COMMUNITY SPIRIT AWARD Tony ‘Butch’ Doran SPORTSPERSON AWARD Áine O’Gorman
TONY ‘BUTCH’ DORAN of Wicklow town is a popular choice for the Community Spirit Award due to his fundraising efforts on behalf of Wicklow Cancer Support.
The annual soccer blitz held each Easter was the brainchild of Tony and his wife Adele and was first held back in 2013. Unfortunately, Adele passed away three years ago but Tony still runs the blitz each year in aid of Wicklow Cancer Support and has raised over €40,000 in the space of six years.
The soccer blitz takes place at Whitegates and Finlay Park pitches in Wicklow town and has grown considerably as the years pass by. The most recent event raised €8,816 and featured more than 1,000 participants with teams coming from all over the county, including Wicklow town, Coolboy, Shillelagh, Carnew, Arklow, Kilcoole, Greystones and Newtownmountkennedy.
Tony and his team of helpers also organised a bumper raffle which featured the jersey worn by Jamie Carragher when Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan in the Champions League final. HAVING recently earned her 100th soccer cap for Ireland, Áine O’Gorman is year’s winner of the Sportsperson Award.
She also just returned from injury, displaying immense resilience and leadership in the face of adversity.
Áine has also contributed directly to her community. The Enniskerry woman has helped out the Wicklow Local Sports Partnership, by travelling to primary schools in Wicklow and talking to pupils about how she got in to playing football, healthy eating and donning the green jersey.
Áine’s football career started with the mixed Enniskerry youths, before she moved on to Dublin’s Stella Maris to win trophies at under-14, under-16 and under-18.
Now with UCD Waves, she has also played for Peamount United and Doncaster Rovers.
Áine is a role model for any young girl who wants to kick a football. She would like to use her status to give something back when she hangs up her boots and do her bit for the future of the game. She also thinks that an increase in physical education would help the participation levels among women in sport.
RIGHT: Áine O’Gorman.