Daly and Lynch the standard bearers for Kerry handball in 2004
MARIA Daly from Ballymacelligott and Dominic Lynch from Glenbeigh were the standard-bearers for handball in Kerry during 2004. That was one of the items discussed at the 2004 Annual General Meeting of Kerry Handball.
In a comprehensive report, delegates were told that every organisation has to plan, not only for the present, but for the future if it wants to survive and prosper.
As in every sport, only a handful of players reach the top and, in Kerry, Dominic Lynch and Maria Daly are the brilliant standard-bearers. These are the players who set the standards and the juvenile players want to emulate.
Those youngsters have a long road ahead of them but they can achieve success through their own dedication and with proper support structures in place at various levels including family, friends, club and county.
“In Kerry, we are lucky to have one of the most forward-looking and able officials in the country in Maureen O’Shea, who has put in a massive amount of work down through the years in promoting handball at all levels. This year, Maureen, along with Noel O’Connell and Tom Daly, have transformed the face of handball within the county,” the AGM heard.
The AGM was told that Ollie Cassidy was now a fulltime coach, a first for the country. Maureen O’Shea, Ollie Cassidy and Eamonn Moriarty put together a coaching manual for use in Primary Schools during the year. A very professional job was done on this manual, which is a must for beginners and for those promoting the game in schools and clubs.
“Eamonn Moriarty did a huge amount of background work on the production and technical side of things and it is a tribute to him and the others that the Irish Handball Council decided to print 5,000 copies of the manual.”
Over the year, there were a number of development/promotional days, coaching seminars and schools of excellence held in different clubs.
Coaching: Walter O’Connor ran a weekend coaching session in February for the 40x20 County juvenile players.
Promotion/Development: Two promotional/development days were held in Tralee and Brandon early in the year with 80 juveniles taking part. The aim of these was to increase the number of clubs and to improve the skill level at all ages.
School Of Excellence: The first school of excellence took place over the October Bank Holiday weekend in the 40x20 court. This was for all players who had relatively good handball skills and 30 took part. Each player was assessed and given a sheet with “things to do.”
Handball Summer Camps: Over 60 players took part in three camps in Ballymacelligott, Gaeltacht and Cloghane and these were a great success.
Overall, very good foundations are being laid at juvenile level through coaching and development.
Ladies Championships
Maria Daly (Ballymacelligott) capped a memorable year winning two titles at the USHA Championships in Des Moines over the Christmas period. She has swept all before her this year, to finish her involvement at juvenile/junior level.
From 2005 onwards, she will play all her handball at senior/adult level. Maria is the first ever female player from the County to achieve senior status. She has just turned 19 years of age and has already won the All-Ireland Ladies Senior Singles 40x20 title, the first lady from the county to do so. Indeed, it was the first time that any player from Kerry, male or female, won an All-Ireland Senior Singles 40x20 title.
Sean Walsh, Chairman of the Kerry GAA County Committee, presented her with her medal at a presentation night in the Ballymacelligott Handball Club, and she was also honoured at the Kerry GAA Presentation Night in the Gleneagle Hotel.
During 2004 Maria Daly also won the Women’s Open Singles in the FBD Nationals, U-19 Singles and Doubles (with partner Aisling Reilly) at USHA Championships, Leinster 60x30 Open Singles, Ladies’ A Singles Third Level in both codes, Young Female Player of the Year for 2003, third year-ina-row and fourth time in all, Irish Examiner/TV3 National Junior Sports Stars Awards 2003, and the Monthly Sports Star award for May from the Kerry GAA Supporters Club.
Very favourable mention must also be made of Sharon Daly (Ballymacelligott), who pulled off a significant first in 2004 by winning the All-Ireland Ladies B Singles title. She was runner-up to Maria Daly in the Ladies A Singles in the Inter Varsities competitions in both codes.
Ladies’ handball is certainly at the zenith of its powers in Kerry at present and the future looks very bright indeed, with some excellent young talent coming on stream.
Men’s Championships
The men of the county, by comparison, had a quiet year. Dominic and Anthony Lynch from Glenbeigh fell at the first hurdle in the 40x20 and 60x30 Senior Doubles, while Dominic had to concede in the early rounds of the Senior Singles Grades.
Ollie Cassidy (head coach) won Junior Singles All-Ireland, Men’s B Plate-One Wall, Golden GlovesMen’s A-B Singles.
Minor Championships
Kerry had a good run of success in the Minor Championships. Catriona Casey (Ballymacelligott) was All- Ireland runner-up in the 60x30 Singles decider; Catriona and Lisa Falvey went to the All-Ireland semi-final in the 40x20 Doubles, while Lisa reached the All-Ireland semi-final in 40x20 minor singles.
Sponsors
Many thanks to Coiste Chontae Chiarraí and the Kerry GAA Supporters Club for their continuous support and recognition of handball within the county.
The following are the current sponsors: Ballyroe Heights Hotel (Awards Night, County Juvenile 40x20 Championships), Supermacs (Development/Promotion/Schools of Excellence, 60x30 Juvenile County Championships), Celsius Clothing (County B Juvenile Championships), Bill and Kathy Maunsell (Gael Linn).
Behind the Scenes
As usual in any undertaking, there are people behind the scenes without whom success and progress could not be achieved. A special word of thanks to all the ladies who have contributed at county level over the years.
Breda Riordan, Ann Lawlor, Siobhán Twomey and Eileen Long are all very able and committed people and have done wonderful work for handball in their clubs and for the county.
Ollie Cassidy was the head coach at the Handball Summer Camps and the School of Excellence. He is an excellent coach and communicator with the young players and was ably assisted by young coaches at these events.
These people are to be highly commended on the very professional job they have done in putting everything together. All the players have great time for Ollie and we look forward to the fruits of his labour in the coming years.
Great praise is, of course, also due to the people in the clubs and the County Board for organising and getting through such a lot of work over the year.
Kerry handball is very lucky in that respect and can face the future with much optimism.