Ferns St. Aidans
GAA Club Newsletter
February 2011
A new year...a
new beginning
Club Contacts
CLUB OFFICIALS
Chairman: Des O’Neill (086) 8354969
Secretary: Sinead Dwyer (087) 6450642
Treasurer: George Murphy (086) 2231756
HURLING & FOOTBALL TEAMS
Senior Hurling: Johnny Murphy (087) 9102200
Junior Hurling: Alan Murphy (086) 3851019
Adult Football: John Tonks (086) 2499599
U-21 Hurling: Tom Dunbar (086) 2142339
U-21 Football: Conor Swaine (087) 6630687
Minor: John Tonks (086) 2499599
U-16: Patrick Doyle (087) 9876717
U-14: Gus Cullen (087) 1391340
U-12: Nick Stafford (086) 1072056
U-10: Stephen MacDonald (087) 2507169
U-8: Padraic Dunbar (086) 4094067
CAMOGIE SECTION
Chairperson: Geraldine Murphy (087) 0550213
U-8 and U-10: Edel Quinn (087) 9224743
U-12: Eilish Sinnott (087) 9107327
U-14 & U-16: Rachel Collier (085) 7199708
Minor: Tommy Dwyer (053) 9366296
Senior & Junior: Tom Dwyer (087) 7459689
n New players are always welcome to join
any team and they or their parents can
contact the relevant team manager for
details on how to get involved.
ALL ARE welcome to submit information,
photographs, etc., for inclusion in future
editions of this newsletter. Just contact
club PRO Colm Lambert at (086) 2737617,
or alternatively, e-mail [email protected]
Our young players will
learn from the very best
THE START of the new GAA
season always represents a new
beginning for hurlers and footballers everywhere, as they set
out on their campaigns in the
hope this might be the year they
earn glory for their club and
themselves.
In Ferns St. Aidans, our minor
footballers have already been in
action in the Jim Byrne Cup competitions. Our senior hurlers are
back in training too, having headed for the gym these past couple
of Friday nights to start the work
needed to try go at least one better than last year, when they
reached the county senior hurling
semi-finals.
All other players in the club will
soon be togging off regulary too
as they prepare for their respective leagues and championships,
and we wish them all the best.
This year marks a new beginning for our club in another way
too, as we hope to continue to
bring you this free newsletter on
a monthly basis during the playing season.
It is aimed at everybody in the
club’s catchment area - not just
players and other existing members - to keep them informed of
all the latest developments and
results, and to hopefully inspire a
few new faces to come along and
get invoved in our club, in either
hurling, football, or camogie.
Team managers and others with
relevant news to report are asked
to please stay in regular contact
with club PRO, Colm Lambert, in
order to help make this happen.
Contact details are:
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (086) 2737617
Thank you!
Our club...
your club
THIS IS the section
of the newsletter
where our plan is to
bring you match
results and league
tables and the like
each month, but as
it’s still only February, there’s not
much to report yet –
so instead, we have
an introduction to
the club for our
introductory issue.
Some existing
members may take
almost for granted
our club facilities
and activities at so
many levels, but
we’re aware there
are many others in
our catchment area
who may not yet
realise just how big
our scope is, and so
we’re hoping this
might inspire them
to come pay us a
visit and get either
themselves or their
children involved.
For starters, our
facilities – and we’re
delighted to say we
have three full-size
adult pitches (one of
which is the exact
dimensions of Croke
Park, and so has
been used by county
teams for training
sessions) as well as
a smaller, underage
pitch. Most other
clubs have only one
or two pitches on
their grounds, so
we’re very well off
with four!
We also have a
new hurling wall for
practice sessions,
and two tennis
courts as well, for
those who fancy a
different type of ball
game from time to
time.
Mind you, all those
facilities are needed, as we field so
many teams at so
many levels. In hurling, football, and
camogie, we have
players from age six
all the way up
to...well, old enough
to know better!...and
matches are played
at age groups from
under-8 all the way
up to adult level,
where we have three
hurling teams, two
football teams, and
two camogie teams.
New members are
always welcome,
and all you have to
do to get involved is
contact one of the
officials whose
names and numbers
are listed on the
front page of this
newsletter. We look
forward to seeing
you!
HERE in Ferns St. Aidans, we’ve
always been proud of the level of
coaching we offer to young players,
thanks to the expertise and commitment of all our team managers and
selectors.
Between them, they bring a wealth
of knowledge and enthusiasm gained
over many years on the playing fields
of Wexford and further afield. We’re
grateful for the time they put in and
all the work they do, and look forward to another playing season where
hopefully all those eforts will translate into success.
Even the best teams in the world in
any sport benefit from some extra
help from time to time though, and so
this year we’re pleased to announce
that we will be taking part in a new
hurling development initiative, called
‘Prioritising Hurling 2011’, which
will see some of Wexford’s greatestever players sharing their knowledge
of the game with us.
Goalkeeping great Damien Fitzhenry and midfield maestro George
O’Connor are two of the top names
involved. Damien will be running a
goalkeeping clinic for all netminders and potential netminders! - from
Ferns and the other clubs taking part
in the initiative, while George is one
of the full-time coaches charged with
ensuring the smooth running of the
project. Others include Jimmy Furlong, Joe Kearns, Luke O’Hanlon
n Wexford greats Damien Fitzhenry and George O’Connor are two of the
coaches involved in a new hurling development initiative in which Ferns
St. Aidans will be taking part.
and Kevin Kennedy.
The project will also see coaching
for our managers and selectors, as
they will attend three different sessions to further develop their skills in
teaching hurling to players of all ages.
Registration nights
in the
REGISTRATION nights for underage players will be held
4,
clubhouse on both Friday Februar y 25 and Friday March
beginning at 7.30 p.m. on each of those dates.
, must
All returning and new players, as well as their parents
nity
register on one of those nights. They can take the opportu
to
to talk to team managers and selectors, who will be happy
answer any questions talk about their plans for the year.
attend
Our new coaching co-ordinator, Charlie Walsh, will also
to give any further details you might like on the new ‘Prioritis
too.
ing Hurling’ initiative and on other aspects of club activity
e
Remember that our family membership fee covers all underag
ship
players in that family. For other young players, the member
r all the
fee is just €20 for the year - great value when you conside
s.
enjoyment you get, or compare it to the cost of other activitie
We look forward to welcoming everyone on board!
The first session will concentrate on
the skills to be taught to players from
six to eight years old, who are just
starting to hurl; the second will focus
on skill drills and ‘Go’ games for
players aged between nine and
twelve, and the
final one will be on
more complex skills
and the finer points
of the game for
players aged fourteen and over.
A number of new
competitions will be
arranged as part of
the project. The first
of these is an indoor
under-14 nine-a-side
tournament.
Ferns have been
grouped with other
teams from the Gorey
District to play their
games in the impressive
arena at the Castletown/Liam Mellows
grounds, with the first three games (one
each Saturday) being against Ballygarrett, Ballyfad, and Craanford, before
fixtures for the remaining two games
against Liam Mellows and St. Patrick’s
are finalised.
All involved are looking forward to
taking part in the new initiative,
which has the potential to bring great
benefits not just to our club, but also
to Wexford hurling in general. And
we hope too to have another special
guest or two lined up for later in the
year, so watch this space. So overall,
the message is clear - come join our
club, and learn from some of the very
best!
Lotto Results
Tuesday January 25
Club
Shorts
n Training for senior
and junior hurlers is
taking place each
Tuesday and Friday
night - check with
team management
for details each
week. Meanwhile,
camogie training
began on Tuesday
night this week for
senior, junior and
minor teams, and is
to continue each
Tuesday unless otherwise advised by
management.
n A benefit night in
aid of club member
Pa Byrne and his
family is being
arranged by Joe
Davitt for The
Courtyard on Friday
March 4. We ask all
our members and
followers to please
support this event.
n Membership fees
are now due and
can be paid in the
usual way. We ask
all players to please
attend to this
promptly as they
are not insured to
play if fees are not
paid.
n Future issues of
this newsletter can
be sent by e-mail as
pdf files. Anyone
who would like to
be on the mailing
list can e-mail
[email protected]
with the word
‘subscribe’ in the
subject line.
6
9 17 28
No jackpot winner.
Lucky dip winners: Barbara Burke, Angela Swaine,
Tony Morris, Michael O’Neill.
Tuesday February 8
7
8 25 27
No jackpot winner.
Lucky dip winners: Mark White, R. Reddy, Liam Byrne,
Sinead Dwyer.
n Our lotto draw is run in association with Kilrush/
Askamore GAA club. It takes place every second
Tuesday night, and tickets are widely available at just
€2 each from club members as well as local shops
and pubs. The next draw for a jackpot of €7,500 will
take place in Colemans of Tombrack on February 22.
NEXT
BIG
THING
THE NEXT BIG date in the
club comes this Saturday
night, February 12, when
the camogie crew hold a
celebratory Supper Dance
in The Courtyard.
Player of the Past
Name: Tom Guinan
Nickname: I was one
of the few Ferns men
not to have one!
Best Memory: Beating
Enniscorty St Aidans
in the Echo Shield
Final in 1961.
Any regrets? Not really. I would have liked
to have played more
for Wexford, but I was
up against the likes of
Jim English and the
Rackard brothers, so
it was hard to get in
ahead of them!
Position you played:
Usually wing back.
Sometimes midfield.
When you played? I
hurled a juvenile final
in 1955 and kept
going until 1983, when
I was 43 years of age.
Best friend made
through GAA: Seamie
Murphy was a true
gentleman and I’m
Medals will be presented
to last year’s County Senior
‘B’ Champions, and there
might - just might - be
another mention too of how
Josie Dwyer and Caroline
n Tom Guinan
proud to have both
played with him and
been his friend.
Did you ever pull a
dirty stroke or two? I
wasn’t known for that
sort thing!
Advice for young players? Always keep your
discipline, keep practicing, and listen to
your managers all the
time.
Murphy helped Wexford to
win the Senior All-Ireland
title.
It promises to be a great
night, and admission is just
€15. Don’t miss it!
There are official Facebook
pages for both the GAA and
camogie wings of our club - just
do a search on your home page
for ‘Ferns GAA’ and ‘Ferns
Camogie’ and join our growing
number of online followers!
Thanks to our sponsors for their ongoing support
Glen Fuel
Services
Newsletter is kindly sponsored by Omnipro