The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Finals serve up a feast of football
County Board PRO Leona Twiss with all the GAA news
LAST weekend served up a feast of football that would have satisfied the most ardent of appetites!
On Saturday Ballydonoghue retained their Junior Premier status with a win over Annascaul in Ballymac and Lios Póil were crowned Junior Champions with their win over Beale.
On Sunday Kilgarvan secured their place in the Novice Final, Laune Rangers retained their Intermediate status with a win over Gneeveguilla and Beaufort and Kilcummin were crowned County Champions in a sun-drenched Austin Stack Park.
Our thanks to Castleisland Mart for their kind sponsorship of the Club Championship and to John Brosnan who was on hand to present the various man-of-thematch awards.
Thanks also to the Austin Stack Park Committee and Jer O’Mahony for having the field in pristine condition. A final word of thanks to the Referees’ Committee and all the officials who did a superb job over the weekend and the championships.
County Junior Leagues
THE County Junior Leagues commence on Friday May 18 with 43 clubs participating.
There will be three groups of six teams and five groups of five teams. Games are scheduled for Friday evenings -fixtures dates to note are May 18, June 1, 8 and 22 and July 6.
Junior Leagues are stand alone fixtures designed to provide a games schedule for players not playing on their club’s senior teams. All fixtures and regulations have been circulated to clubs.
Please contact Christy Killeen with any queries.
5 Star Programme
A NEW GAA initiative wants primary school children to develop the Five Fs - Fun, Friendship, Fairness, Freedom and Fitness.
This newly developed national initiative for Primary Schools, ‘the 5 Star Centre’, was unveiled by GAA Director of Games Development and Research, Pat Daly, who highlighted that: “the initiative aims to ensure that every child gets 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week throughout the 26 weeks of the school year”.
The GAA 5 Star Centre will be rolled out across primary schools on a phased basis from September 2018.
Should schools like to participate, Primary School Teachers / Principals can submit an Expression of Interest until the end of July at learning.gaa.ie/5Star or contact their GDA.
There’s great work going on in schools at the moment organised by Cumann na mBunscol. The quarter-finals of the Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Rural Girls competitions are scheduled for next week.
The hurling leagues will also be commencing next week with the finals to be played in June. Teachers throughout the county are presently putting the boys and girls through their paces in preparation for the football, hurling and camogie skills competitions and the Primary Game trials are also underway.
Official Charities
THE GAA has announced its list of official charities for the year ahead.
Five charities from around the country and representing a range of different causes were selected by the Association to be charity partners for this year. The charities were unveiled earlier this week and Kerry Hospice Foundation was one of the charities selected.
Each of the designated charities will receive a €20,000 donation from the GAA in a bid to assist them in raising awareness about their work and also to help them in their fund-raising efforts throughout the coming year.
Night of Champions
THIS year Kerry GAA will hold their annual ‘Night of Champions’ Dog Night in the Greyhound Stadium, Tralee on Friday, June 8. A great night of racing is in store and plenty of fun and entertainment for all the family. Contact Christy O’Connell or John Joe O’Carroll for further information.