ASHFORD GAA NOTES 13/01/2012

The Clubs AGM was held in Chester’s on Thursday 12^th January. The following officers were elected:

Presidents: Eamon Downey, Mick Behan, Sean Lally, Tom McHugh.

Chairperson: Ronnie Phillips.

Vice Chairperson: Pat Doyle.

Secretary: Mick Purcell.

PRO: Pat Lawless.

Registrar: Conor Behan.

Ass Registrar: Philip Doyle.

Club Coaching Officer: Stephen Behan.

Juvenile Secretary: Amanda Duffy.

Executive Committee: Above plus Myles Manning, John P Downey, Derek Connolly, Ken O’Brien, Pat O’Connor, Paddy Downey, Liam Byrne, Gavin Connolly.

In the Secretary’s Report Mick Purcell states under the heading of Sub-Committees we need to be much more pro-active in this area. I would suggest that we comprise a limited number of these committees for 2012 to cover the major areas involved in running a modern GAA club. Each subcommittee will be chaired by an agreed member and the Chairman of each group, along with the elected officers of the club, to attend our monthly meetings. The present system is far too unwieldy in my opinion and is very unfocussed, with our meetings merely turning out to be talking shops a lot of the time. The Secretary went on to state under the heading Wicklow GAA Strategic Vision & Action Plan 2011-2012. This plan was launched in Nov.2011 and is intended as a blueprint for Wicklow GAA for the next 10 years. It’s success will be linked as to how the 39 clubs in Wicklow and the County Board progress and cooperate over the next decade. Do we want Ashford GAA to be at the vanguard of this progress so as Wicklow GAA can be pulled into the 21^st. century? It’s up to us as members to do our bit and make Ashford GAA a proud club to be a member of.

The Chairman Ronnie Phillips stated that getting a lease for the pitch was the highlight of the year, the significance of this cannot be over stated. We must now move on with the development of dressing rooms as quickly as possible. Again the grounds were kept in great condition, a big thanks to Mick Purcell for all his work. As you can see by our accounts, more effort must be made to raise funds in order to run the club and get the new development off the ground. The Lotto Committee do sterling work and keep going without fuss, we are extremely for their efforts. Our Treasurer Annmarie Manning has done an excellent job and we are very grateful for all her work. The Chairman went on to say that he was stepping down as Intermediate Football Team Manager, he thanked the Club and players for their efforts throughout the years.

The Club Coaching Officer Stephen Behan stated in his report that it was very important that we get as many people as possible in the juvenile/coaching management side of the Club to ensure that we encourage the children to play our game. Without this we will struggle in later years at senior level. It must be said again this year there was a shortage of volunteers to look after the teams and this will need to be addressed next year. If there isn’t enough help to look after each team it leaves a lot of responsibility with the one or two mentors, which makes the job very difficult and takes some of the enjoyment out of what should be an enjoyable experience. He would appeal to any of the senior players or parents to get involved with the juveniles and help spread the workload and ensure that the club moves forward in the future.

The PRO Pat Lawless mentioned that playing 14 competitive games in a calendar year in the County Football League Division 2 and the Intermediate Football Championship was simply not good enough. Our competitors play at least 24 games with a dedicated schedule of games. Ashford had no league games for three months with games being cancelled or changed to an alternative date at very short notice. He requested the Chairman to discuss this matter with the CCC. He also stated that few finals were being played in Ashford, in particular the County Junior A Football Final between Kilmac and St. Patricks should have been played in the village. Bringing in extra revenue from supporters into the village would encourage local traders to invest in our club. Remember in 1988 16 finals were played in the village and we saw a local businessman invest €7,000 into the club.