Above: The Clanna Gael Fontenoy Junior Ladies team which finished third overall in an international tournament in The Hague, Netherlands.
All of the Club’s teams, juvenile and senior, have been acquitting themselves well in competition since the start of the new season by playing with pride and distinction – and no shortage of skill. However, it’s our female footballers at all age levels who have stood out in particular.
Our Junior Ladies Football team took themselves off to The Hague, Netherlands, to participate in an international tournament. Not only did they fly the Clanns colours with distinction, but they finished third overall. Other Club players are performing equally well on home soil: including Kim Flood and Serena Hannon with the Dublin Senior squad, Rebecca McDonnell with the Dublin Minors, Maria O’Dea with the Dublin U15s and Orla Flanagan with the Dublin U14s squad. Meanwhile, Club Secretary, Pat Kane, has been given the task of managing the Dublin U16 ladies football squad.
Not to be outdone, our U10 hurlers grasped the opportunity to grace Croke Park with their skills during the half-time interval in the recent Dublin v Cork hurling fixture. It was a great experience for the players, mentors and parents alike and all thoroughly enjoyed it – even if the result didn’t go the way of the Dubs. Closer to home, our U8 footballers have been enjoying their first taste of competitive matches. Their coaches already report that the future looks very bright for this team.
Above: The Clanna Gael Fontenoy U8s receive some orderly advice before the game from one of the coaches, Declan Darcy.
Images supplied by Clanna Gael Fontenoy.
Off the field of play, Orlaith Curran has been working hard to ensure that the level of juvenile coaching remains high in the Club. A series of ‘Le Chéile’ seminars and workshops, involving guest presentations, is proving to be very popular and instructive.
Finally, after serving many years as Club Manager, Shay Connolly has decided to move on to other things. His enthusiasm and passion for the club and for Gaelic games will be greatly missed – but hopefully not lost to us entirely. Fittingly, it was that very passion that recently earned Shay a Sean Moore Community Award – as reported elsewhere in this edition. In the award citation Roisín Ingle aptly summed up Shay in one word – passion: whether passion for the GAA through his work for the Club and his representation of the Club at all levels in the wider community; or passion for the community he serves through his involvement in a host of other projects to promote people welfare. She also referenced his real and deep understanding of the people of Ringsend and further afield. We look forward to still seeing Shay around the club on a regular basis – not least shouting support for Clanns teams from the sideline.
By Felix O’Regan
