Annual review of Juvenile football

Posted: January 14th, 2009

Read Juvenile secretary Tom Gallagher's annual review of the underage activities in Simonstown during the course of 2008.

Under 14 A (Coaches: Tony O Reilly, Tony Heaney, Martin Griffin)

The Under 14 A team narrowly missed out on reaching the semi-final of the Division 1 league where they were beaten by the eventual league finalists Donaghmore/Ashbourne. They had good wins along the way against Gael Colmcille and Trim while lost out to Ratoath and Dunboyne.

A good run in the championship brought the Under 14 A team to the semi-final after beating Navan O'Mahonys in the quarter-final. They met Donaghmore/Ashbourne again in the 'semi' and this time were unlucky not to progress with only the narrowest of margins seperating them at the final whistle.

The Summer league was a great success this year when we won a hard fought final against Trim.

Under 14 Reserves (Coach: Davy Lane)

The Under 14 reserves had a disappointing year in both the league and the championship. They had some very tough matches in both campaigns but credit to them they stuck with it to the end. The lack of numbers at this level had a serious effect on the team's aspirations.

Under 12 A (Coaches: Colm Farrell, Eamon McGrath, Padraig Mooney)

The Under 12 A team had a great run in the and managed to reach the final where they lost out in the end to a very strong Dunboyne team. They had good wins in the campaign against Ratoath, Dunshaughlin, Trim, O'Mahony’s, Donaghmore/Ashbourne and Gael Colmcille. They beat Gael Colmcille in the semi-final and brought great traveling support to the final against Dunboyne but unfortunately it wasn’t to be that day.

The Summer league again was a huge success with wins along the way against St Colmcille's, Dunboyne, Summerhill and a draw against Gael Colmcille. Having qualified for the final against Dunboyne, revenge was gained, and a convincing win was recorded to lift the Shield.

Under 12 Reserve (Coaches: Ciaran Conlon, Tom Gallagher)

The Under 12 reserves have had fantastic numbers out at all matches, averaging at about 28 players, and the managers ensured that everyone who turned up got a match. This strategy should leave Simonstown very strong going forward in years ahead. The Reserves had great wins in the championship against Ratoath, Trim, O'Mahonys, Donaghmore/Ashboourne, Dunshaughlin, Gaeil Colmcille and Summerhill. They reached the final and were beaten on the day by a very strong O'Mahonys side.

The Summer league was also a huge success with wins along the way against Gael Colmcille, St Colmcille's, Trim, and O'Mahonys. The final was a replay of the championship final and this time Simonstown came out on top to lift the trophy.

Under 10 A’s & B’s (Coaches: Cormac McEvoy, Brian Moran, Tommy Naughton, Pat Kiernan)

Both these teams are competing in a Simonstown organised league playing Trim, Ratoath, Kells, O Mahonys and Walterstown on a home and away basis. Both teams are getting good numbers out, they are winning matches, getting good experience, but most importantly are showing great signs of improvement as the season progresses.

Both teams recorded good victories in recently organised St Cuthbert's and O Mahonys Go Games blitzes against Bective, St. Cuthbert's, Dunderry, Wolfe Tones and O'Mahonys.

Under 8 A’s & B’s (Coaches: Brian McEnery, Tino Borez)
                                                           
This year was a tremendous success with the Under 8s enjoying matches against Curraha, Donaghmore/Ashbourne, Dunshaughlin, Duleek, Walterstown and O'Mahony’s. Simonstown put out two teams and won the majority of their matches. In the Autumn more matches were organised against Laytown, Kilbride and Skyrne.

The Go Games Blitzes recently organised by St Cuthbert's and O Mahonys were a great success with all the players getting plenty of football. The three Simonstown teams; the Lions, Tigers and Pumas all had good wins and overall enjoyable days playing St Cuthbert's, Bective, Dunderry, Wolfe Tones and O Mahonys.

The amount of matches played by these teams will hopefully leave us very strong going forward in the future.

Under 6’s (Coaches: John Staunton, Martin Cuniffe, Siobhan Hanrahan, Tommy Caffrey, Derek Melia)

Saturday mornings at 10am continue to be a great success with great numbers turning up for these introduction to gaelic football sessions. The emphasis here is on the kids having fun and learning a few basic skills to lay the foundations for future years ahead.

With up to eighty children attending at this level some of the Mums and Dads have been great in volunteering to help run these sessions in order to continue. The club will organise coaching courses for these new helpers shortly.

County Board Appointed Urban Coach

This year the county board appointed an 'urban coach' to assist underage coaching in the larger clubs in Meath. We were fortunate to have Michael Cantwell appointed and we would like to thank Michael for all his help and good work and especially for keeping things going during the summer months.  

Super Leagues in August

This year the Super Leagues were a fantastic success for all children aged 11 and under. The leagues ran on Wednesday & Friday nights for four weeks and an average of 200 children participated on each night. I would like to sincerely thank all those parents who helped out managing teams and refereeing matches.

Meath Players & Coaches

Simonstown had three players involved in the Meath Under 14 team in 2008. Congratulations to James Heaney, Robbie Burlingham and Donnagh Fitzpatrick. They won the Tuft cup in September beating Kildare in the semi final and Louth in the final. Congratulations also to Tony Heaney who worked closely during the year with Brendan Dardis as a Meath selector for the Under 14 Team.
 
Coaching

A Foundation Coaching course was run earlier in the year by Dudley Farrell, Christine O Brien and Simonstown had new coaches & mentors in attendance. Some of our coaches have already completed the Level 1 Course and hopefully we can get a few more to progress to this level in 2008.
           
County Board motions

At the time of writing no major changes are envisaged in the running of the 2009 season apart from switching of playing days from Wednesday to Saturday for under 14s and vica versa for under 12s.
 
Sponsors

Thanks to Denis Smith, owner of SuperValu, Johnstown and his General manager Peter Byrne for their support and assistance throughout the season and to all those local businesses who sponsored jerseys and equipment during the year.

General Manager

Ann Burlingham, was appointed as the club's new Centre manager in 2008 and we would like to congratulate Ann on a job well done and we look forward to working closely with her in the years ahead.

Membership

Juvenile Membership for 2009 is now due at €25 or family membership for €100. Adults can join the club gym for an extra €100 per person.

Club Gear

Juvenile club gear can be purchased in Jacksie Kiernan's Sports Shop on Trimgate Street in Navan.

Keep up to date

Simonstown has an excellent website so keep up to date with the latest news on www.simonstowngfc.com. If you wish to receive email and text updates on what is happening in the club email: info@simonstowngfc.com with your name, mobile number and email address.

Tom Gallagher
Juvenile Secretary