Welcome to our end of season Club Newsletter.
It has been another very busy year, on and off the field of play. We have tasted success in bringing home silverware at Juvenile, Minor and Senior level. We have endured a couple of defeats in finals too. 3 of our players won Minor Connacht Medals and experienced Croke Park on All-Ireland Football Final day. Several other boys and girls represented the club at regional and county level. All our players wore the club jersey with pride and respect, and represented themselves, their families and the club with distinction. We can be very proud of their achievements.
More important than the sport itself, we have lost some great friends and club members over the past 12 months, while others have experienced health challenges. In May, the great Joe McDonagh passed away and he was given a wonderful send off from Barna by friends, family and loved ones from far and wide. We remember all those dearly departed. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anamacha.
Talented Ladies
Our ladies showed the nation that they are a multi-talented bunch, not just on the pitch. Spear-headed by “creative director” Roisin Aspell, an award-winning video was put together with the theme SERIOUS ATHLETES DESERVE SERIOUS SUPPORT and the top prize of €5,000 in the Lidl Women’s Gaelic Football Competition was duly scooped. You can watch the video here…… https://www.facebook.com/Barna-Ladies-Gaelic-Football-Club-198292683534446/
Not just that. In a very magnanimous gesture, the ladies generously donated €1,000 of their winnings to the Barna Pitch Re-development Fund. Sincere thanks ladies from everyone in the club.
On the pitch, the ladies have had a great year, and it’s not finished yet. More details to follow shortly on the ladies season’s action.
Adult Football
Our seniors, juniors and U21 teams had a very busy season, which started early in the New Year. The seniors had a fabulous win in beating Cartoon Shamrocks in August to bring home the John Dunne Cup for the first time in the club’s history.
The minor team also had a great year. We had Ernan McDonagh, James Grealis, and Ross Murphy involved in Galway’s successful defense of the Connacht Minor crown, and they went all the way to the All-Ireland Final only to come out second best to a great Kerry team. Closer to home, our Minors won the City & West League title, beating a very strong Salthill side in a superb game, on a score line of 4-10 to 2-13.
Juvenile Football
Juvenile highlights during the season include the U16 lads winning the league Shield, the U14’s had a superb run in the county championship making it to the final only to come up short against Salthill, in a superbly sporting game played in Pearse Stadium in early September.
The U12’s competed in the City & West league in the early part of the year and the County League in September/October. The U11’s also competed in the U12 City & West league and the County league for the first time which will aid their transition from playing mini leagues to competitive football. The U11’s reached the City & West final in Pearse Stadium eventually losing to Claregalway. A combination of U10s & U11s took part in the parish league (Concannon Cup) at the end of the season.
The great work at U6 – U10 continues with great dedication from coaches. The U6’s have 50 kids involved with 25-30 kids regularly attending training which augurs well for the future.
Barna Pitch Re-development
A lot of work has gone into the planning for the redevelopment of the pitch in Cloughscoilte since our AGM in January. We have a detailed and costed plan in place which would deliver a training pitch and a full-sized GAA pitch, with a total cost of approximately €330,000, works to be completed under a fixed-price contract. Car parking and dressing rooms would follow in the next phase. Grant aid in the amount of €112,000 has been approved and with some funds on hand, we intend to borrow €180,000 from one of the banks. To our surprise in the loan offers we have received it has been stipulated that GAA HQ must guarantee the loan, which means the lands must be vested in the GAA. This set off a chain of events which saw a number of meetings with Barna Co-Op and the other clubs in the parish. We have now all agreed a way forward, which involves an AGM of the Co-Op on November 24th at which a motion to remove a condition from the original purchase will be considered. When this condition is removed, we can then move forward and secure GAA vesting by making an application to the County Board, the Provincial Board, and finally the National Finance Committee of the GAA. All going well, we expect to have works commencing on the redevelopment in the early months of 2017.
Fiver a week campaign
As most of you will have seen or heard, the hurling, GAA and soccer clubs came together with Coiste Pairce na Furbacha during the past 6 months and under the leadership of Kevin Kelly a massive fundraising campaign was launched. The purpose of the Barna Furbo Sports Fund is to raise the necessary funds which will be used to pay for developing badly need facilities in the community. Specifically, there are 3 projects which will benefit, the GAA’s redevelopment at Clochscoilte, new astro pitch for the Soccer Club in Furbo, and new dressing rooms in Furbo for use by all sports. The Fiver a Week campaign aims to raise a total of €450,000, which will be split evenly across the 3 projects. So far the campaign has been a major success and with a big push over the next couple of weeks, it is expected that the target will be achieved. We wish to thank everyone who has signed up to the program, and we implore anyone who has not to please come on board and contribute to the community-wide very worthwhile initiative.
AGM
Our AGM will be held in December, and we would encourage as many members and guests as possible to attend. We will have a more detailed update on all aspects of the club to share on the day.
Call to Action.
In closing, we would like to ask for your help. There is great work being done across all facets of the club. We are involved simply to contribute to the lives of the players and make a contribution to the community at large, to encourage healthy life styles, and to help our club develop for future generations to enjoy. If you can, please volunteer some time. There are numerous opportunities. We will find something that suits you and we promise not to ask you to do too much.
In the words of Nelson Mandela……. “It always seems impossible until it’s done”
Barna GAA
Executive Committee
October 2016