Sports

Derrick Lynch When the golf courses around the county reopen their doors next week, chances are Sinead Sexton will be one of the first in line to tee off. The Spanish Point native has a better excuse than most for wanting to get back onto the first tee though as she recently began her studies to become a golf professional. “I am doing it through the Ladies PGA and it allows you to do it all online through quizzes and assignments. There is also a in-person seminar in Florida in August so we will have to just wait and see if that goes ahead. If I can’t get there, it can be put off until December and that will complete Level One. There are three levels which are worked like three college semesters and the good thing about it is that you can still be working while you are doing it. It can tie in with what you are doing …

One of Clare’s top athletes is driving a fundraising initiative this weekend to raise funds for Sláinte an Chlair. Ennis Track clubman Rory Chesser is no stranger to success on the track but this weekend his focus will be on hitting the road to help out one of Clare’s main Cancer support charities. “I was thinking about how I could do something to encourage people to run with a cause in mind. I organised this fundraiser with the aim of getting €1000 for the charity. The idea I had was that I would get a group from Ennis Track to run a total of 100 miles between all of us, on an individual basis obviously. To date, there are 50 volunteers and we have raised over €2,000” he outlined. Rory admits he has been blown away with the response since the idea first came into his head. “The support I have received from the club and from people outside the …

Derrick Lynch East Clare has always been a hotbed of hurling debate and over the last few weeks that has only intensified. It is all because of an initiative from Scariff Bay Community Radio which has seen each of the ten hurling clubs in its catchment area casting their votes for the best 15 players to have ever donned their own club jersey. As with all sporting debates, there will be plenty alternatives suggested but democracy has ruled with the votes now counted and the teams revealed. It may sound like an onerous task to collate the best players to have ever represented their own clubs, but the unenviable task of distilling the 150 players already selected down to the 15 who will make the best ever East Clare team is well underway. Under the rules of the selection process, there must be at least one player on the final team from each of the ten clubs involved while votes …

Derrick Lynch I am not sure how much of a sports fan Joni Mitchell is, but one of the lines in her iconic hit Big Yellow Taxi can well sum up how a lot of us are feeling over the last few weeks. Don’t it always seem to go; That you don’t know what you’ve got til its gone Since the COVID-19 outbreak shut down all sporting activity, it has left fans pining for the return of some form of live action. Everyone is united in the mindset that public health and safety is the number one concern and in the grand scheme of things sport is really a luxury we enjoy to supplement family life. That being said, it is still a major part of our lives and one which has been missed almost universally. For example, last weekend was meant to be the start of the 2020 championship season for the Clare senior footballers while next weekend should …

Carl Walsh From the age of seven to 30, I basically went everywhere with my Dad. We had a unique shared experience at countless training sessions, matches and meetings over that winding, wonderful and enlightening GAA journey. From a Junior B match in West Clare to the All Ireland Final (our first one was in 1974), we were there. At the start, I watched and listened, often in wonder, until I grew a bit and it was my time to play my small part in the rich tapestry of his incredible GAA life. It was an unforgettable GAA journey that has inspired me to carry on his legacy here in Australia as a player, coach and administrator. In the 1970s we travelled the length and breadth of Ireland together with a Clare senior football team that had plenty of talent but lacked the necessary support and resources to be successful. Dad was very committed to improving Clare football and the …

2020 will always be marked in the annals of St Flannan’s College long and storied sporting history as being the year they ended a long wait for their latest Munster hurling glory. It also marks a milestone in the history of the football tradition of the school, with 25 years having elapsed since they last claimed the Corn ui Mhuiri title on a dramatic day in Charleville. That gap looked like it was moving one step closer to being bridged this year as a brave effort from the Clare men just came short in their last eight showdown with St Brendan’s Killarney, who were ironically the team they beat in 1995 to secure their third ever crown. The links do not end there though, as Eoin Curtin followed in the footsteps of his father Tommy in guiding the fortunes of the young footballers of St Flannan’s. Tommy was there in Ballyagran for the showdown with the Kerry men this year, …

Clare senior hurling manager Brian Lohan is among those hoping that a phased plan to lift the COVID-19 restrictions will have a positive impact in the coming months. The Wolfe Tones clubman saw his positive start in his new role cut short with the ceasing of all sporting activity once the outbreak began. Clare had come through the group stages of the National League campaign unbeaten and were preparing for a last four showdown before the halt came. Lohan admits it is a difficult time for all concerned. “It is strange times and tough times for everyone across a number of area whether that is family life or working life and the sporting side of things is tough too. We were training in UL on the Tuesday night and we have our gym sessions on the Wednesday. One of the guys on the panel was working in Dublin and was asked to self isolate. It was not anything to do …

Much of the sporting conversation in recent times surrounding Covid-19 has been on whether or not we will see any action this year or what measures will be in place if any action goes ahead. For Eimear O’Connor and Catriona Callinan, the immediate focus is much different as both Clare Ladies football stars are part of the frontline in the fight against the spread of the pandemic. Cúil Gaels clubwoman O’Connor is one of the many around the country involved directly in testing for the virus as she alternates between centres in Ennis and Limerick. She might be missing the routine of sport but is still involved in one of the biggest challenges we have ever seen. “It is hard these times when you are coming into the nicer summer months where you are looking forward to getting out on the field. You have gone through the hard winter months so you are just really mad to get going when …