Munster Council aids Clare schools

WHILE unsuccessful attempts were made to enter two college amalgamation teams (West Clare and North Clare colleges), this year, Clare GAA is to reapply next year in the hope that the amalgamations will be allowed to play Corn Uí Mhuirí (Munster senior colleges) football in 2010.
In the interim, the Munster Council has identified Clare as one of four Munster counties where it will help to increase the promotion of football at second-level schools in Clare.
The project is a four-year plan and is to provide outside coaches who will coach first-year players in these schools for 24 sessions over the full school term.
The students will also compete in blitzes held in each county for the participating schools. The aim is that after four years of coaching the first-year players in the schools would be in a position to compete in the Corn Ui Mhuirí.
However, because of the lack of numbers in the eight colleges in the traditional (West/North) football region of the county, Clare would be unable to provide a school to part take as neither of the schools could ever compete on their own in the A Munster colleges competition.
Therefore, the Clare County Board asked if they could piggyback their own plan to amalgamate the four schools in the West (Kilkee, Kilrush, Kilmihil and Kildysart) and have the pick of the first-years in these schools coached together. The idea applies for the four schools inNorth Clare (Lisdoonvarna, Ennistymon Vocational School, Ennistymon CBS and Spanish Point).
This request was agreed by both the Munster Council and the Clare County Board, who are jointly funding this project. Meetings with the teachers involved from all the schools were held to gauge their support. The teachers were behind the project on the condition that the clubs feeding into each school also threw their support behind it.
The project is now in its fourth week in West Clare, with coaching taking place in Killimer on a designated morning at 10am, with Ger Keane as coach. The session is held in North Clare in either Ennistymon or Liscannor GAA pitches with Aidan O Keeffe.