Good crowd at Games A.G.M.
Plea for number of affiliated Areas to increase again
WEXFORD COMMUNITY Games held its A.G.M. in Ferrycarrig Hotel on Monday of last week.
There was a good attendance, and Andy Griffin represented national Community Games as a guest speaker.
President Margaret McDermott welcomed all to the meeting and stated that it was very important that the Areas were present to plan the future for Community Games in Wexford.
In order to build a stronger, more active Games, it is necessary to get more Areas involved as it is vitally important that our children participate in sport and culture and are given every opportunity to do so.
Through participation they can learn teamwork, leadership, confidence, and can also have a lot of fun and make new friends along the way.
Chairman Pádraig Byrne also said he would like to see the number of affiliated Areas and numbers go back up again in order to keep Wexford Community Games moving forward.
Success, he said, is not measured by the amount of national medals that are won, but by the amount of participants we have in Area and county finals. On a final note, he said: ‘remember, we are here for one reason and that’s the kids’.
Michelle Carr, county Secretary, said that as her first year comes to an end and the panic and stress of the role becomes a distant memory (almost), she wanted to thank all her fellow officers who guided, supported and advised her along the way.
She also thanked all the Area Secretaries for their help in ensuring entries and deadlines were adhered to, and all Area committees for supporting and enabling Community Games.
She thanked all the participants who represented their Area and county so well during the year and said that all who took part at Area, county and national level should be extremely proud of themselves.
County Treasurer Jason Moran thanked all who allocated so generously to the organisation by helping keep the finances in good order.
He thanked Wexford County Council members, Funge’s of Gorey, Pettitt’s of Wexford, the County Council members of Wexford, Enniscorthy and Gorey Districts, Local Community Grant Scheme 2018, and Sports Active (Wexford) for their allocation to the Games.
He went on to thank companies and businesses who placed advertisements in the Festival of Sport programme, to new advertiser Trinity Motors Wexford, DNG Property People Wexford, Trax Music Store Wexford, and his father, James, who continues to quietly work in the background by contacting people and businesses for financial support for the organisation.
County P.R.O. Anne Cowman thanked the People Newspaper group for their continued support and coverage of the Games activities during the year and all the photographers who attended many of the events.
She also thanked Alan Aherne (People Newspaper) for his help and support.
The Facebook page, she said, is going from strength to strength and proving very popular with parents and their children alike.
She also thanked those who sent in reports and photographs to her from various events, and Jason Moran for his continued support and help.
As the 2018 year of Community Games comes to a close, participation was similar across most events in the county. So said Jason Moran, the acting Games Director.
The team events were also similar, with less in the outdoor soccer but more in the rounders. Due to the small number of Areas in the county this year, there were smaller entries in athletics, with swimming, gymnastics, art and handwriting nearly the same as the previous year.
There was a slight increase in the talent events. A number of teams went forward to the Leinster rounds and to the semi-finals and finals. One team made it through to the national finals and came home with the silver medals.
Guest speaker Andy Griffin (himself a New Ross native) addressed the delegates and said that there was a big need for the youth of the country to become involved in administration. We need them to help out at various events and to continue to be more active within their county committees.
A large number of them worked at U.L. for the national finals and hopefully more will come on board. They have a crucial role to play, he said.
As a member of the activities committee, he would like to see more referees, umpires and officials coming in to help at national level.
A minute’s silence was observed for all who went to their eternal reward during the year, and former county committee officials Chris Culleton and Delores Moran were also remembered.
All outgoing officers remained in office for the coming year: President, Margaret McDermott; Vice-President, Kathleen Berney; Chairman, Pádraig Byrne; Vice-Chairman, John Hanlon; Secretary, Michelle Carr; Assistant Secretary, Sinéad O`Leary; Treasurer/Games Director, Jason Moran; Assistant Treasurer, Eilish Kehoe; P.R.O., Anne Cowman; Athletics co-ordinator, Michelle Byrne; Development Officers, Michelle Byrne and Melanie Ryan; N.E.A.C. delegate, Jason Moran; sub-N.E.A.C. delegate, Anne Cowman; Leinster delegates, Anne Cowman and Adrian Carr; A.G.M. delegates, Kathleen Berney and Anne Cowman; Development committee: the elected officers plus Jason Moran and Jim Doyle; Appeals committee: John Hanlon, Michelle Byrne, Jim Doyle, Jason Moran and Adrian Carr.
The county committee put forward the following recommendation for the national A.G.M.: ‘that they introduce a new system for badges whereby the badges can be reused, thus decreasing the administration costs’.
The Castlebridge/Crossabeg Area were declared the best Area winners” for 2018 and will go forward to the national finals in December. The runners-up were Bree/Davidstown.
Winners in the small Area category were Kilanerin, and they too will be heading off the national finals in December.
The adult volunteer award went to Mary McDonald from the Castlebridge/ Crossabeg Area. Mary could not be in attendance, due to the sudden death the previous night of her brother, James La Roche, Crosstown, and the sympathies of the meeting were extended to her and her family.
The youth volunteer award went to Kate Byrne from the BBBCR Area.