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WEEKLY
NEWS
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Weekly Kerry GAA Scene
by
Co. PRO Willie O'Connor
2nd June 2005
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HURLERS BEGIN CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN.... After last Sunday's successful championship outings of the Senior and Junior Football teams, this Saturday it's the turn of the Senior Hurling Team to embark on their championship campaign with an away game against Kildare in the first round of the Christy Ring Cup. The game will be played at Naas commencing at 3.30 p.m. This is a change of venue. The competition is made up of two groups of five teams and Kerry are playing in Group B along with Kildare, Wicklow, Mayo and Carlow. The teams in Group A are Derry, Down, Meath, Westmeath and Roscommon. This new Senior Hurling Championship format for Tier 2 Hurling teams gives the senior teams from these counties the opportunity to compete against teams of similar standard. Kerry have a bye in Round 2 on June 11th and are at
home to Wicklow in Round 3 on Saturday June 25th. In Round 4 we are
away to Mayo on Saturday July 2nd and at home to Carlow on Saturday
July16th. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the semi-finals
against the two top teams from Group A on July 31st and the final will
be played at Croke Park on Sunday August 14th as a curtain raiser to
the All-Ireland semi-final. The Christy Ring Cup gives a profile to the Kerry Senior Hurling team that was not there heretofore. Consider the promotional value for hurling in Kerry if the team reach the final. This is not a time for negative and critical comments on the standard of hurling being played in the county and particularly by the county team. It is accepted that the standard of our senior hurling championship is on a par with many of the stronger hurling counties. Now is the time for these standards to be reflected in the performances of the county team as well. Much hard work and funds have gone towards the team preparations and now hopefully the rewards will be forthcoming. MUNSTER SENIOR & JUNIOR SEMI-FINALS Limerick will provide the opposition for our senior and junior football teams on Sunday June 19th in the Munster Semi-finals at The Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. We don't need reminding of the clash of Kerry and Limerick in last year's Munster Final at The Gaelic Grounds and the replay at Fitzgerald Stadium. These two games last year will serve to whet the appetites in both counties for what promises to be yet another cliffhanger. MUNSTER SEMI-FINAL TICKET SCHEME Members of the new Kerry County Board 2003-2008 Ticket
Purchase Scheme are reminded that Friday June 10th is the closing date
for receipt of their application for tickets under this scheme for the
Bank Of Ireland Munster Football Semi-Final between Kerry and Limerick
on Sunday June 19th at Páirc Na nGael, Limerick. It is expected that the tickets that will be allocated to Kerry at The Gaelic Grounds will be similar to those allocated for last year's Munster Final. Scheme members who attended that game will recall that their covered stand tickets were close to the 13m line and that the tickets in the uncovered stand were more central. It is appropriate that scheme members are aware of this situation in advance of deciding which ticket they should purchase. Members of the scheme who wish to apply in person at the County Board Office should also have a written application with them when they call and have an addressed envelope marked "To be collected." Tickets allocated to the scheme will be reallocated to the clubs and other units after the closing date. Scheme Tickets not collected by Friday June 10th will also be reallocated. MUNSTER U21 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Kerry play Limerick in the first round of the Erin Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship on Wednesday next June 8th at 7.30 p.m. at a Limerick venue. Last year we played Limerick in the first round as well and the team were unfortunate not to bring off what would be considered a major shock as they ran Limerick very close in a thrilling encounter. The team have been training with the senior team for the past few weeks and wish them the very best of luck in the championship. Later in the summer they will play in the All-Ireland B Under 21 Hurling Championship. COUNTY LEAGUE Round 6 of the Credit Union County Senior Football League and Round 7 of Division 5 will be played this weekend. Most games are on Saturday at 8.00 p.m. and there are a small number of games on Sunday at 2.30 p.m. In the Division 1 the game between An Ghaeltacht and Laune Rangers and the game between Castleisland Desmonds and Dr. Crokes are postponed and in Division 2 the game between Currow and Beaufort is also postponed. After Round 5 played two weeks ago Dr. Crokes are still on top of Division 1 and Gneeveguilla are still unbeaten at the top of Division 2. Ardfert's unbeaten run in Division 3 came to an end with their defeat by Duagh and Kenmare had to settle for a share of the points with Legion but still stay at the top of the Division while Ardfert dropped down to joint second place with Finuge. Fingue have since beaten Legion in heir back game and they are now the league leaders in the division after that victory. Renard are on top in Division 4. Victories for Ballyduff over Strand Road and Ballylongford over joint leaders Derrynane in last weekend's Round 6 games in Division 5 has put Ballyduff into the lead in Division 5. This weekend, of June the 5th and the following weekend of June 12th there are full rounds of the County League for all clubs. RESULTS: Short match reports can be faxed to the above fax number or e-mailed to prokygaa@gofree.indigo.ie at any time on Saturday night or on Sunday. They can also be phoned after 8 o'clock on Sunday night. These reports need only be sixty or seventy words long and should include the half-time score and the important scores and scorers of each half as well as any incident that was of significance in the game, such as a penalty or an important save by the goalkeeper. The full-time score, however, should be phoned immediately after the game in order to meet the deadlines for the national papers and radio. There has been a very good response to this year's efforts to provide a more comprehensive and extensive coverage of match reports and as a result the club players are getting the exposure to which they are entitled. Strange as it may seem, reports from a small number of clubs, particularly in Division 1, are regularly not being sent in. AERTEL: DIVISION 2 COUNTY HURLING LEAGUE The Round 6 games of Division 2 of the Credit Union County Senior Hurling League will be played on this Wednesday with all games commencing at 8.00 p.m. The home club is responsible for phoning the match result to the county PRO immediately after the game finishes. There is just one round left to be played and all games must be up to date before the last round is played otherwise no points will be awarded. COUNTY JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUES Round 5 of the Credit Union County Junior Football League will be played on this Friday with all games commencing at 8.00 p.m. The home team should phone results in immediately after the game finishes. It appears that quite a number of results in all divisions of the league have not been phoned in. It is not possible to draw up a league table in the absence of these results. MINOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP The closing date for entries for the Keane's Super Valu County Minor Club Football Championship is this Friday June 3rd. Clubs are invited to enter. This competition was organised for the first time last year, also on an invitation basis and the clubs that took part were very pleased with the extra competitive games provided for their minor teams. The competition will be played on Friday nights commencing on July 1st and the final will be on July 22nd. Clubs players involved at county and divisional levels cannot hold up the competition. There will be a 13 a side competition as well as the usual 15 a side and no amalgamated teams can participate. DEVELOPMENT SQUADS The under 14 Football Development Squad will continue this Saturday June 4th in various venues around the county. Football venues are Fossa for East Kerry/Kenmare region, Cloone in Killorglin for the Mid Kerry/ South Kerry regions; Blennerville for the West Kerry/Tralee/St. Brendan's regions while Ballybunion is the venue for North Kerry Region. The Coaching sessions in Fossa, Killorglin and Blennerville commence at 11am while in Ballybunion starting time is 12.30pm. Qualified coaches within the county conduct the sessions. The Under 14/15 and 16 development squads in hurling take place in Caherslee Tralee. Coaching sessions continue next Saturday the 4th of June commencing at 10 am in the morning right through to 12.30pm in the afternoon. Sessions are conducted by Top quality coaches such as Maurice Leahy, Eddie Murphy, Kerry Senior Hurler Shane Brick are a few to mention. SKILLS COMPETITIONS This year the Kerry Coaching and Games Committee conducted its very first National Schools skills competition for Girls around the county. This competition aims is to promote and develop ladies football skills throughout Kerry. The competition began on a school basis with the Individual and Team winners progressing onto the divisional finals last week. The County Final for this competition will be held in early June. At the time of writing date, time and venue was not decided. However, these details will be announced on Radio Kerry's Sports Programme over the weekend. In addition the Coaching and Games Committee would like to thank all the Local GAA Clubs who made their grounds available to us for the various Divisional Finals. The National Schools Hurling Skills competition is at the qualifying stages at present and is being co-ordinated by Maurice Leahy. The top 30 participants will qualify for the National School Hurling Skills County Finals in Austin Stack Park on Friday June 10th commencing at 3.45pm. The standard displayed this year in the hurling skills competitions has been of the highest quality and highlights the growing strength of the game in Kerry at present. SUMMER CAMPS/COACHING ACADEMY Over the last number of weeks all national schools have received application forms for the up and coming Garvey's GAA Summer Camps, which will commence in July. Anyone interested in taking part in a fun filled week of GAA activities is requested to send in application forms to the Kerry County Board before June 29th. Forms are available in all local national schools and clubs, Garvey's stores throughout the county or from the Kerry County Board Office. In addition, all Second Level schools have received application forms for the up and coming Garvey's Coaching Academy Summer Camps aimed specifically for first and second year students only. This camp will focus more on skill development but with a special emphasis on fun also. The Coaching Academy camp commences on June 13th in Rathmore, Cahersiveen, Listowel and Killorglin. While the second week will commence on June 20th in Killarney, Tralee, Dingle and Castleisland. FULL TIME COACHES Newly appointed full Time Games Promotional Officers, Vince Cooper in East Kerry/ Kenmare Region and more recently Mícheál Quirke in Tralee / Castleisland Region will continue to visit National and Secondary schools as well as assist the local clubs in their designated areas next week. Their main aim is to promote and develop Football in their area. A Full Time Games Promotional Officer will be appointed in Mid Kerry / South Kerry Region in the coming weeks. It is hoped to have the same service in North and West Kerry Regions in the near future. ALCOHOL & SUBSTANCE ABUSE As part of the GAA's efforts to promote an awareness among young people of the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse, former Kilkenny and All-Ireland winning hurler, Eddie Keher will outline the advantages of the No Name Club as an alternative to the pub culture on the Radio Kerry Terrace Talk programme on Monday June 13th at 7.00 p.m. In conjunction with Fr. Tommy Murphy and Garda Eamon Boyle he has been instrumental in organising 40 branches of such clubs all over the country, including Tarbert. Over the past three months the Parents Councils of the schools in Killarney have been discussing the formation of such a club in the town and a decision is expected shortly. Ireland is now on top in the European League as regards Binge Drinking, which has brought with it many associated problems for young people, including a link with Ireland's youth suicide problem. Over 400 young people have died a result of suicide in Ireland in 2003. The GAA is now planning the appointment of a number of resource officers to work with young people on such issues and the appointment of an officer in each club is planned within a two-year period. NEW YORK NEWS The Kerry team open their season on this Sunday against Leitrim. This year's panel is F. Flood, A. Riney, Sneem, A. Finn and P. O'Connell, Castlegregory, N. Corbett, S. Flynn, D. Foley, Firies, P and D McCarthy, D. McSweeney, Kilcummin, P. Mulvihill, W. O'Donnell, Ballydonoghue, D. Downey, Duagh, Pa Murphy, Glenbeigh, Bingo Driscoll, Camp. The summer sanction players will strengthen the panel. The management committee is Tom Canty, Lixnaw, John Riordan, Brandon, Brendan and Joan Henchy. Ann and Louis Holland, Timmy Curtin, Knocknagoshel, Sean Healy, Kilgarvan, Eugie O'Sullivan, Sneem, John Hayes, Beale, P.J. Griffin, Lispole, Jim O'Donnell, Glin and Brendan Hennessy, Ballyduff. HANDBALL Garveys-Handball Summer Camps Senior 60x30 Entries Fundraiser Feile Na Gael/Community Games The following are the teams that will represent Kerry
in the Feile Na Gael This is a rundown of the format for this years
competition. Division - Venue - Date Feile Na Gael Dates to look out for
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