Strong Board at coalface of handball success
THE Kerry Schoolboys Girls League is one of the leading sporting outlets for children in Kerry for over 35 years. Following on from the great work done by the Kerry District League, which was established in 1971, the next step was the development of an Underage League.
The Kerry Schoolboys League began in the mid 1980s with the late Pat Kennedy (Listowel) as the first chairman. Others involved in the early stages were Murt Murphy, Tom McGiff, and the late Georgie O’Callaghan from Castleisland.
“From the start until the present day a large group of dedicated people have been involved and with the growth of girls soccer in the last two decades the League is now called the Kerry Schoolboys Girls League with VITHIT and Macron our two lead sponsors,” the chairman Padraig Harnett explained.
“From the early days the League made a splash on the National stage. On May 13, 1990 the Kerry Schoolboys League took on the Dublin District Schoolboys League in the Kennedy Cup final played in Landsdowne Road as the curtain raiser to the FAI Senior Cup final between Bray Wanderers and St. Francis. While Kerry lost 2-1, the loss was lessened a little when Jack Charlton presented the squad with their runners-up medals.”
The League would reach other Kennedy Cup finals before finally getting their hands on the Holy Grail of Schoolboys football in 2015, the only League outside of the big cities to win the Cup in its 44-year history.
“The Kerry Schoolboys Girls League is responsible for all football activities in Kerry under the auspices of the FAI and the SFAI,” Mr Harnett said. “The League now has teams in every corner of the Kerry from Iveragh United in Caherciveen to Listowel Celtic in North Kerry, Dingle Bay Rovers in West Kerry and Mastergeeha in East Kerry. The Boys and Girls Leagues cater for players from Under 10 grade and upwards. Clubs bring in players from Under 5 and six so there is a full pathway in the county all the way to Under-16s in the KSBGL including the opportunity to play in the Under-13 and Under-15 League of Ireland. Players can then move to the KDL from Under-17 on including the Under-17 and Under-19 League of Ireland.”
Clubs in the Kerry Schoolboys
Girls League include Iveragh United, Inter Kenmare, Killarney Athletic, Killarney Celtic, MEK (Mid and East Kerry), Ballyhar Dynamos, Mastergeeha, Killorglin, Castleisland, Dingle Bay Rovers, St Brendan’s Park, Tralee Dynamos, Camp Juniors, Fenit Samphires, Listowel Celtic, Rattoo Rovers, LB Rovers (Lisselton / Ballybunion), Ballybunion FC and Ballyheigue.
The club teams play in the Moriarty’s Centra U-11, JK Sports U-12, World of Tiles U-13, Slattery’s Carpet’s U-14, Daly’s Supervalu U-15 and Tralee Trophy World U-16 League.
“In the Cups and Shields we commemorate people who were involved with the League over the years. The U-10s and 11s are named in memory of John Dowling and John O’Flynn, the U-12 remembers John Murphy, the 13s honour John Joe Naughton, the U-14s are called after Tom Hayes, the U-15s acknowledge the contribution made by the Healy Family and the U-16s Cup and Shield remember Tucker Kelly from Fenit.”
Coaching is a key element of the ongoing success of the Kerry Schoolboys/Girls League and brings in players from Under-10 and upwards for training in its Emerging Talent Programmes and from there the Inter League squads are selected.
“The League is delighted to have Billy Dennehy in the position of ETP Co-ordinator looking after the Emerging Talent Programmes. We are fortunate to have a team of dedicated coaches for our Inter League and League of Ireland sides. These include JP Mullins, Joe O’Reilly, Adrian Jazinski, Eoin O’Mahoney, Billy Stack, Conor McCarthy, Colm Murray, Danny Diggins, Jimmy Clancy, Joby Costello, Mike Lyne, David McIndoe, Tommy O’Connor, Aishling Kelly and Robyn White. The League also works closely with Darren Aherne who is the FAI Regional Development Officer for Kerry.”
The Management Committee of the KSBGL who are in office until this year’s AGM are: Chairman: Padraig Harnett; Vice-chairman: Tadgh Brosnan; Secretary: Aidan Murnane; Treasurer: David Slattery: Fixtures Secretary: Ken Robinson; Registrar: Dominic Scanlon; Girls Co-ordinator: Noel White. Committee Members are Colm McLoughlin, Eamon Foley, Stuart Etherington, Ken O’Connor and Michael Doherty.
THE sporting and voluntary sector in Kerry is widely regarded as one of the best in Ireland due in part to the phenomenal pool of volunteer available to clubs and associations.
Key to this success is the vital role County Boards play in the continued development and management of all sports clubs in Kerry.
While handball in Kerry has declined over the past decade, the current Kerry Handball Board is determined to bring the sport back to its rightful step on the Kerry sporting ladder.
During the 2020 AGM, which took place in Glenbeigh, the current chairman, Christy Moriarty (Glenbeigh), looked back on a year of success and continued promotion of the sport in Kerry. He outlined the success of players at Provincial and National level.
As chairman he congratulated the various National winners including Dominick Lynch (Glenbeigh) on winning the All-Ireland 60x30 Masters A Singles final, Daire Keane (Ballymacelligott) the winner of the All-Ireland Junior B championship and Darragh Lynch and Sean Quirke (Glenbeigh) winners of the All-Ireland U-16 Doubles title. Congratulations were also extended to Jack O’Shea (Glenbeigh) winner of the All-Ireland Junior championship and the All-Ireland One Wall Plate title. He also acknowledged County and Munster medal winners and the phenomenal contribution of club officials and coaches. The chairman also acknowledged the magnificent success of Tommy Quirke (Glenbeigh and IT Tralee) winner of the All-Ireland Collegiate 60x30 Grade C title.
In his report to the AGM, the County secretary, Danny Riordan (Ballymacelligott) said that Juvenile handball in Kerry continues to make progress. He listed the success of underage competitors including Maggie and Clodagh Quirke (Glenbeigh) winners of the U-12 Munster Doubles title, the All-Ireland U-11 Cumann na mBunscol title and the Kerry U-12 title. He congratulated Roisin King and Sara Mason (Glenbeigh) winners of the Kerry U-14 title.
The pro active Kerry Handball Board ran off the Kerry Boys championships held in the Spa GAA Complex in Killarney, where there were impressive victories for Jamie Lynch and Liam Sheehy (Lispole), Darragh O’Connor and Rhys Murphy (Glenbeigh), Adrian Sheehan and Matthew O’Connor (Glenbeigh) and in the U-13 section the Glenbeigh duo of Liam O’Connor and Lucas Riordan were highly impressive.
However all this phenomenal success was overshadowed some weeks ago with the passing of Tralee native Paddy Downey, the president of the Kerry Handball Board. In 2000, he was honoured with the Irish Handball Hall of Fame award to mark his phenomenal and historic contribution to a sport he graced with dignity and flair during a golden era in the 1950s and 1960s.
According to Kerry Handball PRO Jack O’Shea, Mr. Downey had an illustrious sporting career. “He was a member of the Jones Club in Tralee, won 17 senior All-Irelands titles including two softball singles, seven softball doubles, four hardball singles and the same in the corresponding doubles. He is the only Kerry man to win the 60x30 Senior Singles title, winning in 1958 and 1961 and the Hardball Senior Singles which he won from 1958 to 1960 and again in 1962. He won 11 All-Ireland Senior Doubles titles, seven 60x30 with Jimmy O’Brien in 1955, 1956 and from 1960 to 1964. He also won three Senior Hardball title with O’Brien in 1959, 1960 and 1963. Downey also won one Senior Hardball Doubles title with Tipperary native Jimmy Hassett in 1953.”
The continued success of Kerry Handball in recent years is due to the hard work of a dedicated and knowledgible officer board that brings years of administrative and playing experience to their various posts. U-the dynamic leadership of Chairman Christy Moriarty, the sport continues to grow in Kerry. Secretary Danny Riordan juggles fixtures, venues, competitions and other aspects of the sport in a highly efficient manner while county PRO Jack O’Shea works closely with the media to ensure blanket coverage of handball in the county. Treasurers John Joe Quirke and Pat Keane have the unenviable task to ensuring the Kerry handball Board is properly financed. With a new winning team Kerry handball can expect unprecedented success in the coming years.
The current Kerry Handball Board members are, President: Paddy Downey (Tralee) RIP; Chairman: Christy Moriarty (Glenbeigh); Vice-Chairman: Pat Keane (Ballymacelligott); Secretary: Danny Riordan (Ballymacelligott); Treasurer: John Joe Quirke (Glenbeigh); Assistant Treasurer: Pat Keane (Ballymacelligott); Children’s Officer: Bernie Reen (Rathmore); PRO: Jack O’Shea (Glenbeigh); Development and Coaching Officer: Ashley Prenderville (Ballymacelligott); Delegates to the Kerry GAA Board: Eddie Riordan (Ballymacelligott) and Danny Riordan (Ballymacelligott).