Annual Dr Croke’s tournament in honour of Cooper will give youth a chance to shine
ASK any GAA star in Ireland and they’ll instantly tell you the best place to be honoured is where it all started: the club. With this in mind, everything is now in place for the Dr Crokes’ U13 Invitational Tournament on Saturday, September 23 - a tournament named in honour of club and county star, Colm Cooper.
“I really enjoy these games as the players are very honest and the skill levels seem to improve every year,” said Colm Cooper.
This will be the sixth staging of the ‘Colm Cooper Invitational Tournament’ and it takes place at club grounds in Lewis Road. It also gives the club an opportunity to honour Colm – one of Kerry’s greatest ever footballers – and also an opportunity for U13 players to come from Galway, Cork, Dublin, Meath, Down, and Scotland to compete in a top class tournament.
Teams are divided into groups from which qualification for the cup and plate finals will be determined. “Apart from being a memorable occasion for the young players, it is also a wonderful day for the club to honour Colm and his family,” said Chairman of the organising committee, John O’ Shea.
Teams competing this year will come from places like Skerries Harps, Dublin (holders); Wolfe Tones, Clare; Bantry Blues, Cork; St Colmcilles, Meath; St. James, Galway; Kilmurry/Ibrickane, Clare, and St Finbarr’s from Cork.
Games will commence at 11:40am and the tournament is scheduled to be completed by 6:30pm. The organising committee are looking forward to another successful tournament and issue an open invitation to the public to come see the players of the future.
The tournament trophies and medals have been kindly sponsored by the Coffey family in memory of the late Denis Coffey a former player and officer with the Dr Crokes Club.