Club Notes Archive - 2021

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March

2 March

Garda vetting reminder
Our Children's Officer, Paul Tuohy, reminds all club members involved with the club's teams in any capacity that they must complete their Garda Vetting as soon as possible in order to be permitted to undertake their role in 2021. The vetting system has now gone online and is more streamlined. It can be accessed at gaa.flowforma.com. Two forms of identification are requested during the vetting process. People can either scan and upload direct their documentation directly or they can take a picture on their phone and send this to Paul Tuohy or Lisa McTernan, who will then process this as appropriate. If you have any other issues or would like assistance, please contact an executive member of your relevant sub-committee.

Ballyshannon Bingo
We had another brilliant evening of bingo last Friday. It was great to have people together to enjoy a bit of community craic, even if it was only virtually. Congratulations to our house winners on the night Sheila Killalea, Karen Gallagher, Amber Sheerin, Carrie O'Brien, Brian McGuinness, Kathleen Haran, John McGreevy, Maria Neilan, Letitia Doherty, Glen Matthews, Eleanor Rooney, Marie Granaghan, and Sonia Kelly. Our €500 snowball survived and will rise to €550 next week. Our prize pot will now be over the €2,000 mark for this Friday's session.
Once again this week's session will be staged via Zoom. If you haven't already played, you can find full details on the Ballyshannon Bingo Facebook page. Books are available to buy on our Klubfunder.com page right now. Remember, if you don't have access to a printer, Mary in A Novel Idea will be happy to print your book for a small fee.
Click this link to buy a SINGLE BOOK for €10.
Click this link to buy a DOUBLE BOOK for €15.
In other news, we have spoken with our bingo platform providers and we have overhauled the delivery schedule for Ballyshannon Bingo books. They will be now be delivered in line with the following schedule:

All books bought before 3pm Wednesday will be emailed early on Thursday morning.
All books then bought up to 3pm Thursday will be emailed early Friday morning.
All books bought before noon on Friday will be emailed after lunch.
Remaining books sales by 3.30pm will be emailed by 6pm on Friday evening.

It is very important players enter the email address they need the book to be sent to. Late changes are problematic and we cannot guarantee they will be facilitated. Look forward to seeing you all again this Friday evening!

Give the ladies a lift with your Lidl shop
There has been a great response to the Lidl club rebate initiative which offers clubs the opportunity to raise up to €20,000 by using the Lidl Plus app. Huge thanks to everyone who has supported us with their shop so far. If you haven't already signed up, it works like this. You download the app on to your mobile phone, follow the prompts, and then select the club you want to support - in our case Aodh Ruadh Atha Seannaigh. Then whenever you spend over €30 in store and scan your Lidl Plus card you earn a stamp. Spend over €60 you earn two stamps, and so on. Collect six stamps and submit your completed stamp card by Sunday, April 11th. Users can submit multiple completed stamp cards.

Condolences
Aodh Ruadh extends sincere sympathies on the passing of Jimmy O'Donnell last Monday to the whole O'Donnell clan, their extended family and friends. The club also extends sincere sympathies to the Daly family on the peaceful passing last Saturday of Eddie Daly. Our thoughts are with Wife Evelyn, Son Dennis, Daughter, Michelle, Grandchildren Kieran, Roisin and Pauric, Brother Fred, all the extended family and their friends. Our thoughts are with all the bereaved at this sad time. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

Foras na Gaeilge grants
Foras na Gaeilge is providing funding for appropriate Summer Camps through Irish for young people (3 to 18 years of age). These camps will aim to strengthen the Irish language through a mix of activities, they will be non-residential, will last five days run for at least four and a half hours each day. This is a non-profit scheme to keep the camp fees low for the young people. Foras na Gaeilge recommends applicants to seek joint funding for projects, when appropriate, and to co-operate with other organisations in order to achieve the best value from the Foras na Gaeilge grant. The deadline for applications is Friday 5th March at 5pm. For more information visit forasnagaeilge.ie.

Be Ready to Play Programme
The GAA announced the launch of their Be Ready to Play Programme last week. Following on from this the GAA are running a live launch webinar tomorrow, Tuesday, at 7pm via Microsoft Teams. Speakers for the launch will include Shane Flanagan, the GAA's Director of Coaching and Games, Aoife Lane, Chair of the Gaelic Games Sports Science Workgroup and Head of Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Athone IT, and Des Ryan, Lead of the Gaelic Games Athletic Development Workgroup and Head of Sports Medicine and Athletic Development, Arsenal FC. Registration for the programme begins through the GAA eLearning site at learning.gaa.ie on Wednesday March 3rd.
The GAA Be Ready to Play Programme is a Coaching and Sports Science programme which will be delivered via webinars, online training programmes, instructional videos and live sessions. This is a holistic programme supporting male and female, youth and adult players, and coaches during their return to training post Covid and building up to playing games again, therefore encompassing the full playing season. The aim is to educate coaches and players by providing an evidence-based programme. This will hopefully result in increased enjoyment, performance, participation and reduced injury risk.
The Programme will include the following features: Athletic development programmes updated fortnightly through the GAA website; Instructional video and live sessions in collaboration with Setanta College; Monthly focussed coach education webinars by Gaelic games coaching specialists and guests; Monthly Sports Science support webinars, with all sports science disciplines covered. The goal is to sign up as many Gaelic Games coaches and players as possible and support return to play while providing a lasting educational and support resource for Gaelic games.

National Club Draw
All who have tickets sold for the National Club Draw are asked to return their ticket stubs and fees at their earliest convenience. Returns should be made directly to Tom Daly, David McLoone or Michael Daly. As we are reaching a vital stage in the process to renovate the Father Tierney Park playing surface those with remaining tickets to sell are asked to redouble their efforts over the next few weeks. Many thanks to those who have already made their returns.
The National Prize fund is underwritten by the GAA at National level, with an impressive array of prizes including a car and All-Ireland Final packages. Our Park Development Committee have put together an attractive array of prizes for a Local Draw which is also included in the €10 ticket price, with a further chance to win a cash prize in a draw at County Board level. All of these local prizes have been generously sponsored by supporters of the Father Tierney Park project from our area. Please support those who support us. Because the prizes are fully underwritten all income from the draw stays locally and helps to build the match-funding required to draw down the €100,000 grant aid already sourced by our Park / Development Committee.
We are really asking everyone in the club to 'up the ante' on this over the coming weeks, to make their returns quickly and if you haven't got a book to sell yet, contact any of the three organisers mentioned above. For those not living locally, a call or e-mail to any one of the organisers or a purchase online via our Klubfunder page is an option. Now is the time to put your shoulder to the wheel so that this ambitious project, with all that it offers for the future of our players and our games is delivered with works commencing in 2021.

Auto renew your Lotto
The online lotto has been a real lifeline for the club over the past year, and we are very grateful to all our online players. We are pleased to announce that our online lotto providers, Klubfunder.com, have now enhanced their service to allow auto renewal of lotto subscription. This means, when you pay using Stripe you will get the option to play the same line every week until you decide to stop. This will save time and effort for many of our online lotto players who play faithfully every week. Why not head along to our page on Klubfunder.com if you'd like to sign up for the auto-renew option?

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9 March

Avail of reduced membership fees
It's that time of year when our club membership deadline of 31st March looms large. The club has decided this year in consideration of the impact of Coronavirus on the 2020 playing season, as a once-off, we will be giving a reduction on memberships paid between now and 31st March. Details of the amended membership fees are as follows:

Members born from 2009 to 2021 inclusive - €10.
Members born from 2003 to 2008 inclusive - €20.
Senior playing Adults - €50.
Non-playing Adult members - €35.
Family memberships (including all children under 18) - €100.

The GAA has given clubs rebates on last year's fees and Aodh Ruadh have decided to pass on this rebate to all our club members. This is in appreciation of your continued support for the club and all the fund-raising activities undertaken to date and into the future. The reduction is available on all memberships paid prior to the 31st March 2021 deadline. Membership can be paid online at our Klubfunder page. Members who have already paid their 2021 membership will be contacted to arrange a refund of excess monies paid.

Alert to local parents
The attention of parents locally is drawn to the latest in a series of anti-social incidents at Father Tierney Park. On Friday last the grounds, which are fully secured and locked to comply with Covid restrictions, were entered before tea-time by a group of young people and property damaged. Our club volunteers responded and re-secured the grounds. Later that night there was a further incident, when large amounts of alcohol were consumed, leaving extensive littering including broken glass. Again, club volunteers spent Monday cleaning up the mess and repairing the damage. We are highlighting this issue out of concern for the health, safety and welfare of the young people involved. We can repair broken doors and lift broken glass. We invest a lot of time, effort, and resources to promote the personal development and good health of young people in our area. At family level it would be helpful if it was ascertained who was involved in Friday night's misbehaviour. Our concerns have been brought to the attention of the Gardai locally.

Ballyshannon Bingo
We were delighted to have an amazing 28 winners at last Friday's bingo. We are also thrilled with the positive reports coming back about how much people are enjoying the online bingo. It makes all the work which goes on in the background worthwhile. Congratulations to our house winners on the night Sonia Kelly, Frances Daly, Mark McHugh, Danielle Dunleavy, Patricia Mealiffe, Aaron Cullen, Josephine McDonagh, Jean Sheerin, Siobhan Friel and Lorraine Kane. Our €550 snowball survived and rises now to €600, helping bring our prize pot over the €2,000 mark. This Friday we will be back broadcasting to the world from Bingo HQ via Zoom. If you haven't already played, you can find full details on the Ballyshannon Bingo Facebook page. Books are available to buy on our Klubfunder.com page right now. Remember, if you don't have access to a printer, Mary in A Novel Idea will be happy to print your book for a small fee.
Click this link to buy a SINGLE BOOK for €10.
Click this link to buy a DOUBLE BOOK for €15.
A reminder of the overhauled the delivery schedule for Ballyshannon Bingo books. They will be now be delivered in line with the following schedule:

All books bought before 3pm Wednesday will be emailed early on Thursday morning.
All books then bought up to 3pm Thursday will be emailed early Friday morning.
All books bought before noon on Friday will be emailed after lunch.
Remaining books sales by 3.30pm will be emailed by 6pm on Friday evening.

Time to return your National Club Draw Tickets
The Officers of our Park / Development Committee are in negotiation to finalise contract arrangements for the construction of a new sand-based playing field at Father Tierney Park. We are making a direct appeal to those holding national draw tickets to intensify their selling effort and to return as many sold tickets as possible over this weekend to David McLoone, Tom Daly or Michael Daly. Text any of these organisers if you want to leave your returns for them to pick up. For those not living locally, a call or e-mail to any one of the organisers or a purchase online via our Klubfunder page is an option. Alongside the very substantial grant-aid secured for this project, there is a significant funding gap which we are trying to narrow. The success of this fund-raising effort is down to what club members and players do for this project, at an individual level. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole! Please redouble your efforts over the coming week or so. Thanks to those who have helped so far.

Covid Restrictions
The only activity permitted at either Father Tierney Park or Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh during the current Level 5 restrictions is the use of the Fitness Trail and Walkway at Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh. There is no exception to this restriction for anyone. All of the playing fields are out of bounds in line with National GAA protocols. We look forward to the day, hopefully in the foreseeable future, when these restrictions will no longer apply. In the meantime, the rules apply without fear or favour to everyone.

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16 March

Poker night
Aodh Ruadh Bord na nÓg are hosting an Online Texas Hold 'em Poker Night on Saturday March 27th at 8pm powered by Pokerstars. Entry is €30, with €20 buy backs on the night. Book your seat on our Klubfunder.com page.

Avail of reduced membership fees
Our club membership deadline of 31st March isn't far off. The club has decided this year in consideration of the impact of Coronavirus on the 2020 playing season, as a once-off, we will be giving a reduction on memberships paid between now and 31st March. Details of the amended membership fees are as follows:

Members born from 2009 to 2021 inclusive - €10.
Members born from 2003 to 2008 inclusive - €20.
Senior playing Adults - €50.
Non-playing Adult members - €35.
Family memberships (including all children under 18) - €100.

Ballyshannon Bingo
What a night of bingo we had last Friday! We doled out €2,100 in prizes to a total of 35 winners. Congratulations to our house winners on the night Kathleen McCormack, Aileen McLoughlin, Elaine Byrne, Kathleen Fallon, Sharyn Joyce, Maureen Regan, Andrea Whelan, Roisin Campbell, Nicole Brennan, Geraldine Gallagher, Mariea Ward, Phyllis Crowe, Barry Campbell, Jack Timoney, Helen Coughlin and Shane Brennan. Our €600 snowball survived and rises now to €650, helping bring our prize pot over the €2,100 mark. This Friday we will be back broadcasting to the world from Bingo HQ via Zoom. If you haven't already played, you can find full details on the Ballyshannon Bingo Facebook page. Books are available to buy on our Klubfunder.com page right now. Remember, if you don't have access to a printer, Mary in A Novel Idea will be happy to print your book for a small fee.
Click this link to buy a SINGLE BOOK for €10.
Click this link to buy a DOUBLE BOOK for €15.
A reminder of the overhauled the delivery schedule for Ballyshannon Bingo books. They will be now be delivered in line with the following schedule:

All books bought before 3pm Wednesday will be emailed early on Thursday morning.
All books then bought up to 3pm Thursday will be emailed early Friday morning.
All books bought before noon on Friday will be emailed after lunch.
Remaining books sales by 3.30pm will be emailed by 6pm on Friday evening.

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23 March

Poker night
There's a great buzz ahead of the Aodh Ruadh Bord na nÓg Online Texas Hold 'em Poker Night this Saturday. The online gameplay is powered by Pokerstars and after the great craic we had at the dry run last weekend we're mega excited ahead of the real deal this Saturday. Entry is €30, with the action getting under way at 8pm. Book your seat on our Klubfunder.com page.

Avail of reduced membership fees
Our club membership deadline of 31st March is closing in. The club has decided this year in consideration of the impact of Coronavirus on the 2020 playing season, as a once-off, we will be giving a reduction on memberships paid between now and 31st March. Details of the amended membership fees are as follows:

Members born from 2009 to 2021 inclusive - €10.
Members born from 2003 to 2008 inclusive - €20.
Senior playing Adults - €50.
Non-playing Adult members - €35.
Family memberships (including all children under 18) - €100.

Monthly club meeting
The monthly Aodh Ruadh club executive meeting will take place, via Zoom, this Thursday at 9pm. To receive the link for the meeting, please text Lisa on 085-1061456. Any apologies or AOB should be sent to Lisa by 3pm this Wednesday.

Condolences
It was with great sorrow that we learned of the passing of Club Vice President Alan Kane in the early hours of last Tuesday, just a few months shy of his 76th birthday. An authentic legend not only of Aodh Ruadh, but Donegal football, his passing will be felt right across the county and beyond. After making his Ulster championship debut against Antrim in 1970, he was between the posts as Donegal brought home our first ever Anglo Celt cup in 1972 and played a major role in securing our second Ulster triumph in 1974. He had a glittering club career, most notably with the all-conquering Ballyshannon / Bundoran combination of St Joseph's. He resurrected camogie in Aodh Ruadh in the 1980s, enjoying great success. Then in 1992 he was one of the founding members of Ladies football in the club and was part of the management team as we won our only senior ladies county title in 1995. He was inducted into the Aodh Ruadh Hall of Fame in 2002. Our thoughts are with Wife Patricia, Daughters Fiona, Frances and Grainne, Son, Pauric, Brothers Teddy and Jim, the wider family and their all friends. Thank you to all who turned out for our guards of honour on Thursday.
We also extend our condolences to the family of Hugh John McGonigle on his passing last week. Hugh John would have lined out for Aodh Ruadh in the 1950s. Our sincere sympathies go to his wife Marie, sons and daughters, Michelle, Hugh John Jr, Michael, Declan, Karl and Diane; his sister Mary, and to his many relatives and friends. May he rest in peace.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

Card payments
The club are delighted to announce we now have a facility to accept debit and credit card payments. This means you will now be able to pay for your lotto and club membership by card at the lotto stand outside Centra on Saturdays. It's a timely addition with club membership available now at specially reduced rates up until 31st March.

Ballyshannon Bingo
We had another smashing night of bingo on Friday with €2,100 in prizes scooped up. Congratulations to our house winners on the night: Emma Knott, Maureen Regan, Sharyn Joyce, Donna Canavan, Phyllis Crowe, Katie McLoughlin, Nicole Brennan, Rosaleen O'Brien, Ellen McGloin and Joyce Proudfoot. Our €650 snowball survived and rises now to €700, helping bring our prize pot over the €2,100 mark. This Friday we will be back broadcasting to the world from Bingo HQ via Zoom. If you haven't already played, you can find full details on the Ballyshannon Bingo Facebook page. Books are available to buy on our Klubfunder.com page right now. Remember, if you don't have access to a printer, Mary in A Novel Idea will be happy to print your book for a small fee.
Click this link to buy a SINGLE BOOK for €10.
Click this link to buy a DOUBLE BOOK for €15.
A reminder of the overhauled the delivery schedule for Ballyshannon Bingo books. They will be now be delivered in line with the following schedule:

All books bought before 3pm Wednesday will be emailed early on Thursday morning.
All books then bought up to 3pm Thursday will be emailed early Friday morning.
All books bought before noon on Friday will be emailed after lunch.
Remaining books sales by 3.30pm will be emailed by 6pm on Friday evening.

Best wishes
Best of luck to Niall McCready and Aidan Murray who were recently named in the Naomh Bríd management team.

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30 March

Last chance to avail of reduced membership fees
There are only a few hours left until the club membership deadline of 31st March closes. This means time is running out to avail of our reduced memberships rates for 2021. Details of the discounted fees are as follows:

Members born from 2009 to 2021 inclusive - €10.
Members born from 2003 to 2008 inclusive - €20.
Senior playing Adults - €50.
Non-playing Adult members - €35.
Family memberships (including all children under 18) - €100.

Membership can be paid online at our Klubfunder page, or at our club lotto stand outside Centra each Saturday.

Ballyshannon Bingo
What a great night of bingo we had last Friday with 27 different winners and €2,100 going home in prizes. Congratulations to our house winners on the night: Eva O'Shea, Enya Kilfeather, Helen Coughlin, Noreen Cullen, Bridie McGauran, Christine Bustard, Vanessa Brennan, Linda Breen, Ann Gallagher and Kayleigh Heanue. This Friday we are running a special Easter Bunny Bingo with a bumper prize fund of €3,750 up for grabs with 30 chances to win! We will have a €1,000 jackpot and €500 mini-jackpot which must go on the night. On top of that our €700 snowball survived last week and rises now to €750. Once again we will be back broadcasting to the world from Bingo HQ via Zoom. If you haven't already played, you can find full details on the Ballyshannon Bingo Facebook page. Books are available to buy on our Klubfunder.com page right now. Remember, if you don't have access to a printer, Mary in A Novel Idea will be happy to print your book for a small fee.
Click this link to buy a SINGLE BOOK for €10.
Click this link to buy a DOUBLE BOOK for €15.
A reminder of the overhauled the delivery schedule for Ballyshannon Bingo books. They will be now be delivered in line with the following schedule:

All books bought before 3pm Wednesday will be emailed early on Thursday morning.
All books then bought up to 3pm Thursday will be emailed early Friday morning.
All books bought before noon on Friday will be emailed after lunch.
Remaining books sales by 3.30pm will be emailed by 6pm on Friday evening.

Juvenile Hurling
Calling all under 5s, under 7s and under 9s! In preparation for a return to training hopefully sooner rather than later, can any parents of children interested in taking part in underage hurling for the coming year contact John Larkin on 086-1076883 or Denis Daly on 086-3269550. Children born in the years 2016 and after will be under 5, under 7s are born 2015 and 2014, and under 9s are born 2012 and 2013.

Our under 11 squad has had small numbers over the last couple of years, but it is an age group we are keen to see up and running again. Can any parents of players who have played in the past born in 2011 or 2010 please contact John Larkin on 086-1076883. Any other players who have not played in the past are also very welcome to join.

With no national league fixtures we were unable to run our annual Last Person Standing fund-raiser this year. The Juvenile Hurling committee will now be using our annual Cash for Clothes appeal as our main fund-raiser for 2021. We would really appreciate it if anyone doing a bit of spring cleaning of their wardrobes, could keep aside any clothes, shoes, bags, belts, etc. you are clearing until we are in a position to run a drop off day. Thanks!

Upcoming coaching courses
Donegal Coaching are running workshop webinars for coaches over the next few weeks. The goal of these webinars is to provide coach education support to coaches for planning their sessions when they return to on-field activity, both football and hurling. The webinars commence this Thursday, 1st April, at 8pm via Microsoft Teams. The focus of week one is under 7 and under 9 coaches and includes:

FUNdamental movement skills
Coaching session framework for future sessions
Sample sessions for coaches to take home and use

Registration for week one is open now.

The week two webinar will switch focus to under 11 and under 13 squads with the programme wrapping up in week three with the spotlight on under 15s and under 17s. Registration links for those events will be posted in due course.

Preparing for a return to play
We are hampered by the non-availability of our team of workers at our grounds due to Covid restrictions. Nonetheless, a small number of volunteers are looking after some essential works to ensure we are ready to go when the anticipated easing of restrictions on coaching and training activities are announced. We will know more after the planned Government announcement on April 5th, which will be followed by a GAA statement of what can happen when. In the meantime, and in the context of providing fair access to our facilities for all codes and age groups, our Park / Development Committee are looking at what an overall programme of coaching and training for all teams and codes will look like and will be in touch with the various units in the club as this work is progressed. This will require further review and change when competition fixtures are made later on and also to take account of major planned development works at our grounds when restrictions on construction are lifted.

National Club Draw tickets on sale in Straddle
National and Local Draw tickets will be on sale this Saturday at Straddle Filling Station and Shop, Clyhore. All proceeds are retained in the club area to assist with the new sand-based playing field which will be constructed at Father Tierney Park this year. Tickets are €10 each. The great support for the project from the public in that general area is greatly appreciated.

Return of National Club Draw Tickets - Urgent
We will confirm an early April date for the local element of the National Draw, with all proceeds earmarked as partial funding for the construction of the new playing surface at Father Tierney Park. All players, club members and supporters who have a book or two of tickets still to sell or return are asked to get them back to the organisers - Tom Daly, David McLoone and Michael Daly by this Friday if at all possible. There is a sizeable job yet to be done to enter all purchasers into the draw database. If you wish to have your tickets collected from you or from one of the local shops let any of the organisers know by text and they will look after it. Remember, you can still make a purchase online via our Klubfunder page

'All in' for Bord na nÓg
Saturday night saw Aodh Ruadh played host to it's first virtual cards night. Over 50 players enjoyed a night of Texas Hold 'Em and social banter on Zoom. Packie McGrath talked up his chances of claiming victory pre-flop, but on the night he was a flop and one of the first fallers. There is great interest in running this virtual social night again, with a provisional date of Saturday 24th April pencilled in. Thanks to all who took part and made Saturday night such great fun.

Aodh Ruadh Walkway and Fitness Trail
This is the only facility we were permitted to keep open during the current Covid lockdown. We have received terrific positive feedback from the many people in our community who are using it on a daily basis now. Many were unaware of its existence until they sought out new exercise options which conform with the 5k travel restriction. We would like everyone in our club area to know that they are very welcome to use the facility. There are three simple things only that we ask of users; Always go to the right when you enter the walkway; Observe the protocols on hand sanitising and keeping your distance; And leave your dog at home! We really must insist on the latter and all users are asked to observe this rule.

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