Secretary s Report to the Carryduff AGM 2016

Transcription

1 Secretary s Report to the Carryduff AGM 2016 Para Page 1 Introduction 2 Acknowledgements 2 2 Executive Committee 2 Financial Management 3 Communication 3 3 Male Football 3 4 Ladies Football 7 5 Hurling 10 6 Cultural 14 7 Lottery 15 8 Club Maith 15 9 Membership Social and Fundraising Club Carryduff Development Sympathy Summary 16 1

2 1 Introduction I have great pleasure in presenting my final Secretary s Report. Acknowledgements As another year comes to a close we are indebted to the many volunteers, who continue to contribute so tirelessly to the running of the club. On behalf of the Executive Committee and the wider membership of the club, I extend a huge thank you to the many volunteers who continue to give up their time so generously and without whom the club would simply not exist. To all the Executive Committee and sub-committee members, managers, mentors, parents, sponsors, friends of the club, players young and old and anyone who helped in anyway a huge thanks. Developing our facilities remains a priority. Our development committee have continued to work behind the scenes in an effort to try and secure grants and funding which is no mean task under the current financial constraints. Their efforts cannot go without recognition as they progress with our development. Thanks especially to all those Club Carryduff members who continue to contribute to our development fund and keep our future plans alive. Many thanks are due to Joe Tunney who as Chairman has worked tirelessly. I would like to thank the members of the Executive Committee who have helped me in my role as Secretary over the year. 2 Executive Committee (EC) The current EC is made up of 18 members who met on a monthly basis throughout the season. Attendance at the meetings was consistent and extensive and varied discussions took place on all issues pertaining to the running of the club. The role of the Chairperson is vital for the good running of any EC, and with the backing of the committee as a whole, aimed to serve the club and members to the best of their ability. All codes within the club were represented on the EC with some of the EC members also involved in the role of Chairs of various sub-committee groups and County Board representatives. In addition to attending the club EC meetings these representatives also chaired regular meetings within their various codes. I would like to pay tribute to all our EC members for their tireless efforts in the delivery of club business throughout the year and for giving of their valuable time. Our thanks is due to Stephen McArdle for all his work in the club lottery. Financial Management Club finances are managed by our treasurer Paul Lavery. With ever increasing costs and lack of grants and funding the club relied heavily on members, sponsors and family and friends for support. Membership fees did not increase this year and we are in the happy position of not being in a large overdraft situation at the end of the year. This is also due to the 2

3 successful fund raising events held during the year. Whilst we will continually strive in our efforts to obtain funding from various sources, nevertheless this is a collective responsibility for us all. We are relying heavily on everyone to support all our efforts as best they can and thereby increase our revenue. I would urge everyone to support all social and fundraising events during the year. Club Carryduff continues to raise vital revenue for the future development of our club. In fact Club Carryduff monies were used to fund the alterations to the clubhouse and the new training pitch this year. The sale of advertising boards around the pitch continues with each board generating 200 per year in revenue. The Lottery is a regular source of income although numbers have decreased during the year. It is vital that this regular source of income continues and I would encourage new members to become involved. Our clothes bank is a free source of funding and was consistently used throughout the year. Whilst the amounts may seem minimal every penny counts for the club and there is no effort involved. Thank you again to everyone who has supported the club financially in any way. Communication Our club website continues to be the main source for cascading information to members. Ronan Lawlor has maintained the site since it s inception and has worked diligently behind the scenes in keeping this up to date. We have moved to a new model based on the Ulster Council Website and this has just gone live. I thank him for his help and assistance throughout the year. 3 Male Football Under 6.5 football The Nursery has continued to grow this year building on the good work of previous years. Up to 180 children were registered by the end of the outdoor season with an average of 120 children per session. It could not have run successfully without the support of a large team. We were fortunate to have a group of 18 volunteers who came every week to ensure that the children had an enjoyable and beneficial experience. I would like to place on record my thanks to all of them for their efforts, in particular Gerry Heverin and Gerard Sergeant. The Nursery group (nursery/p1) worked on ABC skills throughout the year and we transitioned the P2 children into the development group by the end of the summer. The development group (p2/3 children) focused on the basic skills of catching and bouncing, hand passing and kick passing on a rotation basis each week. We played in a number of friendly games against Bredagh and St. Paul's, Holywood throughout the year and rounded off the season with a very successful blitz involving 6 visiting clubs. The games were very beneficial to the children in terms of applying skills developed during training and in creating an identity with the club from a young age. 3

4 The development group are now training indoors and will finish up at the start of December. Sean Spillane U8 The U8 have had a very successful year. new coaches came on board total. This made a massive difference to level of coaching that could be carried out. All the coaches bought into the same idea and massive progress was achieved. We had regularly 45 kids at training on a Tuesday night. The basic skills of football were concentrated on throughout the year and as the year progressed the development in the skills was obvious. Early in the year we had a team enter the RGU Downpatrick tournament in which the boys competed very well and applied some of the early skills that had been practiced at training. The team managed to bring home some silverware in the Plate competition. Once a month, we attended the east down blitzes and in mixed ability teams we practiced the skills worked on in training which allowed further development in a competitive atmosphere. Outside circumstances prevented at short notice the running of the U8 tournament that was planned to finish the year. The year finished with a challenge games against a selection of West Belfast teams at St Johns and a series of matches against St Brigids. I am looking forward to the next year of coaching and helping to bring on another cohort of U8 footballers alongside another good group of coaches. Niall Boyle U8 Manager U10.5 Training was changed to a Monday night due to work commitments of management, this did clash with Scouts, which unfortunately impacted 4-5 players. There were 50 players registered to play at this age group, however 14 players played no part during the year. Off the 36 players that made themselves available for training and matches, the average attendance was 57% The season commenced on 4 April and finished on 1 October, during the season the team trained on 25 occasions and participated in 12No Blitz organised within the county, each blitz hosted 4 teams at various venues (Carryduff hosted 2 blitz) We also played challenge games against Bredagth and against Clones (before the Down V Cavan senior game) In addition to hosting our own tournament, the team also attended a number of tournaments during the season, notably: Mayobridge, Donaghmore and St Brigid. The high point of the season was our second team winning the shield at our own tournament and also going on to win the shield at St Brigids tournament. A special word of recognition must also go to the players that took part in the Donaghmore tournament, this was attended by some of the best clubs in Ulster and we were defeated in the semi-final by the eventual winners. The low point of the year was having to withdraw from the Ballyholland tournament at the last minute because we did not have enough players to field a team. 4

5 Many thanks to the mentors that helped out during the year Aiden Hughes James McKernan Michael Ennis U12 Boys Football 2016 Training commenced February and is due to finish end of November. Over course of the season we had 35 players who attended regularly and 6 coaches, adding a further 3 for the U12.5 championship. We focused on basic skill development in the first half of the season, progressing into match play in second half. Emphasis was always to execute skill under physical pressure. We also worked hard during the season to develop our style of play to encourage players to move the ball at speed and into space. This was largely successful and was achieved through a range of conditioned games restricting players to 1-2 touches in training. While in the short term the effectiveness of physically dominant players will be reduced, we consider the style of football to be much more transportable into older age groups and senior and ultimately will benefit all our players in the group. We also worked very hard on developing character within the group this year, again through a range of close contact games and drills. This is a key characteristic we feel will benefit them and on which requires a much greater focus across all ages ranges within the club. Over the course of the season, 29 players experienced division 1 / "A" football. We also finished the season with a good core P6 players in the "B" squad, all of which are under age again next season. U12 As finished second to Bryansford in Division 1, Bs finished mid table in division 2 while the U12.5 A lost the championship final and Bs went out at group stage of the 2nd tier competition after 1 win and 2 losses including a very good performance against eventual winners Saul. Thanks to all the coaches who helped out this year and all the parents for their support. Shane Donnelly Carryduff U14 Football 2016 was a very successful year for the Carryduff U14 Footballers winning the East Down U14 Division1 League,East Down A Championship and runners up in the All County U14 A Championship v Ballyholland. Considering this squad of lads at U12,two years ago were 3rd in the East Down League there has been fantastic progress this year. The East Down Final win in Ballykinler was the highlight where the lads were 6 points down at a stage versus Kilcoo and came back to win this game and be crowned East Down Champions. Going forward this squad has real potential with the right commitment to football. If these lads take every opportunity to attend 5

6 County Development Squads if invited and not to spurn those opportunities the club long term will be in a good place. There is a responsibility on the club to encourage lads to attend these at every age group for the long term benefit of football within the club. Regards the other squad,development Squad,at the start of the year we had asked the East Down Board to enter the 13 aside League and they couldn t facilitate this and we had to enter the 11 aside and this caused big numbers at these games, we arranged friendly games to try and get the lads more football. I would like to thank all of the coaches that helped out during the year Dermot Donaldson, Philip Doherty, Jim Hughes, Colin Hughes,Michael Tunney and Paddy Tinnelly. It was a really enjoyable year coaching these lads. I would like to thank the parents for their support, wisdom and craic. Let s hope going forward these lads continue in their development in football. Eamon Blaney U was an excellent year for the U-16 footballers of Carryduff. It resulted in the boys winning the All County league title for the first time in the history of the club. They showed fantastic commitment through the year and this culminated with a brilliant performance against Burren to win the league with 2 matches still to play. Unfortunately we could not carry that form into the Championship where we were narrowly beaten by Bredagh in the quarter final. Our East Down team struggled for numbers through the year although they did complete all their matches. Unfortunately we were unable to field for the championship due to players away on holiday. I would like to say a special thank you to all the coaches who gave up their spare time to help with the development of Gaelic games for the under 16 boys in Carryduff. Without these coaches the boys would not be so successful not just this year but also the past 8 years. I would also like to thank the parents for supporting the boys and the coaches. Pat Maguire Minors The minors commenced their season with the first training session in the last Sunday of January, and then competed in 5 challenge games before the league campaign began. We competed in the 10 team All County League led by Captain Daniel Guinness. After winning 8 games and losing 1 game and topping the table. The reward was a home draw in the league semi-final. Due to unavailability of players we could not send out our strongest team and suffered a defeat at the hands of Newry Shamrocks. We then entered the championship and were placed in a group of 5 teams. Carryduff,Clonduff,Laitrom,Rostrever and Bryansford. Training increased to twice a week. We finished second in our group after 3 wins and a draw which gave us a place in the Quarter-final against Mayobridge whom we defeated. This led to a semifinal draw with Burren. This was a game between the best two minor teams in Down 6

7 and certainly lived up to its hype. The lads battled hard until the final whistle but were defeated by the narrowest of margins. I would like to thank Charlie Reilly for all his support and input through-out the year and Finbar McMeel, Liam McLoran and Ger Connery for their assistance during the year. I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to all the lads for their effort and commitment during the year. It was a pleasure and great experience for myself. D.J. Morgan 4 Ladies Football U12 U12 girls have had a fantastic year. There has always been strong commitment from the players all year, with a squad of around 25, we usually had around 18 girls training. We trained for a few weeks indoors at the start of the year and then have been training twice a week outside up until the middle of October. The girls comfortably won the league dominating all games, however had challenging games when playing Tecounaght home and away, still coming out the winners. Throughout the year the girls played many friendlys against teams such as St Endas, Moneyglass and St Pauls. In September we organised an U12 tournament where there were 16 teams competing. Carryduff entered 2 teams with both teams falling out of the competition after the semi final stages. However the girls played brilliantly and thoroughly enjoyed the day. They played in the Ulster Blitz the week after and won all matches in their group. Overall the girls have improved a huge amount since the beginning of the year. The talent and commitment is outstanding and I know for sure these girls will be winning many leagues and championships in the years ahead of them. Amy Junior Team The decision to enter a team into the Junior league proved to be a good call with encouraging performances from an increasing squad size as the league progressed. A combination of U17s and Senior Ladies made up the team providing valuable game time and experience for players who would otherwise not see enough games. A final league position of 4th out of 9 teams in the Junior league was a very creditable first season back in the Junior league. A highlight performance of the year was an early season win at home against Saval who went on to win the Junior league. In the Junior Championship the girls lost in the first round to Teconnaught. U17 A one off experimental season of U17 instead of U16 saw Carryduff Ladies entering the A league as defending champions and the B League after winning the C league 7

8 in The U17 squad provided 6 players to the County Minor team, 6 players to the County U16 team and 9 players to the U16 Development squad. The U17A Team went unbeaten in the league defending their title in impressive style to make it a fourth league win in a row at this grade. The girls couldn't repeat last year's double however losing the Championship final in Ballykinlar to Bredagh. The U17B Team enjoyed another good season competing well from start to finish backed up by the U14s squad. The girls finished 3rd in the B League and lost to eventual winners Saval in the Championship. No less than 9 U17 players were included in the Senior squad that beat Bredagh in the Senior league to wrap up the Senior league at the end of July. The girls saw the season out with a highlight of the year trip to Dublin to play Kilmacud Crokes a friendly and visit to Croke Park to see the All Ireland Ladies Finals. With high attendance at training all year there will be 18 girls progressing to Senior and Junior football next year. Greg Price Senior LEAGUE CAMPAIGN: The League began got under way with a home match against Castlewellan on April 16th. The victory was a dominate performance with team work throughout and a great start to the year. The following two matches were also victories over St John Bosco away and St Galls at Carryduff. The fourth match was away to Annaclone who i was informed about their physicality from the beginning of the year. There was sense of nerves that night before the match in the change room and warm up. The match did not the way i hoped, the performance was poor and there was a fear within the team throughout the game. I came away with more questions than answers that night as i knew this was one of the top teams in the League. I demanded a response for the next match as i knew the team was better than that and Bryansford was the focus. The girls didn t disappoint that game as they were absolutely brilliant putting up a score line of to 1-7. They showed what they are capable of and were ruthless in the manner of a very good team. Getting that win with a bye in the next round was very important as it would have been a long 2 weeks if we came up short. Next up after the bye was away to local rivals Bredagh in Cherryvale on a great summer s night. Unlike the away match to Annaclone i felt a great sense of confidence and feel good factor off the players before the match. This match was played with great intensity and we should have been 3-4 goal and 6-7 points up in the first 10min of the game as we had missed free s, scoring chances gone wide and a penalty missed. This did not play on the girls mind as they kept on ploughing away attack after attack creating and taking some great scores. The backs worked extremely hard and pressured their forwards on every occasion. This ended in a well 8

9 deserved win away from home and was a massive boost in self and team confidence for the girls. The wins continued over the next number of matches, in some the girls had to dig deep and the depth of the panel showed with u17s also getting game time. The big test was approaching with a home match to Annaclone June 26th. This to me would test the girls mental capabilities to see if they could overcome their fears from the previous meeting. A good performance was on show and each girl worked extremely hard giving Annaclone no answers in the end. I believed this was a turning point of the year as the girls were now at a great place of confidence and belief of going all the way was at a high. TEAM TRAINING WEEKEND, SAT JULY 2ND: Beating Annaclone befoe the July break and the pre planned weekend away was important as the girls were all in a happy place as a team and individual. Our Training Weekend began at 10:15am on Saturday morning with a tough circuit at the club followed by brunch in the club rooms. We then headed to Ballyconnle County Cavan for a pitch session at Kildallan GAC. We worked on tactics for Championship with walk through plays scenarios. After the session we headed back to the cabins where we staying that night for a pasta dinner and video analysis and discussion for Championship. That night was the night to let the hair down as they say and turned out to be a great weekend of team bonding. LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: The girls continued from where they left off before the break with wins over, St John Bosco, Bryansford and St Galls. The last match of the year was at home against Bredagh and a win would secure the League title. It was a good enough performance to win the League with again panel players and u17s being used. This was a deserved League title as the girls proved that throughout the campaign they were the best team and the team to beat this year. For a lot of the girls it their first medal at this level and they should be proud of this accomplishment. Winning the League was not the primary target but they way in which they worked for each other in each match an at training it was well deserved. This was ideal leading up to Championship haven beaten every team in the League, losing only once, winning 9 on the bounce and beating Bredagh twice gave us the mental edge as well. CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: I continued to prepare the team for the most important match of the year, training 3 times a week by going on a Saturday evening as well as our Monday and Thursday sessions. Leading up to the match we were without a number of girls due to holidays, charity work, Gaeltacht and a massive blow was losing Caption Laura Sharvin who picked up an injury in the last few minutes of the County match the previous week. Game day finally arrived and having the match at home in Carryduff i thought was a great advantage to us. We couldn t have started off any better than how we did with a goal right at the start of the match. Throughout the first half the game was tight even if we really didn t start playing well. By the half we were in front by 4 points and i believed we still needed to step up our performance as we were stuck in second gear. I reiterated this at half time to the girls and had to make a positional change to try and keep their attack down. The second half performance did not improve to the level which was expected but we were still in the game. Subs were made in the second half to try as girls were not 9

10 up to pace and so youth was injected into the team. We were given a great chance to pull away some when the opposition went to down to 14 players with a sin bin. Unfortunately we could not capitalize on this and missed a number of scorable frees and lost possession in our attack a few times Our failure to take advantage of having an extra player would prove costly as time was running out. Once we went behind and had to chase the game it was an uphill battle which would prove too difficult to overcome. To lose a Championship match at home after going so well on the build up was disappointing to say the least. We never matched their intensity and determination at all and it seemed that they had the fire in the belly more than we did. There never is very much to say to a team that just got beaten in Championship as no one feels emptiness like you do when you re a player at this time. The better team won on the day and that s what Championship is all about, whoever has it on the day and we didn t have it. In the change room after i told the girls that I am very sorry that i couldn t take them any further than tonight and it was an absolute pleasure Managing them all year and thanked them for their effort all year. SUMMARY: I came in to the role not knowing what reaction i would receive from the squad and hoped that my style of Coaching and Management would have the buy in factor. I believe in time they got used to me, my methods and what direction i wished to take them. I eventually got to know all their names and from the first session i could pick out the Senior leaders in the group. I met with these leaders a number of times on their own throughout the year to discuss progress, feedback and the mood within the squad. The League went very well and the girls should be extremely proud of themselves for winning the League Title as it takes great consistency and they had it all year in every match. I am as disappointed as the girls are in that it didn t happen in Championship and take responsibility for that defeat. I hope for a number of them they enjoyed this year and understand the commitment that is needed to win a Championship. There are sacrifices that need to be made and some still need to understand what these sacrifices are. There is a strong young group coming up and will be looking to make a bigger impact on the team next year and the years to come. I thoroughly enjoyed this year and couldn t have asked for a better group of players who share a great togetherness and friendship with each other. I wish to acknowledge the help of Greg Price and Jim Magee at training and matches, Mary Early and Donnla Fisher for their support. A big part of the success that i seen this year was the training of the Senior Panel along with the capable u17s. I believe that there is one Senior panel with two teams to play on with the Junior League to bring on potential Seniors and girls of ability of Junior football. It did not work out in Championship but there is a great group of players to work with and a crop of strong youth coming through the ranks who will make the Senior team a force next year and years to come. Go raibh maith agat Steven Millar 5 Hurling Senior Hurling 10

11 As in the previous year, Carryduff senior hurlers contested two league competitions in In Down All County League (Division 2), the team played all 10 fixed games, finishing the league in 3rd position (in a league of six teams). In 2015, the senior hurling team had entered the Antrim All County League completion, playing and winning Division 4 of that competition. A re-organisation of the Antrim leagues meant that the team again played Division 4 hurling. In this competition the team played 15 games in all, winning 10 and losing 5. Having progressed from Junior to Intermediate status in 2014, for the second year the team competed in the Down Intermediate Hurling Championship. This year s draw threw up a quarter final fixture against Ballela, a game played in Castlewellan on a wet Sunday afternoon and which Carryduff won on a 4 point margin. The semifinal match, against a fancied Bredagh side, played in dreadful conditions in Portaferry, saw that team go down by 15 points, in itself not a fair reflection of the team s performance but an important developmental step for the team. The league and championship competitions provided a total of 27 games in all, played over a twenty week period. Changes in the eligibility criteria (U17 players and county minor not available for senior team selection) combined with the demanding games schedule, led to pressures on the number of players available for several games. However, all fixtures were fulfilled. Particular mention should be made of those club players who represented the County team. Conor Cassidy continued his involvement with the Down Senior Hurling team and was joined this year by James Lavery. The benefit of exposure to training and playing at this level was evident in the performances of both players during their club matches. Three senior team players represented the Down Minor Hurlers (Donal Og Rooney, Daniel McCartan, and Daire Magorrian). Their achievements are noted here. Paul O Callaghan joined the senior hurling management team during the year and Paul s insights and contributions during the year were always helpful and constructive. Thanks also to Paul Lavery for his continued and necessary contributions including First Aid and Logistics. The value of Mickey Conway s contribution, not only to the senior team but throughout all hurling age groups in the club, is immeasurable. To simplify things, Thanks Mickey Justin McCormick Senior Hurling Manager. Minor Hurling The minor team fielded in all fixtures this year as set out by the County Board. In the league campaign a combination of results and robust defence of the rules to the fixtures committee resulted in the Team finishing in 3rd place behind Portaferry and tied on points with Ballycran. The championship league afforded some tough opposition and the team exceled when the pressure was on to finish in position to contest the quarter-final of the knock out stages away to Ballycran. After a slow start, the team hit its stride and two unanswered goals gave us a good lead at half time. The lads battled through a war of attrition supplied by the home team in an illtempered second half but held their composure and lead until the end to run out comfortable winners by 3-13 to Next up were Liatroim who failed to field in the league and were thus an unknown quantity to the new manager. The team took to the unusual conditions of floodlights and 6 inch long grass with the same intensity and war cry of No fear, No Excuses and played heroically. A great start to the game and well timed goals scored or supplied by the now less unusual hitman Jack 11

12 Laverty sent hearts pumping and a surge of belief that resulted in a half time lead of 8 points. Liatroim were wounded animals and played like such at the beginning of the second half. The team matched them at each point but the free count rose and their sharp shooters were on form. Carryduff had chances but unfortunately got pipped by the odd point. Beating Ballygalget and only getting beaten by the odd goal versus Portaferry in the league, and Liatroim by a point in the championship is a testament to the ability and character of these young men. The fact that these three teams along with ourselves battled out the semi-finals and final of the championship, with only 1 point difference in each game only shows as to how close we were, but should also let Carryduff and the County know that this is a fantastic team that have much hurling left in them. U16 Hurling The Down U16 Hurling league started in early March as games are played on Sunday mornings and don t need to rely on the stretch in the evenings before the league can commence. This allowed for a programme of nine games in a 10 team league. Eight fixtures were played and one was conceded as our opposition were unable to field. Many of the teams in this league (ourselves included) were unable to field 15 players in all games, but league rules allow for games to be played from 12- a-side up. This meant that more fixtures were completed, providing boys with good number of games. The standard of teams in the league varied greatly, and Carryduff finished mid-table in 5th position. In Championship, CPN conceded the grading round which put Carryduff into the Championship rather than the Shield. In the height of the summer Carryduff struggled to get sufficient numbers to field the 15-a-side required for Championship and conceded the QF against Portaferry. Eoin Maguire represented Carryduff in the Down U16 Development Squad which won the All-Ireland B Championship. U14 Hurling Having taken on the U14 hurling for the first time it was hard to know what to expect; the team were entered in the Division 1 League and we began preparations with the squad from February indoors. The group were mixed in ability and we struggled most weeks to have more than at the indoor sessions. However we began the season with a couple of challenge games against Lamh Dhearg and Naoimh Pól and performed very well with a defeat and victory respectively. Our final game pre league commencement was against Fingallians (Dublin) arranged as part of the trip to the All-Ireland club finals on St Patricks day. Here we suffered a heavy defeat, understandably so given that Fingallians sustained a winter training programme on a 4G pitch with a squad of approx. 25! We began our league campaign in Division 1 against Portaferry and suffered a very heavy defeat which was subsequently followed up with similar results against Bredagh and Ballycran. It was apparent that morale was dropping and following consultation with the hurling sub-committee we submitted an application to complete the second half of the league in Division 2. This was granted and we had games at the lads level and they competed well in Division 2 with a victory against Kilclief, very close defeats to Warrenpoint and Ballyvarley and a questionable defeat to Clonduff! U14 Féile was played in Portaferry and we started with winning best banner! Over the course of the day we beat Kilclief and Warrenpoint but lost to both Portaferry and Ballycran and did not progress to the semi-final stage. A great day for all the lads who enjoyed the occasion but unfortunately were unable to progress beyond the 12

13 group stage a big thank you to the U12 lads who came and bulked out the U14 squad and who all played a part. Finn Collins represented Carryduff at the U14 Féile skills competition and in his first year at U14 s put in a superb performance to finish a very close 2nd to Eoin McDermott from Ballygalget- this was a massive achievement from a very talented young hurler who also was selected to represent Carryduff and play on the Down U14 emerging talent squad. Championship up next and again we had some very close competitive games beating Kilclief in the first round. However we met Ballyvarley again in the semi-final of the shield and allowed them to get the upper hand early down 12 points at half time! But a spirited comeback was staged and the lads fought hard to bring the game back to a single point and in the dying stages of the game had a goal disallowed which would have clinched the game. This spelled the end of the hurling season competitively speaking but the lads should all have left with their heads held high on their second half performance. On a less positive note the main two areas of concern was the commitment of some of the team and with low numbers at training an attitude that displayed an awareness that they d be played regardless of attitude/commitment as the team had very low numbers and we relied heavily on the u12 s supporting the squad to field regularly again a thank you to those lads for supporting and contributing significantly to the U14 squad. We closed the hurling year officially at the Down County final where we took part in a 7s tournament and then watched the county final between Ballygalget and Ballycran in horrendous weather conditions but the lads enjoyed the fish and chips that we provided for them as an end of season treat! Finally, I d like to note a special thanks to John McCaffery, who also in his first year as coach, was a great help and positive influence to the lads and a calming influence on me; and to Mickey Conway, not in his first year! For all the help and guidance from his many years experience! U12 Hurling A panel of 18 players, 11 of whom were also U10, played out a busy programme of league fixtures between April and September. After a slow start the squad grew in confidence to come very close to victory in a series of mid-season matches. Good attendance and application at regular Tuesday evening training sessions helped build a level of skill, spirit and teamwork that allowed us to start winning games towards the end of this season. We have built a strong, confident group of young players who will go into the 2017 season with excellent prospects of success on the field. My congratulations to all the boys who played and trained as our U12 hurling team this year. Also, and particularly, thanks to the parents who ensured that we were able to play (almost) all our fixtures across the county this year. U10/P6 Hurling The P6 squad started the season competing in the Down indoor blitzes at Eddie Irvine centre. We also competed very well in the Ulster indoor blitz in Magherafelt 13

14 and we had two teams compete at most of the Down blitzes during the year. We also took part in the St Gall's and St John's tournaments. Around 80% of the squad have now attained a Gold award with regards to skills assessment for their age group. U8/P4 Hurling For 2016 the u8 hurling coaches had 3 simple objectives:- Enjoyment, Skills Improvement and One Team. Looking back it s easy to see the great progress made against each of the objectives. It s fair to say that both coaches and kids alike have had an extremely enjoyable fun time together at training and at the numerous blitzes attended. Attendance at training and games has been tremendous enabling us to regularly field two competitive teams. From a coaches point of view the highlights have been seeing the enthusiasm shown by the kids for the game and seeing how much each and every child has developed their skills over the year. Asking the kids for their highlights the overwhelming response is the free Mr Whippy Ice Cream everybody got at the Bredagh blitz at Cherryvale. U6/P2 Hurling The club continue to offer weekly hurling coaching for U6/P2 as part of the Sunday morning Nursery Programme. These sessions continue to be well supported and while attendances can vary, numbers have been as high as 25 children at a single session. The training is age appropriate, using small, light hurleys, rubber bas hurleys, First Touch sliotars, bean bags, balloons etc. and is concentrated towards introducing children to the games and coaching a limited numbers of skills. Matches tend to be in-house and based on a 3v3 5v5 format. Not all clubs accommodate this age group in the blitzes and the only external game played this year was in Ballycran. Thanks are due to Niall McCullagh for his continued support in a coaching role. Particular thanks to Jack McPolin for his contribution to coaching this age group. Particular effort will be needed to recruit further coaches. 6 Cultural Tá an cultúir ag dul ar aghaidh go mall sa chlub in Cultural life in Carryduff GAC is coming on slowly in The Irish language and Music classes run weekly from October to May and are held in the Parish Centre. Music classes are provided in Fiddle, Whistle, Junior Session Class and Senior Session Class. Musicians always welcome. We need to increase participation in Irish Language classes, or the classes will not be viable in the future. Musicians represented the Club at a Mass in January which was a great success. 14

15 Two number of our members received Gaeltacht Scholarships For 2017 we would like to increase the visibility of our language in and around the Club and will be announcing initiatives to promote use of Irish as much as possible. The Club is taking part in Scor and Scor na n-óg again this year. Good luck to all representing Ceathrú Aodha Dhuibh Ádh mór ar achan duine atá ag glacadh pairt. 7 Lottery Report. The Lottery is a great success and membership continues to grow. 8 Club Maith Club Maith Registration: Work is still ongoing regarding this. 9 Membership Membership of the club stood at 828 members at 30 September 2016 ( ). 10 Social and Fund Raising As a group we continually strive to meet the challenge of coming up with new ways and ideas for raising funds for our Club, while at the same time creating events that provide enjoyment for all. The big ticket fund raising event this year was the Question of Sport in February which was a big success. The Ladies Quiz was also a success. Tournaments also were a good source of fund raising for the under-age players. The committee offer their sincere thanks to all those who, despite current financial constraints, supported any fundraising effort throughout the year. 11 Club Carryduff We are grateful to those members who continue to contribute monthly to our club development fund. Club Carryduff has enabled us to progress the developments discussed in paragraph

16 We would encourage new and existing members of the club to buy into the future development by joining Club Carryduff and thereby show their commitment to the future development of our facilities from which everyone will benefit. 12 Development We have obtained planning permission for the social hub and multi-purpose training wall, and have also obtained grant aid for this development. Many thanks are due to Paddy Tinnelly who was instrumental in us obtaining the modular building. The main pitch is undergoing renovations which should result in it being fit for purpose for another 10 years. The Development Committee is grateful to the members of Club Carryduff who have made the development work possible. 13 Sympathy The Club and community were deeply saddened by the deaths of family members of Club members. It is fitting that one of the last events of the year will be the Club Mass in memory of deceased members and friends. Our club is indebted to many who have gone to their eternal reward and it is only right that we acknowledge their memory. All those club members who lost family and friends during the year will be remembered in our thoughts and prayers. Our sincere sympathy and condolences are extended to all those families who have been bereaved during the year. Our Lady Queen of the Gael pray for them. 15 Summary In this 44th year the club enjoyed much success on and off the field. From competing in football and hurling to cultural and celebration events the club enjoyed a memorable year. Our hurling squads have remained formidable opposition within the County and are to be congratulated on their fabulous successes again this year. The male football, hurling and female football squads continue to flourish at underage and senior level with an abundance of younger talent progressing steadily through the ranks. Both our male and female age groups were represented at County level at underage and senior level The cultural side of the club continues to flourish with ever increasing numbers attending Irish and Music classes, and each year makes a bigger contribution to the life of the club and community. Regular income is a necessity to meet the running costs of the club. It cannot be underestimated how income from areas such as the lottery and signs contributes to these costs especially in the current difficult economic climate. We strive to raise funds through various other social and fundraising events and it is vital that all our members share responsibility for funding the club collectively and support all our ventures in whatever way they can. 16

17 Our Club Carryduff members continue to finance the development of our club and through their efforts we have been able to make progress with work on our training pitch. Although progress has been slower than we would have liked we are hampered by factors such as weather and funding which are outside of our control. Our Club Carryduff members however continue to fund our development plans and our thanks to all those members of Club Carryduff cannot be expressed strongly enough. It is through their monthly contributions alone that we will all benefit from the future development. I would encourage all members who avail of our facilities to strongly consider their contribution in this regard. Our thanks to all members of Club Carryduff and our development committee who all contribute to our future plans. Carryduff GAC is growing in strength and numbers and whilst we have many volunteers in various roles nevertheless each and every member has a contribution to make. Membership subscription is only a part of contributing to the club. We need more members coming forward offering their own individual skills and taking up roles on the EC and various sub committees. It is all too easy for many to sit back and criticise instead of coming forward with a voice or ideas to actively participate and make changes. I would encourage anyone, especially those new to the club, to come forward and take up the challenge of the EC. It is a wonderful way to meet all the members and see at first hand the efforts that have to be made to sustain the club. Our thanks are also extended to Fr Kelly for his continued support and prayers throughout the year. I would like to thank you the members of the club for entrusting the Secretary role to me and wish my successor all the best in the future. Patrick Rice Runai 1 November