Geraldine happy to blaze a trail with club
THE Killarney Athletic seven-aside tournament commenced in 1977 and Killarney Credit Union has been the main sponsor for many years.
The Tournament has always been the clubs biggest fundraiser and was instrumental in the purchase of our Grounds at Woodlawn in 1993, along with National Lottery Funding. The tournament was staged at Aras Phadraig from 1977 to 1999 and then moved to Woodlawn.
The club have Senior Men’s, Ladies and Underage Competitions. Since its inception, the tournament has brought the whole community and outside together and it has developed a great love of Soccer amongst all ages and has given endless hours of enjoyment to the countless number of participants and supporters.
This is evident with the fantastic atmosphere there every night and the club are immensely proud of this Annual Event.
GERALDINE Nagle is the first ever female chairperson of the club in the county and she says she is exceptionally lucky to have a wonderful and hard working committee to help her along the way.
“It was a new adventure for me but I had been involved in the game for a long time and I knew all the people I would be working with and that made the job easier,” he says.
She was also the vice chair person of the Kerry Schoolboys Girls League for seven years. She is also vice chairperson of the KDL and is their Child Welfare Officer. She first got involved with the club 20 years ago and she has made many great fiends along the sporting crusade.
“There is a great community spirit between everyone involved in the club and they all pull their weight and have the interest of the club at heart at all times.
“Our underage structure is also very strong and we cater for boys and girls at every age level. We are devoting a lot of time to girls and we had 36 Under 11 girls compete in a blitz. It is the club’s policy to pay particular attention to kids and ensure they are all looked after and get the best of coaching methods available to the club.”
She says the club is very proud of what they have achieved over the years but pride of place must go to winning the League and Cup double in 2017.
“No one gave us a chance to win Premier A, but under new manager Stuart
Templeman we beat our arch rivals Killarney Celtic in the league final and went on the Greyhound Bar Cup a few weeks later. The pride of winning the double was a huge lift for the club and our loyal supporters.
“I am fortunate also to be chairperson of the KDL as well and it is great to see how the organisation is run and be able to play an active role in it all. The Athletic club always had strong representation in the KDL with Don O’Donoghue proceeding me as Vice Chairperson, while Billy Doyle was chairman back in the 1980s and Damien McCormack is a member of the present MC of the KDL.”
The motto of the club is ‘Unity is strength where there is teamwork and collaboration, and with these ingredients wonderful things can be achieved’
“We are an ordinary Club with “with extraordinary volunteers” and they are the unsung Heroes that has brought the club huge success over the years,” the chairperson says.
“Our coaches give tirelessly of their time to the development of the clubs senior and underage teams and our amazing groundsmen and parents are always there to help. The club has come a long way over the past 64 years, but there is plenty more work to be done and we will keep the momentum going and ensure our club keeps changing with the times and cater for everyone who wants to play the game.”