Ballygarvan GAA U12 Year Report 2008

The playing year began in March with the start of the U12 football league. Ballygarvan struggled in the football league this year as can be seen from the results below, however as the league progressed our scoring margins were improved.

U12 Football League results

The hurling league showed a big improvement from the lads and it was here that they got a couple of wins under their belts. It can also be seen from the results below that even in de feat Ballygarvans scoring margins were improving as the league progressed and were a marked improvement from last year. One of the low points for the team came from a 6-8 to 0-3 defeat at the hands of Valley Rovers in Brinny. It was only after the match that Valleys told us that we could have the points because they had played their first team and this was a grade C league. This kind of practice does nothing for the development of weaker teams and one would hope that the South East board would take steps to ensure that this does not happen in the future.

U12 Hurling League results

We played a number of challenge matches in both hurling and football during the year and these proved to be a lot more fruitful for us. We forged a good relationship with White’s Cross playing home and away matches on both hurling and football, and would hope to continue this friendship in to the future. It should be noted that the lads often get tired of playing the same South-East teams year-in year-out and playing teams from other divisions tends to freshen things up for them. One of the more enjoyable matches saw the U12 boys play the U14 girls in a good spirited game of hurling. The boys came out on top in the end and it was great to see Ballygarvan brothers and sisters competing on the field in a well natured game of hurling.

Two bus trips were undertaken by the U12s this year, the first of which was to go to the NHL Semi-final between Cork and Galway in Limerick. A great day was had by all and there was a very popular stop in McDonalds on the way home.

By far the highlight of the U12s year was an invitation to Croke Park on the 4^th October to take part in an U12 fun blitz run by the Munster council. A number of fund raising drives were made, including a table quiz and bag packing, and a number of companies donated generously to the cause. The team were kitted out in Ballygarvan tracksuits and it was commented by many other teams that they really looked the part. On the day we played 3 matches against Bodyke, Parteen and Ferrybank, winning 2 and drawing the third. The players were also treated to a tour of the GAA museum. On the way home we stopped in Portlaoise for lunch, and all in all a great day was had by everyone involved. All players behaved impeccably on the day and it has to be said that the every single player fully appreciated what a fantastic opportunity they had been given to play in Croke Park. Thanks are due to all of the companies, committee members and parents that generously gave their time and money to see that this trip turned out to be the great success that it was. The lads enjoyed these trips immensely but they also served as team building exercises and brought the team together as a tight knit group.

Ballygarvan GAA U11 Year Report 2008

The U11s played and trained with the U12s during the year until the U11 league started in September. This team has taken tremendous strides forward in comparison to their performance in last years U10 league which saw them finish mid table in football and hurling. This year most of the team were on the age and only 5 players were needed from the U10 team to make a full squad. The behaviour of this team and their attitude towards training and matches was exemplary. From their attention to team talks to their pre-match warm-up, this team were almost like a professional outfit. One had a feeling from the first training session that this team knew what they were about and that they knew themselves exactly what they were capable of.

In the hurling league we had 3 good wins over Carrigaline, Shamrocks, and Valley Rovers. Kinsale elected not to play us as they had been beaten by all of these teams by large margins. The final was set for the 9^th Nov but had to be delayed a week due to weather. On the 16^th Nov we played Shamrocks in Riverstick. In a thrilling match Ballygarvan won by a single point to become South-East league champions. It was level pegging all the way but Ballygarvan were trailing by a goal with 5 minutes to go. In a tremendous final 5 minutes Ballygarvan showed their “never give up” attitude and their months of training shone through, scoring 1-1 without reply they clinched the victory. It was a much deserved and long awaited victory for the lads who have trained hard for 5 years. Their perseverance yielded results and hopefully this is only a sign of things to come.

Events conspired against us in the football league. Due to the long wait between our last hurling league match and the hurling final, we had trained only hurling for two months. The first football match against Carrigaline was only 2 days after the hurling final so our lads were a trifle rusty in the football. Even so, they put up a great performance against Carrig but came out on the losing side in the end. For our last match against Valley Rovers we were missing 4 of the 11-year-olds but still put it up to Valleys, only losing by 1 point in injury time.

All in all, it turned out to be a successful year for the U11 team and hopefully it is a sign of things to come for the future. Many thanks are due to a number of people. Myles Barry for accommodating us with pitches, Noreen Bowen for washing the jerseys and all of the parents who helped out during matches, training, putting up goals, bag-packing, and on bus trips. Thanks to Terry Brady for posting match fixtures, results and reports on the website. The website has proved a valuable tool in encouraging and inspiring the players to greater heights, as they just love to see their names mentioned in match reports. Thank you to Stephen Looney who helped with U12 coaching during the year. Thanks to Mick O’Shea for all his help and for keeping us up to date on all fixtures. Many thanks also to my fellow coaches, Anthony, Liam and Ken who provided great support when times got tough. Most of our thanks however are owed to the players of the U11 and U12 squads, who over the last 5 years have given us great enjoyment and whom it has been an honor to coach.

Coaches: Tony O’Brien, Anthony Sexton, Liam O’Halloran, Ken Anthony.