In the times that are in it, clubs often find it difficult to secure some continuity as far as the top table is concerned. In most GAA clubs, it's a case of musical chairs from one AGM to another. At the St. Michael's club, however, they've had the same chairman for the last 13 years. Gabriel Curtis take a bow. In an ever-changing world, it's gratifying to see that, in the world of Gaelic games at least, some things remain unaltered. Like the number of club stalwarts that are on the scene, seemingly permanently residing at the coalface. Gabriel Curtis is the outgoing chairman of St. Michael's GAA club. Because of the club's recently agreed rule whereby no person can hold office for more than three consecutive years, the bold Gabriel is stepping down in 2001. After being in the hot seat since 1989, it'll take quite a bit of getting used to operating in the back-benches. However, the man himself is happy to step down in the knowledge that the club will be in good hands and at a time when everything pertaining to the 'Michael's is positive and progressive. "It's nice to be signing off in the knowledge that the house is in good order and that there are good people on board who are ready and able to see that the club continues to move forward." Still on the way to the Elysian Fields, the gaels of Kilbeg parish are experiencing their share of teething problems. For instance, relegation from the intermediate ranks to junior grade in 2000 wasn't exactly what the doctor ordered. And then losing their place in division two in 2001 compounded the club's travails. It all points up for the need for some soul-searching, one suspects at St. Michael's. A lot of pundits, in fact, would have expected the Saints to have bounced back into intermediate ranks straight away. "There's no doubt but that our Junior A side had a very disappointing year. Relegation in the league was something we didn't think was on the cards while most people at the club and elsewhere would have expected the team to have at least reached the semi-finals of the championship this year. "I personally felt at the start of the year that the team was good enough to go the whole way but maybe the lads went into the quarter-final against Meath Hill just a bit too complacent. "We had been made aware that Meath Hill hadn't really been impressive in their previous championship games, that things hadn't been going so well for them prior to meeting us. "We respected them alright but on the day I think we weren't as hungry as we should have been and we ultimately paid the price for that. We wished Meath Hill the best of luck afterwards but still felt it should have been us going into the semi-finals. "I was very optimistic at the start of the year that things would work out well for us because our coach Jim Clifford was getting a good response from the players and he was bringing a fresh, novel approach to the team's preparations." St. Michael's untimely exit from the Junior A championship was ironic because 2001 marked the first time that both the club's adult teams had been progressing in tandem in their respective championship campaigns. Unfortunately, the Saints' Junior C team also lost out in the quarter-finals, in their case to St. Ultan's. Sadly, sorry disappointments for St. Michael's weren't confined to adult fare and Gabriel regrets the fact that the club's under 12 squad lost out in the Division Three north decider to Oldcastle. "It's a measure of the kind of work that is being done by those over the juveniles in the club that we're even reaching underage finals," Gabriel reminds us. Indeed, the club can boast one of the best young crop of footballers in the county right now in the shape of their all-conquering minor squad. Formerly the kingpins at under 16 level, St. Michael's talented band of teenagers romped to the 2001 Minor Football League Division Three title after securing a convincing 5-10 to 0-7 win over Walterstown in the final. "Our win in the minor league was definitely the highlight of the year for the club, particularly because not too many people would have anticipated the win. "Even though St. Michael's had beaten them by three points earlier in the league in the run-up to the final, everyone thought the final itself was going to be a closely contested affair. Certainly an 18 point win was largely unthinkable," the Rathkenny born 'Michael's clubman explains. So were St. Michael's really 18 points a better team on the day? "I don't think the winning margin flatters the lads at all. They never stopped running and harrying all day and some of their scores were straight out of the top drawer. "The fact that all bar one point of our tally was scored from play must be some sort of a record. In any event, it reflected the sort of talent that's within this minor panel. "Walterstown were never allowed to get into their stride in the final. Our lads just didn't let them settle, our backs in particular were fantastic. Overall though, it was a great team performance." Fulsome in his praise of all those involved in the underage at the club. Men like Jimmy Farrelly (underage chairman), Jim O'Reilly, Sean Gaffney, Ronan Curran, Patsy Dowdall and coach Graham Cooke come in for special praise from the outgoing chairman in that respect. Gabriel genuinely believes that the current crop of under 18 footballers at the club offer the promise of more honours to come. Their emergence, he says, is the fruits of many years labour by a lot of people at underage level at St. Michael's. "I know that those people who have been working so hard at underage level at the club will be the first to tell you that the club needs to continue to work hard and be patient and the talent will eventually come through to do us proud at adult level. "We haven't got any greater pick than any other clubs in Meath but to see upwards of 40 lads training at junior level is something to be proud about and if we can manage to motivate the lads even more and get them to believe in themselves that bit more, we can look forward with some optimism in the coming years," the 46-year old former county minor defender insists. Not surprisingly Gabriel still enjoys togging out. It comes as no surprise to learn that Gabriel fingers former Meath star Martin O'Connell as a tailor-made role model for all the aspiring footballers at St. Michael's. "Martin is a busy man, running his own business but he has always time for the club and his dedication and commitment to St. Michael's is something to behold and something which other players could do well to imitate. "It would be great if the young, up-and-coming players at the club adopted Martin's attitude to football. Then again the rest of us at the club are busy trying to match the workrate and attitude of Martin's father Paddy. If ever a man deserved his Sean Gael award, it was Paddy." Reflecting on his 13 year stint in the hot seat, Gabriel - formerly chairman of his native Rathkenny club (he is also an uncle of All-Ireland star Donal) and a member of the red and black outfit which won the Junior Championship in 1984 - is quick to inform us that he thoroughly enjoyed his time as chairman. "I enjoyed my stint and would like to express my appreciation to the various sponsors who were generous to the club over the years.Successes on the field may have been pretty rare but the rate of development achieved by the club in the expansion of their facilities proved a fair consolation. An extension to their clubhouse over the course of four years complemented the club's dressing-rooms, showers, toilets, referee's room and function room (used in recent months to host a presentation to the club's departing President Fr. John Byrne) facilities. "Everything off the field is geared for success and I feel that we have enough good players to make a concerted effort to achieve honours at junior level in the coming seasons. We're not that far away from winning a title and I believe we will crack it if the players decide to give it their best shot." Tweet

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