Secretary's Address to Club AGM - 27 November 2022
2022 was a year where things, thankfully, returned to normality. After 2 years of working with Covid-19 restrictions, 2022 had us return to a full set of fixtures at senior & underage levels in all codes and was busier than ever both on and off the field.
First and foremost thanks must go to all our managers, coaches and all who help out with teams. It goes without saying that,without the dedication and commitment from all our coaches and mentors, across all codes, that we would not be able to facilitate the high number of players we have coming through the gates on a daily basis. The coach's eagerness to develop themselves allows them to be the best possible coach and in turn, develop all our players in football and hurling.
Thanks must go to all sponsors who so generously give sponsorship throughout the year. This is very much appreciated by the club, the team management and the players.
The lotto continues to be a much-needed weekly source of income and thank you to those who cover slots at Centra every Saturday and also to the lotto committee of Catherine Mc Kee, Gerard Ferguson & John Magee who oversee the draw every Sunday evening. I urge all members to support the AodhRuadh lotto where possible.
Early 2022 seen the start of the redevelopment of Fr Tierney Park and credit must go to the Park Committee on the massive amount of work done there throughout the year. Thank you to Tom, David & Michael on the efforts put in to assure all teams were facilitated with trainings and more importantly games. It is important that going into the 2023 season, teams who use other facilities in the winter months, hold on to these facilities for as long as possible before pitch training commences.
Thank you to Peter & Johnny for their continued work in getting grounds and pitches match ready. And thanks to everyone who helps out on match days from operating the gate, covering the shop and helping out with the refreshments, it is very much appreciated.
As you will see from John's report, the numbers on our social media platforms are increasing steadily. This is largely due to the huge amount of work John puts into these streams to allow our followers and members access to club information. Thank you to John for his continued work on all this and also for his work on the very thorough weekly club notes. Thank you also to Brian Drummond for capturing all the teams in action throughout the year.
Thank you to all who represented AodhRuadh at Scor this year and congratulations to the quiz team on winning the County Final!
Bord nanOg - Again 2022 seen huge numbers at all the lower age groups of Bord nanOg. Unfortunately numbers still tend to be low at U17 level and thanks must go to the eligible U15 players who togged out enabling us to field at u17 level. Thank you to Packie and Brian for all their work with the Academy and as coaching officers. It was great to see the S&C programme being introduced last year and has just started again for the 2023 season. Thank you to Eamonn & Eddie for their time on this programme. After 8 years, I finally decided it was time to step down from Bord nanOg and as I said at the Bord nanOg AGM, I thoroughly enjoyed my years involved and now I wish Michael Mc Grath the very best of luck on the role as Chairperson.
Juvenile Hurling - Congratulations on a very successful year across a number of age groups. I personally think it's a shame that John has decided to step down as Chairperson, but I wish him the very best and thank him for working along side me as club secretary and as part of Bord nanOg throughout his 2 years. We may not have always agreed on things, but we always were able to work together to solve any issues that arose.
Senior Hurling - This was a full-on year for games at Senior Hurling level and it was done with the commitment of a very small group of players and the hard work of John Rooney. John has decided to take some time out of managing and I wish him all the best with everything going forward. And I would like to thank John for his time, effort and dedication to the senior hurling panel over the last number of years.
Ladies - It is great to see the ever-growing numbers at all the underage girls teams, with some age groups being able to field 2 teams. Again this is a detriment to the work being put in by the ladies committee and all the ladies' managers and coaches. I do think 2022 definitely belonged to the senior ladies. It was a year where, again, 2 senior teams were able to field, and this is a huge achievement for our club. Congratulations to both teams on reaching their respective County finals and to the Intermediate team on winning. It was a great to see an U21 competition being introduced to the ladies calendar and hard luck to these girls on losing out to St Eunan's in the semi-final.
Senior Development Football -Myself, William and Sabrina had many discussions about trying to change up the set up of reserve football as it didn't seem to working to the best possible way it potentially could. We brought in Matthew Neeson but unfortunately Matthew was then called to go to Lebanon, but I want to thank him for the commitment he had put in before he went overseas. Brian then stepped up and took on the managing of the team and thanks to him for all his hard work throughout the season. It was great to see big numbers at training sessions and numbers being available for all games.
Senior Football - Thank you to John, Aran and all involved with the senior football team. It was a great year for senior football, and I can only hope that this will progress in the 2023 season.
Health & Wellbeing -There has been huge steps taken within the club from a Health & Wellbeing perspective and Maura has put in a huge effort to ensure we are part of the healthy Club Initiative so thank you to her and her team for all the work
Children's Officer - As Paul has made the decision to step down as Children's Officer this year, I want to take this opportunity to thank him for all his help over the last few years and I hope that he stays involved in other aspects of the club.
I am really looking forward to 2023 and what it will have in store for us as a club and especially looking forward to the re-opening of Fr Tierney Park.
I want to finish my report by saying a special thank you to William & Sabrina. They may both drive me crazy at times but I would not be able to do carry out my role without either of them and it is a pleasure to work alongside you both.
Le meas,
Lisa Nic Thiarnán
Runaí
Last modified: Monday, 28 November 2022 at 9:28pm