasis being on enjoyment and community. Our two Feile representatives Bray Emmets and Carnew were representing Wicklow at Feile and our other Hurling clubs had the opportunity to play games in a Feile during the same weekend. This took place on Saturday 20^th July

Glenealy hosted – Clenmore, and Knockbridge, Arklow Rock Hosted – Gusserane O Rahillys and Young Irelands. Kilcoole Hosted – Loughlene Gales WH, Longford Slashers and Eire Og Greystones. Avondale Hosted – Kilrush/Askmore and Naomh Minnine. Blessington Hosted – Western Gales, Cuala and Wolfetones Longford each host club was presented with a €500 sports voucher from O Neills for hosting the competition

Wicklow G.A.A. Under 13 Hurling Feile

This Feile was organised on Saturday 31^st October in one of the finest weekends of the month each host club received a €200 contribution for hosting the event. On the days and week leading up to this event we had to replace teams not only visiting teams but disappointedly some of our own Wicklow teams too despite the long advanced notice.

Host Clubs were Glenealy, Bray Emmets, Blessington, Carnew Emmets, Eire Og Greystones, Kilcoole – Visiting Clubs Naas, St Mauras, Tinahinch, Ratharney, Craanford, Longford Slashers, Knockbridge, St Martins, Clonkill along with Wicklow clubs – Michael Dwyer’s, Western Gaels, Avondale

Garden County Magazine:

This monthly publications were distributed to all our clubs by our coaching staff once they became available. The real value of these magazines can be discussed through your club at county board level. (It would be of more benefit if we had a G.A.A. supplement issued every month through the Wicklow people then we would be targeting and identifying with people in a whole new area throughout the county) and it would give the non traditional GAA people in the county the opportunity to see what we are about.

IT planning & reporting administration – Leinster Council

Through the MIS reporting system we all make our weekly reports to Leinster council & Croke Park. Our County plans are also imputed on this programme, Where it records Coach Education, Games/Blitzes, Academy Squads games & training Numbers etc…. through this system every coach will also be able to register on line from January 2010 to attend our coach education programmes.

Wicklow Local Sports partnership

The Wicklow Local Sports partnership was set up during the past year and the office is base in the Shoreline Leisure Centre, Mill Road, Greystones. Their officer is Tracy Bunyan 01-2878184 and notices of educational courses will be passed on to me to distribute to our clubs at various times during the year. As a Local Sports Partnership Tracey has responsibility for promoting all sports in the county.

Garda Vetting Procedures

You will be aware that the GAA has, as part of our recruitment and selection requirements commenced the vetting of all persons who on behalf of the Association work in any capacity with children or vulnerable adults.  This procedure is administered via Croke Park with the assistance of the Garda Central Vetting Unit for the Republic of Ireland and in the six counties by the offices of Ulster GAA in Armagh through the Access NI service. While vetting is a compulsory requirement in the six counties it is anticipated that it will be equally compulsory in the Republic of Ireland sometime next year.  We are anxious to have as many of our personnel vetted before we are pressurized to adhere to such a legal requirement and avoid any long term delays in the processing of our applications. I also wish to bring to your attention that as and from 9 November 2009 we are no longer obliged to accept individual vetting applications from members of the Association, unless they are forwarded to us via your County Vetting Coordinator Garrett Doyle G.D.A. One other essential matter I want to bring to your attention is that An Garda Síochána no longer requires us to record the PPS number of an individual on Garda Vetting Application Forms.  This change in practice becomes operable immediately and is as a result of the non use of previously recorded PPS numbers by the Gardaí in the absence of relevant legislation.  Where we may have retained such information in the past this has now been removed from our data base and anybody seeking such confirmation may contact us directly in Croke Park to verify this matter. All new forms do not carry a requirement to record the PPS number of an individual. Full Garda vetting forms and procedures can be downloaded from our coaching section on the Wicklow G.A.A. website.

Peppards Motors Wicklow Town – Courtesy Van

A special word of thanks to must go to Shane Peppards Peugeot Motors Wicklow Town, for sponsoring the games development Van for the second year. This is great advertisement for the promotion of GAA in County Wicklow. It also affords us the luxury transporting items during the year particularly during the busy time of the Vhi G.A.A. Cúl Camps. We are now coming to the final term of this sponsorship and in the current economic climate it would be very difficult to secure such a sponsorship in 2010. So if any delegates know of any motor company who would be willing to continue this is would be very much appreciated.

County Academy Squads

In Service Training

In service training for all Underage Football Academy squad Mentors was held on 31^st January in NUI Maynooth. Mentors then had the opportunity to avail of free tickets to attend the opening national football league Fixture Dublin v Tyrone in Croke Park that evening.

Leinster G.A.A. Football Coaching Conference

GAA Underage County Academy Squads “Building Awareness”

In the past two years new regulations in respect of Academy Squads have been introduced. The conference was about creating an awareness of the importance to have the proper structures in place to support both coach and player development at this level. From the point of view of content we listened to the coach’s feedback from our workshop in January and we tailored the practical sessions to suit. I took a developmental session to Improve Defending and Tackling on this conference.

Hurling For Bóthar Leinster Council Coaching Workshop – Academy Squad Coaches

This Course took place in St.Kieran’s College in Kilkenny on Saturday 11^th April and we were represented by our academy squad hurling coaches where they gained valuable knowledge and experiences from watching these guest coaches in action.

Report on County Academy Squads in Hurling & Football during 2010

U12 Regional Squads

The Under 12 Football Squad Our roll here was to help recruit suitable coaches to look after these squads in Hurling and Football. After district matches in football the squad travelled to Croke Park for a Stadium Tour and finished the day by playing Kilmacud Crokes in two matches. Coaches as per regional Squads included John Hammond, Brendan Hennessy, Martin Hamilton, Martin Ging, Ciaran Martin, Roy Byrne and Jim Bob Doyle

The Under 12 Hurling Squad. This squad of players was established this year for the first time they held 10 coaching sessions with 42 players in attendance. The sessions were held in Avondale and Glenealy. They played friendly games against Glenealy, Carnew and Eire Og and finished their year with a trip to Kilkenny to play two games in Nowlan Park. Thanks to the coaches involved with the squad. Sean Hayes, Jim Bob Doyle, Bosco O Neill and Colm Gaskin

U14 Squads

This under 14 Football Squad, In January each player received a comprehensive handbook, detailing responsibilities and expectations etc.  Training commenced in mid-February. A total of 10 sessions were held in venues throughout the county. Players and coaches were extremely punctual and all sessions commenced and ended on schedule. They played two challenge matches as part of their preparations. The squad participated in four Leinster Blitz competitions – playing a total of 8 games. The coaches decided that every squad member would get game time at each Blitz. This may have reduced our overall competitiveness but did ensure that, the experience was shared and enjoyed by everyone. In all matches, the players showed great heart and determination and performed exceptionally well against Meath and Westmeath

Tom received numerous compliments from bus drivers and restaurants regarding the players’ mannerly behavior and conduct.  Both on and off the pitch, this U14 squad did their county proud and we look forward to the same coaches working with many of these players in 2010

The under 14 Hurling Squad was managed by James Doran, Michael Neary, Joe Linnane and Nigel Manley. This squad held two trials with about 50 players and the final panel was cut to 30 – they travelled to Belfast for a weekend and played O’ Donovan Rossa 1^st and 2^nd team and Cuala, Wicklow also entered two teams in this competition. Challenge Games were organised V Carlow and Wexford in Carnew. This was followed by D.J. Carey School of hurling in Kilkenny. Wicklow won the skills competition and Anthony Byrne Eire Og got player of the week. The Tony Forestal for division 2 and 3 was held in Portlaoise this year not Waterford as usual. The team made an early start for Portlaoise and got the semi final only to be beating by the host county Laois. All in all this was a very committed group of players and an expertly coached team and they were prepared well during the year. A number of guest coaches took sessions during the year with this team.

Under 15 Squads

The under 15 Football Squad was coordinated by Brian Whelan, Gary Jameson and Alan Keating. They had 4 Leinster blitz days getting eight games and held 20 coaching sessions. The initial panel was 36 but this was brought down to 25. This squad also played three challenge matches and one game in the Kavanagh cup. Like the usual trend with county squads Brian was unhappy that at least five strong players never gave any commitment to this squad. We will need more mentors to help with this squad of players in 2010 as Brian and Gary have already stated they are not available to help with squads next year.

The under 15 Hurling Squad coaches in charge were David Murray, Chris Masterson, Michael O Byrne, Pat Staunton and coach Billy Cuddihy. This panel of 30 players held 13 coaching sessions during the year that included – Guest Coaches George o Connor, Eoin Dunne and Brendan Cuddihy. They played in two Leinster blitzes, in Wexford playing Dublin North, Wexford A & B teams. The second blitz was in Carlow playing Carlow and Dublin South. This team finished off the year by attending the Kilkenny Senior Hurling Semi Finals in Nowlan Park and playing a Challenge game against Fenians.

U16 Squads

This under 16 football Squad is one of the most talented we have had in years and they have been a few drop outs from the transition from Under 15 to U16. Jerome Kelly, Brendan Daly, Pat Monaghan, Liam Cullen looked after this team. But during the year they found it hard to get a full panel together for various reason and they tendered their resignations after competing in two Leinster blitzes and the Hackman Cup. Later in the year Michael o Sullivan and Hugh Kenny took over this squad, the work that we did with this group was a three day coaching camp. This consisted of the players coming to Aughrim to work on different aspects of the game for three full days. Michael and Hugh also took this team for the remainder of the last two Leinster competitions.

The Under 16 Hurlers had a new management team in place during the year – Michael Owens, Colm Gaskin, Shelia Driver, Tim Balfe and Declan Molloy. They played in three Leinster blitzes this year first in Wexford – playing North Wexford and North Dublin loosing both. The second blitz in Carlow where they beat Louth and drew with Carlow and the third blitz was in Kildare where they were beaten by Kildare and Carlow. They played challenge games against Killernan and Glenealy minors. The management team held approximately 10 training sessions during the year. They finished the year playing in the under 16 All Blitz in Westmeath in a group with North Wexford, Meath and Derry loosing all three games. They then were grouped with Armagh, Mayo and Derry in division C. They beat Armagh in the semi final and Derry in the final. A number of top players were not available and did not wish to play for the county this year. Some committed to soccer, Rugby etc. Great efforts were made by contacting their parents by to no avail.

2010 Leinster Football Academy Squad Fixtures

Under-14 School of Excellence.

• SAT 10^th April Blitz Day One

Three Counties per venue, each County to bring two equally mixed teams.

There will be two games of 50mins for each team.

• Sat 26th June Blitz Day two

Three Counties at each venue, one team per County (25 players).

There will be two games of 50mins for each team.

• Sat 24th July - Provincial Blitz Day 
• Monday 25th Oct

Three Counties at each venue, one team per County.

Under-15 School of Excellence.

• Sat 10^th April Blitz Day One
  • Three Counties per venue, each County to bring two equally mixed teams (25 Players).
  • There will be two games of 50mins for each team.
• Sat 26^th June Blitz Day two
  • Three Counties per venue, each County to bring two equally mixed teams.
  • There will be two games of 50mins for each team
• Sat 24^th July – National  Blitz Day
• Monday 25^th Oct – Blitz Day

One team per County

Under 16 Development Squads;

• Sat 26^th June Provincial Blitz Day Tournament Day.
  • Four teams per venue, two games per team.
  • Sat 24^th July – National Blitz Day.
  • Monday  25^th Oct  – Blitz /Tournament Day
    • Tier One and Tier Two. Both tiers subdivided into groups of three. Teams graded from results of June 26^th and July 24^th
    • Saturday 30^th Oct.
      • Teams final game based on results of Monday 25^th Oct.

Under 17 Development Squads;

Sat 24^th July Provincial Blitz. Counties to confirm their intention to participate.

2010 Leinster Hurling Academy Squad Fixtures

Under-14 School of Excellence

• Monday 3^rd May – Blitz Day.
• D.J.Carey School of Hurling.

Week One Monday 5^th – Thursday 8^th July

Participating Teams – Laois, Offaly, Wexford, Dublin, Westmeath, Kilkenny.

Week Two Monday 12^th – Thursday 15^th July

Participating Teams – Carlow, Meath, Wicklow, Longford, Louth, Kildare.

• Saturday 28^th August – (National Day)

Under-15 School of Excellence

• Saturday 1^st May ( Blitz Day)
  • Three Counties per venue..
  • There will be two games of 50mins for each team
  • Saturday 15^th May (Blitz Day)
  • Saturday 3^rd July (Blitz Day).
  • Saturday 28^th August –   (National Hurling Day, Wexford).

Under-16 Development Squads;

• Saturday 1^st May ( Blitz Day)
  • Three Counties per venue, each County to bring two equally mixed teams.
  • There will be two games of 50mins for each team
  • Saturday 15^th May (Blitz Day)
  • Saturday 3^rd July (Blitz Day).
  • Saturday 28^th August – (National Hurling Day).

Under-17 Development Squads;

• Saturday 28^th August –Counties to confirm their intention to participate.

Conclusion

If our county is going to prosper over the next few years which I hope it will we need all the different strands of our county pulling in the right direction? We need the support of all clubs and players. We need all coaches’ mentors and parents encouraging all our young players to achieve excellence. And to emphasis what an honour it is to wear the county jersey. The leadership and discipline and sportsmanship must be displayed by all on and off the field of play. There is no room in progression and achievement for negativity. Now approach 2010 as if we were all given a second chance! So now let’s do it better this time. There are a lot of critics out there just waiting to bring us all down and they would take great pleasure in doing so. So if you are one of them I hope reading this report will give you a rest for another 12 months.

Appreciation/Thank You:

Just to make you all aware our coaching contracts with Leinster council and the Wicklow County Board G.A.A say’s we are required to work a 39 hour week. But working for the GAA time means nothing and all our coaches always put in over and above the required time. But it is a job we all love and are dedicated to improving the standards of Wicklow Coaching and Games Development. As you see from the above programme its not just coaching there is a massive amount of planning, organising and administrative work involved.

Thanks to all the primary & post primary school teachers for their continued support

To all the clubs for the use of their grounds for games/blitzes, training and Vhi Cul camps. A special thanks to all the members of the coaching & games development Committee who have overseen the implementation of these projects. The staff in Aras Chill Mhantain, for their dedicated work in servicing the county and our full time coaching staff.

Finally I would like to wish all clubs the success that their effort deserves in 2010

And have a happy and peaceful Christmas 2009

Let 2010 be the year we all make a difference

Thanks

______________________________

Hugh Kenny

Games Development Manager

Cill Mhantain

There are incidents which occur on our pitches which we have no way of avoiding.  Nevertheless it is so important that all of our playing pitches, training areas and club houses are fully maintained to a high standard.  This will certainly help to eliminate potential claims.

Once again I am glad to report that the standard of our parks are improving all the time.  I would strongly urge all clubs to continue the good work that they are doing throughout the county.

I must compliment our County Development Officer, Mr Victor Shaughnessy for his continued efforts and supervision at our county grounds i.e. Aughrim and Arklow.  Great progress has been made during the year to improve our facilities where possible.  Victor, our Runai and myself meet frequently to discuss health & safety standards and to make changes where we feel it is necessary.

Again I would like to bring to your attention if you are renting your pitches or club houses to other parties other than for GAA purposes then these third parties must have full insurance cover and produce proof of this before these events take place.  These events are not covered by the GAA’s insurance cover.  This would leave the committee in a very serious position should a claim arise.

I have mentioned on many occasions the necessity for additional cover on tractors and ride-on lawnmowers.  These machines must carry the minimum third party cover because here again this cover is not provided for by the GAA standard policy.

I would like to mention our county development draw which was finalised on Friday 6^th November 2009 and I wish to thank all the clubs that supported this draw.  These clubs have received financial benefits for their efforts.  I am sure that the county board would like to continue this draw for 2010.  I would appeal to all clubs throughout the county to get involved in this draw and make it your main fundraising activity.   I must thank my hard working committee and coordinators who worked with me over the past year in bringing this project to a great success.

Finally, we look forward to the coming year where I hope that we are free of all claims in the county and that all our players are free from injury.

Is Mise

Tomas O’Gregain

As I come to the end of my 4^th Year as Development Officer it never fails to amaze me the amount of work that has been carried out in clubs throughout the County. Major improvements in Club grounds with Drainage and Lighting, also improving club houses, the list is endless.

The work that is also taking place with Coaching and getting young people involved in Go Games is so important. This is a great fun way to introduce children to our games.

I would like to take this opportunity to compliment and indeed thank all clubs for their efforts. We often forget that all this work is carried out on a voluntary basis. Great people working to improve their Clubs and Community in Towns and Villages across the county. I often think that if all we had to talk about in the G.A.A. was what we won in the playing fields then we would have very little to talk about. Each Club and their members should take a bow and give themselves a clap on the back for what they have achieved.

The Centre of Excellence development at Ballinakill is a major development for the County and was started last July with the turning of the sod. This development when finished will be one of the finest in the country and will aid Clubs and County Teams to improve their skills and fitness levels to compete with the best in the Country.

The County Grounds in Aughrim is in need of a major face lift. While some work has been done to improve this famous ground a lot more will have to be done. At the moment planning for a new stand and terracing is in progress and planning permission will be sought very soon. Hopefully all this work will help to improve facilities for our supporters and patrons in the future.

Major improvements have been carried out at Ashford and Baltinglass this year and it will assist us in the playing of our games in the immediate future.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Clubs throughout the county for their assistance in Stewarding etc. at our big games this year. I would like to thank all our Fás workers together with our voluntary workers who assist us week in week out during a busy season keeping our facilities running smoothly and to a high standard.

Hoping that 2010 will be a great Year for all in the Garden County.

Buach Ó Seachnasaigh

Motions for Convention 2009

1. That a “Mark” be allowed for a clean catch from a kick out only. (Hollywood)
2. That any player who in any way obstructs the taking of a free quickly be penalised by moving the ball forward 10M and if any player who causes further obstruction to the taking of the free should be penalised a further 10M and yellow carded. (Hollywood)
3. Where play is stopped for any reason such as an injury to a player, incursion onto the field of play etc, the team rightfully in possession should resume play from the position where the ball was when play stopped. (Hollywood)
4. That the direct pick up of the football be permitted in conjunction with the toe to hand pick up. (Hollywood)
5. That a Clock operated independently of the Referee be used in all inter – county championship matches on a trial basis for 2010 – 2011. (Hollywood)
6. That the All Ireland Senior Football Championship be run on a league basis for a trial period of 2 years from 2012. The league to be divided into 4 Divisions of 8 teams. The top two in each Division to qualify for the All Ireland Quarter Finals. (Hollywood)
7. That a player Yellow Carded on 2 occasions in a match be sin binned for a period of 10 minutes. (Hollywood)
8. When changes to Rules and Regulations governing the running of competitions are made, that these changes only come into effect prior to the commencement of that competition. This is to ensure that Rule 6.35 T.O. 2009 and 6.22 – 4 T.O. 2009 are complied with. (Éire Óg – Clocha Liath)
9. That Rule 6.36 T.O. 2009 be amended whereby it refers to Rule 6.22 – 5 (C) with the affect of amending Rule 6.36 to read as follows: The regulations outlined in Rule 6.22 in relation to a League part of a Championship shall not apply to League competitions. This amendment will have the effect of deleting the reference to double round leagues outlined in Rule 6.36 T.O. 2009. (Éire Óg – Clocha Liath)
10. Under the terms of Rule 3.11 T.O. 2009 that Convention create the position of Hurling Officer  and that this position be included in our County Bye Laws as being a member of the County Management Committee.  The position should be filled if and when that position (Hurling Officer) in the County Bye Laws has been sanctioned. If necessary at the first Meeting of the Coiste Condae in 2010. (Emmet Carn an Bhua)