Banner GAA forms new juvenile club

At a meeting in the Woodstock hotel in Ennis last Thursday, a group of people representing the four clubs that make up the Urban board in Ennis together with members of the Banner GAA club decided to form the Banner Juvenile Club.
The meeting was attended by the chairpersons of urban clubs Dal gCais, Naomh Fhlannain, An Boithrín and Na Fianna together with a number of their coaches and several members of the Banner senior club.
“It was decided that the needs of the children of Ennis will be best served by the organisations coming together and providing a new structure. We have applied to be allowed enter teams from U-8 to U-12 and our application has been approved,” Banner senior secretary Owen Rynne told The Clare Champion this week.
Last week, Éire Óg successfully appealed to the Clare Hearings committee to be allowed have teams up to and including U-12. That hearing acknowledged, “players from Dal gCais, Naomh Fhlannain, Na Fianna and An Boithrin may not necessarily be members of a club ie either CLG Éire Óg or CLG an Bratach and as such the system which it was proposed to impose is contrary to rule 6.2(a) and (b)”.
That decision has raised questions as to the future of the Urban board. Asked about the position of that board this week, Urban board chairman John Walsh said, “we are awaiting direction from the county board. That ruling was only made last week and we expect to hear from the board soon. The urban clubs can’t compete in games and some of the mentors have decided to get involved in the new club for the good of the GAA in the town. This is an exciting development.”
On Tuesday the new club held an information and registration evening at the West County hotel, Ennis.
“There was a good turnout at the meeting and the reception was good,” according to Owen Rynne. Training for the new club commenced last evening, Wednesday, at the Banner grounds with mentors and coaches drawn from the four urban units with the support of the Banner club in charge.
According to Owen Rynne “this is a great opportunity for interested parents to get involved in their child’s sporting development and help him or her to achieve their goals in a child-friendly and happy environment. The revised structure will have the added benefit of providing a clear path/route to a senior club with the advantages this brings in terms of building a club identity from an early age.”
Dal gCais chairman John Casey, the incoming, vice-chairman of the new Banner juvenile club said he was really looking forward to the weeks ahead as “our children come together to enjoy our national games”.
According to Aideen McCormack from An Boithrín and the new children’s officer with the Banner juvenile Club, “this is a huge opportunity for the town and it is time to move forward together”.
Na Fianna chairperson Tom Meehan is the new coaching officer with the Banner juvenile club said “this is a new beginning for all and for the development of Gaelic games in the town of Ennis. Our focus is to get the structures bedded in and get children from the town participating in and enjoying football and hurling.”
Banner senior club chairman John Dingley said the club was keen to commit its resources to making the new entity work.
“There has been too much negativity surrounding GAA in the town recently. With this new structure we can see a clear way forward. It is very encouraging to see so many commited volunteers come together and build something positive. This is what the town of Ennis needs right now. We will support the committee.”