Club notes for week commencing 23rd April 2012

Underage coaching including the nursery continues on Friday evenings 6.30 to 7.30. (4 to 12 years old)

 

Our qualified schools coach Ms. Bernie Corroon will lead our new initiative to give 4 to 6 year old girls and boys, an age appropriate introduction to sport and gaelic football. This will not be just concentrating on GAA skills but also fundamental skills known as the ABC’ s(Agility, Balance, Coordination). Children will follow a programme to develop their individual motor skills (jumping, throwing, catching) and it is our aim to keep the coaching sessions fun and with plenty of variety. Contact Bernie @ 087 9282432. Nursery is sponsored by Easons, Pearse St, Mullingar.

Team contacts for 2012: Under 8’s: Jimmy Hughes 086 3457564; Under 10’s: Stephen Cleary 087 6405723; Under 12’s: Marc Cunningham 087 8362297; Under 14’s: Jimmy Murtagh 087 6943273, Under 16’s: Johnny Murray 086 3739408; Minors: Eunan McCormack 087 8384055; Seniors: Tommy Kelly 087 2949714.

 

Lotto Results 23/04/2012

Jackpot 1: €14,000

Numbers drawn: 5, 8, 20, 26

Result: no winner

2 x €100 winners: Kevin Reid, Monica Raleigh.

Jackpot 2: €1400

Numbers drawn: 1, 17, 19, 20

Result: no winner

Next week’s draw in our clubhouse with jackpots of €14,000 & €1600.

 

If you are not currently subscribing to our lotto, the weekly club lotto is available to play online at our website. www.naduntagaa.com You can also register online to receive our free weekly email which includes lotto results and club notes Please spread the word to Na Dunta Gaels around the country and the world, encourage them to play lotto online.

An annual lotto ticket for €100 can be bought  with 2 weeks free on line or from Matt Carley or Anthony Rowan.

 

We are continuing with our text message service via TEAMER 51001 which we use to notify members regarding various club activities. If you wish to avail of this service, please text your name and number to 087 8362297. These messages are free to receive and a reply is not required. We currently have over 350 subscribers but would like to extend it further to ensure all our supporters are kept up to date. If you no longer wish to receive these messages then please text STOP with your name and number to 087 8362297. We want to avoid unnecessary duplication where several copies of the one message are going to the same household.

 

You can register to receive our free weekly newsletter email at our website. The newsletter is sent every Monday night and includes that night’s lotto results and club notes. You can now keep up to date with the club’s activities on our new FACEBOOK page: http://www.facebook.com/TheDownsGAAClub  and TWITTER @TheDownsGAA.

 

Bingo  continues every Friday at 8.30, come along and bring a friend for an enjoyable nights entertainment.

 

We are planning to provide a First-Aid person  to cover our underage coaching sessions on Friday evenings. This will be arranged on a rota basis so we are looking for 6 volunteers to do 1 hour each on a Friday @ 6 30pm every 6 weeks or so.. Please contact Trudie @ 0879890121 to get involved. Defibrillator training will also be arranged shortly – anybody interested should contact Trudie or any club official.

A reminder that a Defibrillator is located at the clubhouse at the external wall of the entrance porch.

 

Membership is now due Adults €20, Family €30, Juvenile €15, OAP €5 Adult Player €40, Student Adult Player €20   

Please note all players must pay membership before playing; please ensure you have your membership paid before first game.

Registration remains open and can be completed during the next few underage coaching sessions.

Online registration on our Local Lotto web site.

 

Senior ChampionshipWe got off to a bad start in the 2012 senior championship. We started with a very young team and this game will have being a very good learning curve for the lads involved. Playing into the wind was a disadvantage to start with and nerves seemed to play a big part early on. When we got the ball forward we failed to get or retain possession upfront. When we attacked we also took wrong options or failed to make the final pass. The backs were under pressure but coped well for most of the game. New comer Benny Flynn played well and will certainly benefit from the experience. Steven Cleary was probably our best player and Declan Lynam did a great job on John Egan. We struggled in the middle section of the field.  John Smyth worked tirelessly and got onto a lot of ball but in general we were not getting breaks and the wing men from Athlone we breaking up field without us getting to their pace. We went in at half time without scoring and this was very disappointing. After the break we were much better and actually outscored Athlone 5 pts to 4 in the second half. Niall Folan who played well when introduced was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty, We had a couple half chances of goals and hit 7 wides that on another day might go over. Debutants Luke Loughlin and Dean Egerton both scored with Luke Folan getting our only other point. This was the real issue for us and we will have to work hard to rectify the situation going forward.  We have a few weeks now to work on our game and will need a mighty effort to get the show back on track. It is important that we be patient with the young lads. It is a big ask to get so many lads up to championship level all together and the game will stand to them going forward.  The occasion and build up for the first round probably took its toll and now that its over we can move on focused on the rest of the games. Attendance and attitude at training has being good and once this in maintained we will have every chance of turning things around. Fitness and return of experienced lads from injury will help bolster the squad. The final score was 1.08 to 0.05. Good luck to all for the rest of the season.   Team: Ciaran McCormack, Brendan Flynn, Stephen Cleary, Declan Lynam, Conor Carley, Ben Hogan, Mark Dalton, John Smyth, Noel Molloy, Dean Egerton, Kevin Smullen, Luke Folan, Niall O’Doherty, PJ Maguire, Luke Loughlin. Subs Used: Barry Conroy, Brian Fitzpatrick, Niall Folan.

 

Led by this week’s captains Jonathan Lynam and Gary Wynne the under 12s travelled to Springfield on Sunday morning last to play Mullingar Shamrocks in a double challenge.

In 2 keenly contested encounters, the spoils were shared with both clubs winning a game each. There were spells of great football from all 4 sides despite it being early in the season so the future looks bright for both clubs.

Thanks to Kevin, Pat and colleagues at Shamrocks for accommodating the fixture and having pitches and referees arranged etc and we look forward to a return fixture in Molloy Park later in the year. Training continues on Fridays at 630pm and new players are always welcome.

 

On Saturday Jenny McNamee represented  the club with an excellent performance in the national finals in Killarney in surely the most difficult and keenly contested event the solo singing. Unfortunately Jenny didn’t get the nod from the judges on this occasion to add to her  2008 all-Ireland win.

Well done to Peter Dolan from Moate who won the recitation for his second time.

 

Sellers are on the road again with the development draw tickets, we thank you for your past generosity and ask for your continued support for this years draw.  Two draws June and October with nineteen prizes in each draw. Tickets can be purchased through the website.

 

The Club Shop will be open during our weekly underage coaching sessions.

New for this year will be club umbrellas and O’Neills tracksuit bottoms in all sizes.

For more information contact Carmel at 087 9496347.

Our revamped website is now up and running at www.thedownsgaa.com.

Please check it out where you will find lots of information on various aspects of the club as well as opportunities to support us by paying registration fees online, playing club lotto or viewing the latest club gear.

 

We have a limited number of advertising slots on the main page of the website available for sponsors on an annual basis.

Please contact Marc at 087 8362297 for an opportunity to advertise your company or business at a very reasonable rate and at the same time support The Downs GAA Club.

 

Cake Sale this Friday 27^th at 6. 30pm in The Downs in aid of our Ladys Childrens Hospital  Crumlin – all baking and donations greatly appreciated  – contact Delores Duncan 085 1072305

 

Anybody with football boots that are surplus to requirements can leave them in our new BOOT ROOM located at the pitch end of the old dressing rooms. This has came about following several requests from parents who have boots in very good condition but no longer fit the owners. Kids particularly can grow out of boots quite quickly and this new initiative will allow other kids pick up boots for a nominal fee. All funds received will go to towards underage football. Boots that remain at the end of the season will be donated to charity.

 

Thanks to everyone who has registered for the coming year . You  can register with any coach, at any training session or in The Shop.

Underage coaching session including the nursery continues on Friday evenings 6.30 – 7.30

For training times for all teams contact 0874199344.

I’m sure everyone is aware that we won the county Féile Péil  and now have the honour of representing the county in the national Féile in Laois on June 22^nd  23^rd and 24^th.  Participation will involve additional costs to the club –  we are holding a number of fundraising events in May and June, please help your club  with your support. Our first event is a Traditional Music night in the Roadhouse on May 11^th .

The Ladies Football are collecting bags of clothes as a fundraiser, so you can now de- clutter and help the club raise funds. Bags of clothes can be left with any team coach or committee member or in The Shop. Please ask  family, neighbours, friend and co-workers to fill a bag.