TWO new coaches, dealing exclusively with football, will be operating in Clare from January next, Pat Cotter, chairman of the Clare football supporters club, told delegates at the Bord na nÓg convention.
“Earlier this year, there were a series of meetings around the county which were very well attended and as a result of these, the supporters’ club, in conjunction with Bord na nÓg, has put the new scheme in place,” he said.
“There is a four-year university course in Limerick where students spend the third year out coaching. Kerry and Limerick have linked up successfully with this scheme and we will have two of these students in place from January, one from Miltown and the other from Kerry. The cost to us is €16,000 and they will be coaching in the schools and clubs in West, Mid and North Clare. The county board is funding one of these coaches and the supporters’ club and Bord na nÓg are funding the other. Pat O’Shea (Munster coach) assures us that this scheme is working very well in Kerry and Limerick,” the Doonbeg man told Tuesday’s meeting before adding that there will be three coaches exclusively for football.
He added that currently, through a Munster Council initiative, there is coaching for first and second-year students at our second-level colleges in the county. “Hopefully, there will be a great improvement in the standard of football in Clare. The support of the clubs is very important in this. We have enough money to support this scheme for a year and we will be fundraising again in the coming year,” he said.

One vacancy

BORD na nÓg football is to invite nominations from the clubs for the post of assistant secretary after this week’s convention failed to fill the post.
Doonbeg’s John Smith held this post last year but recently stepped down over disciplinary action taken against his club. He did not attend this week’s meeting.
Kilrush delegate proposed the Niamh Madigan from Kilrush for the post pointing out that she “has lots of experience in this area as she served as secretary of Ballyboden St Enda’s in Dublin for many years.
Board chairman Billy Archbold replied that, by rule, this proposal could not be accepted as the board will have to invite nominations from the clubs.
There is one new officer on the executive for 2010 as Seán Lyons from Doora-Barefield was elected as the assistant treasurer.
Maureen O’Shea from O’Curry’s was the outgoing officer but she was not present at the meeting.
All of the other outgoing officers were returned for another term and they are Billy Archbold, St Breckan’s (chairman); Joe Kelly, Wolfe Tones (vice-chairman); Anne Hayes, Lissycasey (secretary); Joey O’Connell, Kilrush (treasurer) and Liam Woulfe, Shannon Gaels (PRO).
The delegates were informed that  nominations were received from Kilmurry-Ibrickane, Doora-Barefield, Cooraclare,  Wolfe Tones,  Coolmeen, Lissycasey and Kilmihil.

Motions

ALL eight motions listed for decision at this week’s Bord na n Óg football convention related to competition structures and all have been referred to the board structures committee.
There was huge support for the call, made by five clubs (Corofin, Wolfe Tones, Ennistymon, Éire Óg and Doora-Barefield), to have the U-16 football championship completed before the junior certificate exam.
Corofin want the minor football to revert to division A, B and C with the grading determined by previous results at underage level.
Clooney-Quin asked that the U-12 championship be concluded before the commencement of the U-12 hurling championship while Doora-Barefield proposed that the U-14 football championship start date be three weeks after the All-Ireland field hurling finals.
Secretary Anne Hayes pointed out that it would not be possible to make a final decision on these until early in the new year when officers of both Bord na nÓgs will meet to plan their fixture schedule for the coming season.

Attendance record

INCLUDING the 2008 convention, there were five meetings of the board during the past year and six clubs were represented at all five. They are Clooney-Quin, Doora-Barefield, Éire Óg, Ennistymon, Kilmurry-Ibrickane and Wolfe Tones.
Eight clubs, Doonbeg, Kilmihil, Ml Cusacks, Banner, Cratloe, Kilfenora, Lissycasey and the Urban board, had delegates at four meetings. Shannon Gaels, Miltown, St Breckan’s and Kildysart were represented at three meetings while Ballyvaughan, Killimer, Liscannor, O’Callaghans Mills, O’Currys, Clarecastle, Cooraclare, Kilrush, Naomh Eoin, Parteen and Newmarket had delegates at two meetings.
Clondegad, Coolmeen, Kilkee, Corofin, and Meelick had a delegate at just one meeting while Clonlara weren’t represented at any meeting.

No more All-Stars

THE Bord na nÓg All-Stars awards scheme has been scrapped. Delegates voted by a huge majority to end the scheme, which was launched in 1989 and has been one of the highlights of the board’s activities throughout the past 20 years.
Last year’s convention decided that a decision on the future of the scheme would be made at this year’s annual gathering and following a discussion by the delegates, the vote was take on Tuesday.
In his report to the meeting, treasurer Joey O’Connell had asked the delegates to consider if they were happy to continue with the event which cost the board in the region of €3,000 last year.
During the discussion on the issue, secretary Anne Hayes asked if it is right to honour one player when it’s a team game, before suggesting that the decision shouldn’t be made based on the costs.
Former chairman PJ McGuane suggested that the scheme had run its course. Admitting that he was critical of Bord na nÓg hurling in the past for not joining with the board in the promotion of this scheme, he said that their decision was right. “The money can be put into coaching and it will benefit a whole lot more people,” he said.
“It’s been a great night out and it was great to see the families in attendance. The question now is do we continue with this format?” chairman Billy Archbold asked.

Financial affairs

BORD na nÓg Peil has a balance of €15,620.90 at the end of 2009 when they had an excess of €624.45 on expenditure over income for the year under review.
The total income for the year was €22,111.02, of which €13,435 came from gate receipts. Expenditure for the year came to €22,735.47, of which €6,240 went to the West County Hotel for the All-Stars function and €7,785 to training and coaching.
The decision to play the minor Division 1 and 2 finals as a double header resulted in the biggest gate of the year as it brought in €2,775.00. The U-14 Division 1 and 2 finals realised €1,460.00 while the U-12 division 1 and 2 finals brought in €1,135.00.
Sponsorship realised €2,750.00.

The importance of leadership

THE importance of showing leadership and good example to young people who look up to mentors and club officers was highlighted by Bord na nÓg public relations officer Liam Woulfe in his report to delegates attending the annual convention of the board.
“Those in charge provide much-needed support and example to the players under their control and their role in this regard cannot be over emphasised,” he said.
The Shannon Gaels clubman commented that the GAA is an evolving organisation and many changes and re-organisations took place in 2009. “The minor competition in particular had a very different form to that of other years and the clubs are to be thanked for their co-operation in this regard. The early stages of the year saw many meetings with clubs to try to have full information before forming divisions in the different competitions. It is vital that clubs come prepared to these meetings next January for the 2010 season,” he warned.
Woulfe went on to say that the board took a tough stance on postponements this year to ensure the smooth running of competitions. “In doing this,” he said, “we endeavoured to be as fair as possible to the clubs and this needs to be appreciated by all.”

A voluntary role

“IT’S an honour to be chairman of Bord na nÓg in Clare but in taking on the role, you are a target. We try to do our best and clubs must decide which side of the fence they are on. Some people support our work but more hurl abuse. There is no respect for effort. We are all doing this voluntarily. We do our best to accommodate every club. There is no room for verbal abuse in any shape or form,” stated chairman Billy Archbold in his address to delegates at the annual convention on Tuesday night.
The St Breckan’s clubman said, “We are not raising the bar. The standard of football will only be raised by effort and by coaching.”
He congratulated all winners and all clubs that participated in competition and he had a special word of congratulations for Cratloe, who were named as the club of the year in Munster last week.