Thanks to everyone who turned up on Wednesday evening, October 12, for our Annual General Meeting in The Bush Hotel. It wasn't the largest of attendances but we got a good bit of work done so a successful meeting.
Tribute was paid by our Chairperson Mary Finn to all our athletes who performed so well during the past year and in particular Eanna Madden on his great achievements which included competing in the European Senior Track & Field Championships in Amsterdam.
Chairperson: Mary Finn
Vice-Chairperson: Clive Glancy
Secretary: John Connolly
Treasurer: Jenny McCabe
PRO: John Connolly
Coaching Officer: Siobhan Murtagh
Adult Co-ordinator: Graham Allen
Treasurer Jenny McCabe delivered her first AGM report and was happy to report on a good financial position for the club.
Secretary John Connolly also reported on the year past (see below) and he paid particular tribute to our internationals Eanna Madden, Clive Glancy and Gerard O'Donnell.
The meeting also passed the following motion: That all selections for County, Connacht and National competitions in individual events and relay teams are at the discretion of the qualified Club Coaches.
Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club
Secretary’s Report 2016
A short year as it is
less than ten months since we held our last AGM. It may be a short time span
but it has been a year full of great achievements, some wonderful developments
for the club, a few problems but generally, it has been an outstanding year.
An Olympic year always heightens
expectations in the athletics world and as a club, we were incredibly lucky to
have two athletes chasing Rio qualification. That they didn’t make it does not
lessen the excitement we felt at the progress and achievements of Eanna Madden
and Gerard O’Donnell throughout the year. At this point, I’d like to
congratulate Kinlough’s Breege Connolly who qualified for the marathon in Rio
and did the county proud last August - it was great to see another Leitrim
person on the Olympic stage.
Eanna won the National Senior 200m,
represented Ireland at the European Championships on the 4 x 100m relay team,
won National U23 titles indoors and out over 400m and 200m and broke into the
top 20 All-Time Irish performances - and he did all of this while battling a
persistent hamstring injury that greatly hampered his season. Eanna was a late
comer to our sport but what an example of what can be achieved with dedication
and focus.
Gerard O’Donnell took second in the
Irish Indoor 60m Hurdles and seemed to be building a head of steam as he was
destined for Amsterdam. Unfortunately, injury struck incredibly hard, knocking
him out for the entire Summer but Gerard is fully back on track. Clive Glancy
donned the Irish vest at the European Police Cross-country and turned in an
incredible performance. As I wrote last year, Clive, and indeed Eanna &
Gerard, is a great example of an athlete who has kept working hard over the
years and has made some huge personal breakthroughs.
We didn’t get any National medals
at juvenile club or school's level this year and Ellis Conway took home a
fourth place medal from the U16 200m at the National Community Games but
perversely, 2016 was one of our best years ever in terms of depth of
performances. Toyosi Fagbo, Gerard Murtagh, Ellis Conway, Elise Bruen, Sean
Brennan, Lauren Reynolds, Fiachra O’Dowd, Sophie McCabe, Luke & Oliver
Charles, Diarmuid O’Connell, Dara Holmes, Caitlin Surlis, Evan Corcoran all
finished in the top eight in National Finals while the relay teams of Callum
Whelan, Brian Finn, Tom McCabe & Fiachra O’Dowd; Dhani Keane, Ben Finn,
Daniel Martin & Gerard Murtagh and Patrick Charles, Emmet Regan, Gerard
Murtagh and Toyosi Fagbo all qualified for National Indoor Finals.
Once again, I want to thank all our
athletes for their hard work and dedication, it makes it so much easier to be a
coach when you have athletes as interested and committed as we have.
That work was never as important as
the numbers joining the club seems to have exploded again this year. Luckily,
we have a dedicated bunch of volunteers and the impact that Siobhan Murtagh,
Orla Keaney, Diane Charles, Karen Brennan and, in recent weeks, Donnacha Holmes
and Andrew Brennan has had on the old guard of myself, Siobhan Whelan and Mary
O’Donnell cannot be understated. It has restored our enthusiasm and it is a joy
to go to training with so many willing hands there to help out.
Having said that, we desperately
need more helpers, people who are willing to roll their sleeves up and help
out. Everyone is more than welcome to help out as we cannot rely on the same
core group of volunteers forever. Remember, we all started out as newbies and
every little bit of help is desperately needed and gratefully accepted.
Such success does not happen
without great cost, both in terms of time and effort but also financially and
our “High Performance Plan” to help support our athletes was a welcome
development. But the success wouldn’t happen either with the support and
encouragement of our club coaches and our athletes families so well done to one
and all. No more than a play on the stage, the stars are out front but an awful
lot goes on behind the scenes.
2016 also saw us move to a new
supplier of club gear in JOMA/Teamwear Ireland and I think everyone agrees that
it has been a huge success. I want to say thanks to KC Sports for their help
down through the years. The new JOMA gear has been a massive hit with our
members who proudly wear it every chance they get and the fact that there is a
club shop online means a lot less work for club officials while the new club
vests are simply outstanding.
We also launched a new club website
which seems to be a great success and is complimented by our popular Facebook
page and is a great way of keeping everyone informed and up to date with club
news. We also intend to keep everyone up to date with a newsletter during the
athletic year so keep an eye out for that.
Not everything has run smoothly
unfortunately and there were a few incidents during the year that upset me
personally. I realise parents are concerned for their children but every
decision taken in this club is taken with the best interest of the child at
heart, be it a decision to enter a child in competition or training
arrangements. I can say that without fear of contradiction
I would also like to commiserate
with any club members and their families who suffered any bereavements during
the year.
I’d also like to thank Chairperson
Mary Finn and Treasurer Jenny McCabe for all their work as well as our coaches
who were mentioned above while we couldn’t do without Geraldine Lowe, Mary
Finn, Jennifer McGwynne who collect our weekly fees.
I want to thank Adrian Jackson,
Noeleen Murray Noone and everyone at Carrick-on-Shannon Community School for
all their assistance during the year and without the use of the school’s
facilities, we would have nowhere to train.
Personally, I want to thank our
older athletes who assisted me so much last year when we had such big numbers
training outdoors. I wouldn’t have been able to survive without the help of
Elise Bruen, Callum Whelan, Cathal McElgunn, Tom McCabe, Brian Finn and Dara Morahan.
Finally, I want to wish everyone a
successful year on the track, indoors or out, the roads and the country as we
keep the Carrick AC flag flying high.
John Connolly
Secretary
