After celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the founding of St Cuthbert's Bohermeen in 2008, it was felt that maybe 2009 might be a bit quieter. However events both on and off the field were just as hectic as club secretary John Kavanagh explains:

The year began in unusual circumstances in that we had a charity football match between the U14 players and their dads - but the dads were in fancy dress. We raised almost €2,000 in aid of Meath Autism and that set the trend for a busy year. We celebrated the 125th Anniversary of the GAA with a parade led by a piper from McHugh at Greetiagh to Sean Newman Park . Almost 300 people took part including members of the adult clubs in the parish - Cortown , St Ultans and St Ultans Ladies. The club are also in the process of getting two defibrillators for the parish by means of collecting old and used mobile phones.
"As is normal now when Meath are playing in Croke Park , we made use of the group ticket scheme which resulted in us bringing over 200 children on 4 buses to see the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry . The parents gave us great support in this venture for which we are grateful . Indeed we are very fortunate in the club as parents are always willing to help and support all the activities that take place."
All the activity was not just confined to off-field events as the club enjoyed its fair share of success on the playing fields as well.
"The U12 team won both the spring league and summer league with victories over Nobber and Clann na Gael respectively while the U14 beat St Vincents in the summer league after being defeated by the same opposition in the knock-out championship final . The success of these teams however, over-shadowed the great work being done at other age groups ," said John.
"While winning is great, the club is trying to ensure that as many boys as possible are playing football. This was emphasised in the fact that we fielded two teams in the U13 competition recently and that a total of 47 players took part. Both teams reached the semi-final of their respective grades. On our registration evening we had 109 children from U6 to U10 and we feel it is imperative to provide as much football for these players as possible."
The large number of players at the lower age groups however is in stark contrast to the older groups :
"Yes, I would have to say that it is getting increasingly difficult to keep numbers for U16 , U17 and U18. It seems to be the case with many rural clubs with teenagers losing interest in football . We managed to field teams in all the grades without winning many matches but the players and management deserve as much credit as those who won leagues and championships . I also feel that the running of the various minor competitions were a bit of a disaster and if the GAA want to keep young lads playing football - not just the best players - then it will have to look at the format of the competitions."
As for the future of underage football in the Bohermeen parish , John feels that everything looks in a good state.
"We have an excellent committee of people who work hard to provide football for all the players in the parish. Both Cortown and St Ultans provide us with excellent facilities and we get great assistance from all the parents in bringing lads to matches and to training and they also support all our fund-raising events.
"We got magnificent sponsorship from Joe Leahy of Newgate Gala Stores, Eamon Barry of Gaelic Games Equipment, Mattie Rogers of Navan Windscreen Centre, Jimmy Halpin from J& B Halpin Coaches and Tony Casserley of Cass Roofing . We hope to keep as many young lads playing Gaelic football as possible and we will enter additional teams if we need to . The club is all about catering for the footballing needs of the underage players of the parish - it has done so for the previous 26 years and I have no doubt it will do so for the future." Tweet

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