Newtownmountkennedy
ALZHEIMER’S/ DEMENTIA SOCIETY
We meet every Friday at 11 a.m. in the Parkview Hotel Newtownmountkennedy. It is an opportunity for family members and carers to bring their loved ones for a coffee and a chat. It is open to people in the surrounding areas towns and villages.
DISTRICT FORUM
Great to see everyone at last week’s meeting, hope you can join us at our next meeting on Tuesday, February 25, at 7.30 p.m. in Newtownmountkennedy Community Centre.
We have a wonderful community with a strong voice, come along and join us. Everyone is welcome. For more information or meeting minutes follow us on Facebook – Newtownmountkennedy District Forum.
MINDFULNESS COURSE
A six Week Mindfulness Course is starting Monday, February 10, 7.45 p.m. to 9 p.m. Newtownmountkennedy. This Course is especially beneficial for anyone who would like to learn to manage stress, reduce anxiety, suffers from insomnia, chronic pain or is recovering from an illness or would like to deepen their own personal practice. Cost: €85 Contact Angelika at 087 2176068.
NEWTOWN JUNIORS FC
Midday last Saturday we held our 2019 Presentation Day in the community centre which was attended by a large crowd. Both our under-eights (kindly sponsored by Kearns Construction) and under-nines squads (kindly sponsored by Shape) received their participation medals from the club. Our under-12s received their medals for doing the double of Division 2 League winners and Jako Cup winners.
The 12’s squad was as follows, Ben Synnott, Cillian Coffey, Rose Kelly Tynan, Keira Farrelly, Cormac Chance, Dylan Dunleavy, Scott McKenna, Dayle Carthy, Jake Robertson, Evan Fahey, Cathal O’Toole, Brooklyn Doyle, PJ Duffy and Michael Synnott. The team is coached by John Dunleavy and Dave McGuirk. Three players from the club, who had played for the WDSL under-12s during the season were honoured by the club and they were, Nichita Neaga, Michael Synnott and Dylan Dunleavy.
Hat Trick Certs were awarded to Leon O’Connor, Jack Barlow, Lucas Dowdall and JV McCullagh-Kelly from the under-10s, Ryan Collins, William Valentine, Luke Turley, Aidan Heffernan and Sebastian Anton from the under-11s, Cathal O’Toole and Cormac Chance from the under-13s and Ignacy Szpilka and Max Synnott from the under-13s. Top of the table for hat tricks with four trebles each were Ryan Collins and Cathal O’Toole.
Super Saver Certs were presented to our top goalkeepers, Oisin Duffy from the under-10s, Nichita Neaga and Max Roche from the under-11s, Ben Synnott from the under-12s and Aaron Hackett from the under-13s. Top of the savers with eight clean sheets was Ben Synnott.
Our annual awards went to the following players. Most Improved Player: JV McCullagh-Kelly (under-10), Kacey Kelly (under-11), Rose Kelly Tynan (under-12) and Eoghan Fox (under-13)
Top Goalscorer: Leon O’Connor (under-10), Ryan Collins (under-11), Cathal O’Toole (under-12) and Aaron Cawley (under-13)
Player of the Year: Ryan McDonald (under-10), Michael Synnott (under-11), Cillian Coffey (under-12) and Aaron Cawley (under-13).
Our Club person of the Year award went to Geraldine Keogh for her excellent work with the under-eights and at committee level.
A popular winner of this year’s Darren Magee Perpetual Cup was the long serving Dave McGuirk. Dave has served many roles in the club for over 30 years. He has coached countless kids down the years and continues to do so. Well done, Dave.
We would like to express our thanks to Aaron Byrne and Seán Heffernan from Newtown United FC, Stephen Kearns from Kearns Construction, Dawn Farrelly from Adrian Dunne Pharmacies and Brian Kavanagh from the WDSL who all presented trophies on the day. We would also like to thank the following for their efforts around the event i.e. Danny McDonald, Mags Synnott, John Dunleavy, Kerri and Lauren Nolan, Geraldine Keogh, Dave McGuirk, Rory Hackett, Liam McGuirk, Katrina Connors (Certs), Paul Ryan, Nathan Kelly Tynan and Willie Gregory and the community centre.
Many thanks to everyone who attended including all our players and we wish them all the best for a very successful and enjoyable upcoming season which starts in a couple of weeks.
Slowly but surely our teams are slowly making their way back in preparation for the new season. All age groups will commence their games on the weekend of Saturday.
Sunday, February 22/23. We will keep you all updated as we get information. Regards our teams getting back to action, we are always looking for new players for all age groups. If you have a son or daughter who would like to play football for our club, please contact our secretary Hughie at the contact details below. We will be fielding teams from under-eight (2012) up to under-14 (2006) in the WDSL.
The following are the training times for our teams going forward: under-eight/under-nine (players born 2011-2013) Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. ; under-10s (players born 2010) – Tuesdays 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; under-11s (players born in 2009) – Wednesdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; under-12s (players born in 2008) – Thursdays 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; under-13s (players born in 2007) – Thursdays 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; under-14s (players born in 2006) – Thursdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Training Times are subject to change)
Some of the teams could from time to time also have an extra training session at weekends where possible. We will be posting details of Registration Days and Fees in the weeks ahead.
Our ever-popular Development Squad are now back in training under the guidance of head coach Lauren Nolan, who is ably assisted by fellow coaches Grace, Nathan and Seán. They coach four- to seven-yearolds in the community centre from 10 a.m. till 11 a.m. every Saturday morning. For further information on all matters relating to the Development Squad contact our secretary Hughie at hughienolan@gmail.com.
At present we are blessed to have volunteers who coach our teams and work away on our committee, but we are still short a few volunteers in both areas. If you think you could help with getting involved with coaching of any of our teams or would have a couple of hours to spare to assist the club at committee level, we would love to hear from you. Contact our secretary Hughie at hughienolan@gmail.com for further information.
Three players from the club will be celebrating a birthday in the coming week and they are Harry McCormack from the Development Squad, Dayle Carthy and Cillian Coffey from the under-13sfrom the under-13s. Happy birthday guys from everyone at Newtown Juniors FC.
We will be running our second Last Man Standing competition of the season on the weekend of Saturday, February 22 – Monday, February 24. Unfortunately, we are unable to start before this date for a variety of reasons. Cost to participate is €10 per head. The Prize Pot will be 50% of all money taken in up to a maximum of €500. If you are interested in taking part, please contact any coach or committee member. All money collected go back into the youth of the area. Rules of the competition are on our Facebook and Twitter pages and are also available on request.
For further information on all matters Newtown Juniors FC please contact the secretary at 087 6987653 or by email to hughienolan@gmail.com and you can also follow the club on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWS
We remember our beautiful friend Barra this week. We continue to keep Barra in our hearts. Our thoughts and prayers are with Barra’s family and friends.
Enrolment forms for September 2020 are available from Fiona in the school office or from our website newtownprimary.ie.
Gemma and Sandy are with us on Tuesday as part of the Burns By Your Side Reading to Dogs Programme.
Swimming and Festina Lente Horse-riding programmes continue this week.
Basketball training for our sixth class pupils is on Thursday this week.
We are delighted to welcome Joan and Karen from Music Generation back to our school this week to work with children in first, second, third and fifth class.
Baby and Toddler Group is on every Thursday morning from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in our Junior School Hall.
GAA – We are delighted to have Jackie Kinch with us for GAA training this term. Jackie coaches GAA skills to all our pupils in the junior and Senior School. Thanks to Newtown GAA for including our school in this programme.
School Disco is this Saturday, February 8, in Newtown Community Centre – junior infants – second Class: 6 p.m. to 7.15 p.m. and second class – sixth class: 7.30 p.m. to 8.45 p.m. €5 per child or €10 per Family