Sports

By his own admission, it has been a very strange few weeks for Clonlara’s John Conlon. 2020 was meant to be the year he would captain the Clare senior hurlers in the championship under the watch of new boss Brian Lohan, and while that honour was bestowed on him for the National League campaign, a number of factors conspired to ensure this year’s campaign came to a sudden and cruel finish. On what would turn out to be the last collective training session for the squad before the Covid-19 measures came into effect, Conlon found himself living the nightmare of that dreaded cruciate ligament injury. It was a freak accident that would rule him out for the remainder of the campaign, but it still remains to be seen if there will actually be a campaign to miss. It meant a spell of waiting for surgery lay in store, but a phone call from the team at the Santry Sports Clinic …

A CLARE hurler is the latest person to come on board to help the nation keep fit and well when confined to home due to the Coronavirus pandemic. David Reidy, the sports and marketing officer at Limerick Institute of Technology, has developed an online exercise programme. Starting next week, he will present recorded videos of 20 to 30 minutes, which will be posted on The Clare Champion and LIT social media forums at lunchtime on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Starting on Monday and running over three weeks, the Éire Óg hurler will present a total of nine training routines, which will suit people of all level of fitness and ages. “I’m looking forward to this challenge. People who are stuck in their home during this crisis need to keep their mind and body active. I’m showing them through The Clare Champion and LIT social media how they can do this without having any kind of gym equipment. If they have …

It has already been a whirlwind experience for Ailish Considine in her blossoming career in the Women’s AFL, but you have to go to a whole other level to describe how the last few weeks have panned out for the Kilmihil woman. With the outbreak of Covid-19 bringing an abrupt and premature end to the 2020 season for Considine and the rest of her Adelaide Crows teammates, it meant that she was left with a decision to make as to what her next step would be. That was until the rapidly evolving nature of the global pandemic suddenly kicked into top gear and left her in a frantic scramble to make it home before border closures would effectively leave her stranded. That journey home is one that she will not forget for some time to come, with a combination of the evolving Covid-19 crisis and Murphy’s Law combining to ensure it was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons. …

A decision on the potential future of the 2020 GAA championships will be discussed this weekend with the extension of the Covid-19 restrictions until the first week of May meaning a much changed campaign is in store. The uncertainty surrounding how 2020 will play out is something that Clare senior hurling star David Reidy feels some players are struggling to plan around. “We are doing our work at the moment and trying to get the touch sharp, while having in the back of our minds that we are still training for a championship. The biggest thing at the moment is the uncertainty around it and it put a bit of fear in us to an extent because we are wondering what exactly are we are training for. No one knows if there will be a championship, or if there is one, when will it be? We just have to prepare as if there will be one because it could be …

Clare senior football manager Colm Collins feels the hiatus from sport as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak presents an opportunity to revaluate where things stand on a number of levels. An update on how the 2020 GAA calendar might play out is expected to be outlined in the coming days, with the extension of the preventative restrictions announced last weekend seeing the current lockdown extended until May 4. The Kilmihil native, who is his seventh season as Banner boss, feels the epidemic needs to be the foremost concern in everyone’s minds. “Any difficulties you encounter in life, it is not about what happens but is more about how you react to it. We can view these times as an opportunity rather than a problem and in a lot of cases it is an opportunity to take stock and see what we have missed. There is very little interaction at the moment so people can take a breath and think …

CLARE GAA County Board chairman Joe Cooney has said the nation’s health must be the number one priority when it comes to a decision on the resumption of any sporting activities. His clear statement comes ahead of a special GAA congress, to be held remotely, on this Friday to propose decision-making flexibility to for a variation in competition structures, if required, in advance of resuming games. Clare GAA will be represented at what could be termed a “personal distancing conference” by the board’s Central Council representative Simon Moroney. In a statement, the GAA at national level said it acknowledges the Government announcement of the extension of current restrictions until May 5 and its impact on the scheduling of sporting events and working practices, and “has factored the extension of the arrangements into its contingency planning”.  Club activity remains suspended until May 5 and the senior inter-county championships, scheduled to begin in May, will be postponed until further clarity on the current situation …

One of the sporting highlights in the calendar for Clare cycling has become the latest to fall victim to the Covid-19 outbreak. The Junior Cycle Tour of Ireland has been held in the county over the last few years attracting competitors from all over the globe, but organisers have opted to cancel the 2020 event. A statement from race director Alice Sherratt confirmed the news this morning. “It is with the greatest of regret that due to the current global pandemic with Covid-19, race organiser Alice Sherratt has taken the decision to cancel the 2020 edition of the Eurocycles Eurobaby Junior Tour that had been scheduled from the 14th to 19th of July in County Clare. This type of decision is never an easy one to take but considering the nature of what is taking place globally and how the fight against Covid-19 is being managed in each country, there is too much uncertainty surrounding a timeline for the conclusion …

TWO Scariff-Ogonnelloe players, Susan Vaughan and Mairéad Scanlan, have been selected on the 2019/2020 AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Team of the Year. Scanlan was also selected as Munster player of the year. The team also features six players from All-Ireland champions Sarsfields from Galway, six players from Ulster Champions and All-Ireland Runners-Up Slaughtneil, along with one from St. Vincents of Dublin. One player from each province, were named as Provincial Players of the Year. Aoife Ní Chaiside of All-Ireland finalists Slaughtneil, Niamh Hetherton of Leinster and St. Vincents, Mairéad Scanlan from Munster champions Scariff-Ogonelloe and Siobhán McGrath of Connacht and Galway’s Sarsfields. The four players are now in the running for the prestigious AIB Camogie Club Player of the Year Award with the winner to be announced on AIB GAA social channels on Friday, April 3. All 15 players on the team of the year, whose performances, skills and talent lit up the AIB All-Ireland Club Championship will be …