Davy delighted with Strictly night

While just 10 members of the Clare senior hurling panel will be dancing in this Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing evening at the West County Hotel, all members of the panel will be involved on the night. It will be the same for the senior camogie panel as both sets of players take a break from their training schedules to take to the stage.

It will be a particularly special evening for the senior camogie squad, winners of the Munster senior title after a lapse of almost 70 years. The members of the panel will be presented with their medals during the evening.

Earlier in the evening, at 6pm, the members of the Clare minor team, winners of the Munster Minor Shield, will receive their medals. Both county senior squads have come together to organise this Saturday’s event to raise funds for both squads and also for Cahercalla Hospice.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for supporters to meet with members of both squads. Both sets of players have organised this night and helped sell the tickets for the event. They are all playing their part in organising what promises to be a great evening,” Clare senior hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald said.

“We are all involved with Clare teams and I am a passionate Clareman who wants to see all Clare teams do well. I recently had a good chat with Mick O’Dwyer and I hope that he and the footballers will do well also. We all want to win. We need to communicate and get on well, once nobody gets carried away. We are delighted that the camogie medal presentation will take place as part of Saturday’s event. I am delighted that we are working with the camogie people on this one. John Carmody has done a great job with their senior team,” the Sixmilebridge man said.

Following his appointment as manager, Fitzgerald instigated the formation of a hurling supporters’ fund. “The players are playing a big part in organising events like this. We had the fight night at the beginning of last year, which they organised and now they and their camogie counterparts are organising this,” he said.

Looking ahead to the new season, the Clare boss told The Clare Champion, “We have met and discussed our goals. We are in Division 1, a massive division, which includes Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cork, Galway and Waterford. It’s a big step and Clare have not been there for a while. The objective is to compete as well as they can. We have a young squad but there is a lot of fight in them. They have a good few years ahead of them.”

He added, “They are all doing their own gym programmes at present. We have at least six challenge games scheduled for January before the Waterford Crystal competition begins. We have added a number of young players to the panel and it’s important to have a good look at them. We have our own goals. We are not going to tell people x, y and z. We are realistic. We know we are young and we will give it the best we can,” he concluded.

Senior camogie manager John Carmody, “Davy approached us with this idea and we are delighted to be involved. It’s a sign of the times and it is great to see the players from both squads putting in the work in organising an event like this. I believe that it will be a great night.

Looking ahead to 2013, the Kilmaley man said, “We were very disappointed coming away from Pairc Uí Caoimh after being beaten by two points in the All-Ireland quarter-final. We would like to get back there and go further.”

All the dancers have been put through their paces by Shelley Naughton, DanceMasters School of Dance in Sixmilebridge. Darach Honan has been replaced by Peter Duggan, due to injury. Comedian Alan Shortt will also feature as part of the night’s entertainment.

The dancers on the night are Katie Cahill and Seadna Morey; Kate Lynch and Enda Barrett; Róisín McMahon and Brendan Bugler; Orlaith Duggan and Fergal Lynch; Aisling Hannon and Derek Fahy; Naomi Carrol and Tony Kelly; Aoife Griffin and Aaron Cunningham; Chloe Morey and Stephen O’Halloran; Fiona Lafferty and Cathal O’Connell.

Tickets for Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing are available from any of the hurlers or camogie players and will also be available at the door.