Chairperson’s Report MacHale Rovers 2019 AGM

AGM 1^st December 2019, Crossmolina GAA Centre

2019 was a great year for the MacHale Rovers Club. The achievement by the Junior Ladies team of reaching an All Ireland final raised the profile of the Club locally, across the county and nationally. It also strengthened the bond of the three communities which form the basis of the club - Crossmolina, Lahardane & Ardagh.

Long before that however, it was clear that interest in ladies Gaelic football was increasing. Registration began in March with strong interest, particularly at underage U8 to U10.

In total we have 164 players registered in the Club as follows:

Adult     21

Minor    12

U16        21

U14        33

U12        26

U10        31

U8          20

It was a struggle to get coaches at the start of the year, however we managed to get great coaches in place across the age groups that worked well together and were dedicated to their teams. Thanks to all the coaches who gave so much of their time, the feedback from parents and kids has been excellent and we hope to see all coaches and players back with the club in 2020. Keeping girls in sport is one of the central goals of the club given its importance to social development, fitness and mental health.

This note just outlines a couple of the highlights and special moments during the year. The sporting achievements across the teams will be covered in the team managers reports.

We early success for the club at underage with an U12 county title. Well done to the U12 team which did so well during the year and went on to win the County Final in their division, which was a great achievement. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of the coaches and support of parents.

Well done to the U10/8 girls group which attended many more blitzes and games away than any other time and thanks to the coaches and parents for their assistance. This is a large group so we will be looking to engage parents more in 2020 to ensure we have adequate supervision.

Some of the special moments of the year included the enthusiasm for the healthy walk fundraiser in July and surprisingly the kids lining up for porridge! The cupla focal Gaelige that could be heard on the pitch and seeing the players proudly wearing their new leisure gear in their communities.  

The club worked hard to raise money to offset the cost of the new gear while at the same time promoting a healthy lifestyle and also getting parents out for a social evening (table quiz). The gear included the three colours representing the parishes that play with MacHale Rovers, which gave the members a great sense of identity and pride in their club.  

The Junior championship brought that feeling of pride and identity, higher than ever before. The manner in which the communities got behind the girls to support them and help raise finance for the trip to Manchester will never be forgotten.

We are so grateful to all the individuals that helped, contributed to the gofundme page, the businesses that sponsored, the community groups, schools, voluntary organizations, LGFA and others that helped us to raise the necessary finance for the All Ireland campaign. The response was overwhelming. It wasn’t just about the finance – there was huge spectator support from the communities, many who bought and put up flags and bunting. Some made the long journey overnight to Manchester on the supporters bus. Thanks also to the pubs & restaurants  that put up food, to Murphys of Lahardane for hosting the post match meal, Lahardane Live for live streaming the games and Willie Barrett who generously provided the transport to all of our matches and helped us to arrange the Manchester trip.

It put enormous pressure on the Committee to organize a fundraising plan and also make arrangements for the trip – all in the space of two weeks. A huge thank you to the Committee, especially to the Secretary Maura Walsh who was in daily contact with the LGFA etc on programmes, regulations, photos, travel  etc. It was a steep learning curve, one on which we all worked very hard but one on which we were very privileged to be involved.

We never dreamed to get to an All Ireland at the beginning of the year, we are so proud of the players and club to make it that far. It was disappointing that we didn’t win in our All Ireland bid on Sunday 24^th November against Donoughmore of Cork, but we have put MacHale Rovers in the history books and we will build on this success. It was also a special bonus for the club for our Junior Player, Rachel Kearns to win an All Star this year, it was well deserved and she is an inspiration to all the girls in the club.

Congratulations to all the girls for training and playing at county level during the year including Rachel Kearns (Senior), Caoimhe Walsh (U16), Sinead Walsh (U16), Laoise Coyne (U14), Sophie Davidson (U14) and Kayla Doherty (U14).

Many thanks to our hard working committee Maura Walsh, Georgina Murray, Regina Naughton, Josie Fox, Catherine Gallagher, Doreen Kelly and Louise Maughan for all their work and support throughout the year. It was a roller coaster of a year for this new committee.

I also wish to thank the three GAA clubs Deel Rovers, Ardagh and Lahardane MacHales for the use of their pitches and facilities, and their support and encouragement throughout the year.

There is much that I haven’t covered in this report, 2019 will be remembered as an outstanding year for the club and with your help we will look to build on this success and goodwill into the future.

Ita Gordon, Chairperson

on behalf of MacHale Rovers LGFA

1/12/2019

Team Management 2019