A.G.M. 2020
The following officers were elected for 2021, :-
President:- Patsy Boyle,
Vice Presidents Danny McQuillan, Gerry Carragher, Fr Michael Gilsenan and Jimmy Reilly (Ballybay road)
Chairperson Jimmy O’Reilly,
Vice Chairperson Roseanna Clarke,
Secretary Margaret Hughes,
Assistant Secretary Pauline O’Reilly
Treasurer Patricia Quinn,
Ass Treasurer Gerry Hughes
PRO Sabrina Shalvey & Tom Farrell,
Cultural Officer Elizabeth McCabe
Coaching Officer Aogan Og Farrell,
Games Development Darren Lavery
Development Damien Clarke,
Insurance officer Margaret Hughes
Registrar Pauline O’Reilly
Committee:- Jim McNally, Shane McGorry, Francis McGorry, Derville McDermott, Shane Smith, Thomas McDonald, Benny McIntyre, Seamus Fox, Roseleen Fox, Raymond Quinn, Martin Shalvey, Martin Hughes, Donal Murphy, John Reilly, Aidan Brazil, Aogan O’Fearghail, Cliona Farrell, Patrick McBride, Ena Clerkin and Eugene McCabe
CHAIRPERSON AND SECRETARY REPORT
2020 started off like every other year getting registration and planning training for all age groups. Our Dinner Dance was organised for Saturday 14th March which was suppose too include presentation of Reserve Championship and Division 3 league medals to our senior men.
However, Covid 19 had arrived in Ireland late February and the fear factor came with it. On the 12th March GAA Headquarters suspended all activities until 30th March as a result of the Government announcement on Covid restrictions. Our Dinner dance was cancelled and Bingo called off and no plans to returns given the current situation with indoor activity. Complete lockdown of the country followed and all GAA activity ceased with all pitches officially closed.
GAA Clubs country wide volunteered to help elderly or vunerable who might need deliveries/collections of essentials. A number off Club people volunteered if need to check on neighbours and our contact details were given to Cavan Covid 19 Community Response (database which County Council set up with area contacts if locals rang helpline). Thankfully no callers from area which is testimont to the community spirit already in area.
GAA activity resumed on July 20th to everyone’s delight but with a lot of guidelines and additional work – covid officer, covid stewards, return to play module, health questionnaires, hand sanitizer, restricted supporters, then to no supporters and then to ticket only games. Thanks to Roseleen Fox, Aogan Og Farrell, Derville McDermott, Martin Clerkin, Barry Crosson and Gerry Hughes all underage and senior activity recommenced without delay and plenty of training, games and fun for all teams.
As a community thankfully we did not get hit badly by Covid 19 and hopefully same shall continue. However, sadly we lost our President John Carragher on the 16th April 2020. John was a true Drumgoon man, provided support and encouragement to all players over the years in his quiet, friendly manner. On October 30th Tom Clarke passed away. Tom was another dedicated, hardworking man for the Club over many decades as a player, coach, committee member, Chairman and again a true supporter of all teams. Also we remember Terry Fox, Thomas Reilly, Baby Daragh McGorry, Rosie McCluskey, Daragh Boylan – supporters and family members of our Club. Ar dheis De go raibh a n-anamacha. On the 5th of December the Club in conjunction with all Clubs in Cavan planted a Tree of Remembrance, Hope and Joy. The tree signifies Remembrance of all loved ones who have passed away in our community and also a symbol of hope and joy as we look forward to the future.
A positive from Covid lockdown – Shane and Margaret took into setting up Lotto online. There was a lot more work involved than we had originally thought but with assistance from Tom Farrell, Sabrina Shalvey, Aogan Og Farrell and Roseanna Clarke we eventually recommenced our weekly Lotto including Lotto online on 31st May, after 10 weeks of a break due to Covid restrictions. We would like to get more members living away from area in order to justify continuing with online lotto – any ideas welcome….. To make up for loss of income on our lotto sales, gate receipts and our Annual Christmas fundraiser, we have had 3 very successful Facebook draws in October, November and December based on the National lottery bonus ball – €20 a number, 47 numbers = Income to Club €940 each draw. Thanks to all who sponsored the prizes and to Sabrina for setting up and overseeing all on facebook and we hope to continue in 2021. Keep an eye on our facebook page.
Finally, we just want to say “thank you” to Alan Stephens, Damian Clarke and Gerry Hughes for working with senior men, Aoife McDonald and Simon Gaffney for all their help with physio, all underage coaches, lotto sellers and to Patricia our Treasurer for keeping us a float as always and Roseanna for all help and advice when needed. Like all GAA volunteers we had to make decisions this year that we never imagined possible. All decisions were made for the best to the Club and entire community as a whole. Thanks to Drumgoon LGFC and Drumgoon Camogie Club for working with us throughout the year and especially when return to play occurred as our grounds were in high demand by all and we worked together so all could be facilitated. Thanks to Tony Mahon for his continued hard work throughout the year keeping our grounds in super condition.
Let’s hope 2021 will be remembered for better reasons – The year got cure for Covid and the vaccine works and we get back to a little more normality and we will remember 2020 as the year of Covid 19 but also the year Cavan became Ulster Champions on the 22nd November in Armagh after 23 years of a wait beating Donegal.
Keep positive, stay safe and again thank you all.
Jimmy and Margaret
Drumgoon GAA Coaching report 2020
In what was a difficult yet memorable GAA year, Drumgoon underage teams made great strides and have continued to develop their skills through our juvenile pathway. Thanks to the support of our committee, we now have training gear for all players and the preparation of all our teams for training and games is of a very high standard.
We thank our Juvenile chairman Gerry Hughes for his selfless contribution to all our underage teams. He is always on hand to help at all our age groups. Thanks also to the parents for their continued support and dedication to the development of their children. We all belong in our club.
Our nursery and under nine age groups have continued to receive excellent coaching in the fundamentals of the game. Running, throwing, jumping, agility, balance & coordination are the key skills in our coaching sessions, as they are for all athletes in any sport. It is important that we continue to focus on developing the fundamentals in our youngest players. It is wonderful to see such large numbers attending our nursery and we say a massive thank you to all our coaches, parents & members for giving their time to facilitate the growth of our youngest players.
In an interrupted year our under eleven and under thirteen teams continued to make steady progress through the go games programme and the colour group championship. Our players at these ages are very enthusiastic and their willingness to learn and develop is a great sign for the future. This is the age where our players get their first introduction to structured competition so it is important that we keep a strong focus on player development and retention. Developing the key skills of the game on left and right as they progress is essential for these players. We thank all our coaches and parents for their continued dedication and quality coaching for our under eleven and thirteen teams.
Our under fifteen and under seventeen teams had a very strong year. Our under seventeen team competed in the championship final and heartbreakingly lost by a single point to a Redhills/ Drumalee combination. The under fifteens progressed strongly through their group and qualified for a semi final. Unfortunately the championship was cut short due to the Corona virus pandemic and the competition was not completed. These players have worked very hard and play together to a system where they should be able to progress seamlessly to the senior ranks. We say congratulations to those players who have now progressed through our underage pathway and wish them well with our senior team. Thank you to all our coaches for their time and energy in working with these teams.
It has been very satisfying to see the progression and competitiveness of our under fifteen and seventeen teams this year. For years this has been the most problematic area of the club. In the recent past, boys at this age grade have regularly missed games and dropped off panels. It has been for a tough few years for Drumgoon, particularly at minor level. Instability of coaching systems and lack of structure led to a lack of discipline which meant that training was often neglected and players fell away. This had a knock on effect on our senior team which led to small numbers coming through and a lack of freshness to the squad. Thankfully our structures and coaching have improved. We have a stable pathway for our underage players to develop and progress onto the senior ranks. The structure and discipline is now there for these players to train better and represent the club to a high standard. I view this as a positive development which should auger well for our senior team in the future. I believe we now have a pathway in place to produce well conditioned, skillful, disciplined young men for our Drumgoon club. Thank you to all who have made this possible.
A large number of our coaches have been upskilling through coaching webinars and courses throughout the year. We must encourage as much of this as possible and all learning we can undertake is for the development of our club and our underage players.
For 2021 I hope we continue with our high standard coaching at each age group. We also hope to strengthen our presence and activity in our local school, Dernakesh. We have a wonderful school facility and an excellent staff who are very welcoming to the club. We should now build on this relationship and put a plan in place to improve participation in the school and have as many young boys and girls as possible playing and enjoying our gaelic games.
Thank you again to all our coaches for your hard work in this challenging year. To Jimmy, Margaret, Patricia, and all our committee members, thank you for your continued strong leadership of our club and best wishes to all Drumgoon GAA members for 2021.
Aogán Óg Farrell
Camogie Report
Despite the pandemic, it was a very positive year for camogie in Drumgoon.
The Junior Team, managed by Margaret McBride, Caroline Martin and David McCarney enjoyed a successful year. They trained three times a week and numbers were high at trainings.
The team captured the Junior League Title against Castletara B Team on August 25th 2020, Drumgoon 4:17 Castletara 1:02. The team also progressed to the Junior Championship final against Crosserlough B Team held on Sept 25th 2020. Despite their best efforts they lost by one goal.
The u17 players trained with the Junior Squad until mid-September. Unfortunately due to the second lockdown, these players didn’t get any matches.
The u15s won the Division 2 League Final against Lacken. Numbers and interest was so high that we were able to enter two teams into the Championship. Both teams done very well in their respective divisions.
Our primary school numbers are continuing to grow and we hope to have plenty of games for them to participate in next year.
Míle buíochas to all the committee members, players, parents and management for their tireless commitment they gave the sport. Their years of dedication is shining through in the talent of the current players and success at all age levels.
Caoimhe Clarke, Ciara Fitzpatrick, Sarah Clarke and Rebecca Brady represented the club admirably at county level. They captured the Nancy Murray title against Tyrone in November and reached the All Ireland Junior A Final running Armagh very close on December 5th. The club were proudly represented by Ciara Fitzpatrick (County Captain), Ellen Clegg, Laura Bannon and Ellen Maguire at minor level and Alannah Clarke and Sophie Murphy flew the Drumgoon Flag at County U16 Level.
We would like to thank Tony Mahon for his hard work keeping our grounds in excellent condition. We also acknowledge the support of Chairperson Jimmy O’Reilly and Drumgoon Éire Óg.
Wishing all Club Members and their families’ good health in 2021.
Drumgoon Camogie Club
December 2020
Drumgoon LGFA
Ladies Report 2020
Drumgoon Ladies were fortunate to be able to get some football played this year which was a welcome distraction with the Covid crisis. We had 115 registered players / coaches in our club this year which was the highest our club has seen in its history.
We started up new teams of u7 & u9 this year which proved to be very welcomed with over 35 girls registering. We would like to thank Aisling McDermott and Teresa McCann for organising this and all the parents and players who help them on a Saturday morning.
Our underage teams only played league this year and our U12 team in Div A, U14 team in Div 3 and U16 in Div 4. Although we had no silverware this year the girls all played at a very high standard and showed their commitment and dedication to the Club. I would like to thank the coaches for their hard work and commitment to these teams.
U12 Coaches – Diane Pepper, Caroline Clarke
U14 Coach – Gerry Hughes
U16 Coach – Aisling McDermott
We were very proud to have 4 girls from our club selected to represent us at County Level:
U14 County – Anna OReilly
U16 County – Emma Carroll and Catherine Aherane
Minor County – Sarah Clarke
Unfortunately due to covid these completions were cancelled at last minute but I’m sure we will see these girls again at County Level in the coming year.
Our Senior Ladies had a good year at both Championship and League. We reached the Junior Championship Semi Final and lost out to Crosserlough B by the narrowest of margins on a scoreline of 2.09 to 2.10. We are sitting second on the league table with the semi final being postponed due to covid. We hope to get this played in early 2021 and wish the ladies the best of luck in this game.
I would like to thank the players for their hard work and dedication this year and especially the management Jimmy Reilly and Aidan Brazil for their hard work, time and commitment to the team.
We would like to thank our new main sponsor for Drumgoon Ladies, Patrick Moynagh/ Moynagh Accountancy. Patrick was very generous in getting the ladies new jerseys and socks for the Championship and also tops for Christmas. He has come on board with us for the coming years 2021 and 2022 and we are absolutely delighted to have him and his support in our club.
Finally I would like to thank all the ladies committee and parents who have supported our club over the year without your help and support we would not be able to continue the good work we are achieving at Ladies football. Also I would like to thank Jimmy Reilly and Margaret Hughes of the Senior committee for all their support in providing us with the facilities we have on Boyle Park and in helping organize the pitch for all our games over all ages.
On behalf of all at Drumgoon Ladies I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a healthy and happy 2021.
Caroline Clarke
Ladies Chairperson
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