Handball players serve up more aces
November 27, 2011
Handball's remarkable 2009/10 season was always going to be a hard act to follow but 2011 saw the momentum built up over the last few seasons at least maintained.
The 2009/10 season was arguably the most successful for the ancient game in Monaghan with three world titles and three All-Ireland titles scooped.
Under the chairmanship of Eamon McElroy, the 2011 County Handball Committee made great strides over the past year in consolidating the tremendous work put in by past committees.
With the stepping down of Austin McKenna as Secretary, big shoes were there to be filled but Emyvale's Katrina Moen stepped into the breach and did herself proud.
And while the past season failed to copy the unprecedented triumphs of '09/10, it nevertheless played host to several success stories.
For instance, Irish Junior Nationals - hosted by Ulster last November - saw sixteen players from the county taking part in the various age groups.
In what was the first time that separate Junior Nationals competition also served as the trials for the Irish team to compete in the US Nationals in December, the winners in the 15, 17 and 19 events earned a place on the Irish team.
As things panned out, Darren Doherty performed brillantly to win the 15 and unders against stiff opposition, earning his place on the national team for the first time.
Darren joined the other members of the Irish Junior team on their trip to San Diego over Christmas, sweeping the boards at the US Nationals with all six Irish contestants winning their singles titles.
All Ireland success also came to Monaghan in the colleges' competitions this year with Terry McElvaney and Christopher McKenna winning the senior doubles title and Darren Doherty claiming the junior singles title.
The Monaghan handball committee continued with the county Juvenile training programme at under 12 and under 13 levels this year and the selected players received several sessions of expert coaching from Raymond Leonard and Martin McEntee to further their handball skills.
This initiative proved very successful with the players reaching even greater heights in competitions than in previous years.
That said, on the debit side, interest among the ladies and girls waned a little bit somewhat but those at the coalface are hopeful that 2012 will see a positive improvement on that front, especially on foot of greater promotion of the game among the fairer sex by the clubs of the county.
On the PR side of things, the faithful have once again increased the profile of handball considerably over the past year due in no small measure to the efforts of Public Relations Officer Michael Holohan.
A hard-working officer, the numerous photos and articles which he had printed in the Northern Standard - as well as pieces in GAA programmes - served to keep the small ball game very much in the public eye in Monaghan during 2011.
In addition, the co-operation of each club in sending their weekly report to the county PRO facilitated the appearance of all county handball news in one distinct block in the local newspaper.
The GAA County Board have as always been supportive of handball throughout the year with the handball afficionados especially effusive in their praise of the help of County Board Chairman Paul Curran, Secretary Sean McKenna and Coaching Officer Eamon O'Hara.
"I would like to thank Eamon (O'Hara) and the fixtures committee for the work they did throughout the year in organising the above competitions and keeping track of results," Handball Secretary Katrina Moen explained in her report to the 2011 County Convention.
" I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the players for their co-operation in fulfilling these fixtures.
"I would especially like to thank all the referees for their help and commitment throughout the year when it came down to finals, and also the clubs who hosted the finals."
Not that all belonging to the county handball fraternity are willing to rest on their laurels:
"Some of the areas we probably need to concentrate more on for the coming year are development and coaching Ladies Handball, One Wall Handball, and possibly the promotion of 60 x 30 now that the handball alleys at St. Macartans have been refurbished," Secretary Moen states in her report.
In 2011, the County Handball Committee organised competitions for the six different grades of handballers within the county.
The senior 40x20 championship final saw Terry Kiernan (Carrickmacross) claim his third consecutive title by defeating James Gavaghan of Corduff. The Junior final was won by Michael Clerkin of Bawn who defeated Brendan Finan of Tydavnet. The Novice 1 final was an-all St. Mellans club final with Christopher McKenna defeating Ian Treanor while the Novice 2 final was won by Tom Coyle, Bawn who defeated Cormac Sherry, Tydavnet. Novice 3 final was won by Paul Cassidy (Tydavnet) who defeated Ronan Kiernan of Carrick, and finally the Novice 4 final was won by Jonathan McKenna (St. Mellans) who defeated Liam Duffy of Bawn.
The following were the doubles winners: Senior: M Duffy Jnr / Michael Clerkin, Bawn; Junior: Peter Brennan / Peter O Fealy, Corduff; Novice 1: Christopher McKenna / Ian Treanor, St. Mellans; Novice 2: Peter Cassidy / Cormac Sherry, Tydavnet; Novice 3: Barry McGuirk / Ciaran Ray, Emyvale; Novice 4: Jonathan McKenna / John Kelly, St. Mellans.
On the provincial front, Monaghan had forty eight players who took part in the different adult grades in the 40 x 20 Ulster Championships which was an increase of ten from the previous year.
In all (singles and doubles) 55 entries from the Oriel competed with seven triumphs hatched including: Christopher McKenna and Terry McElvaney (Minor Doubles); Michael Clerkin and Michael Duffy (Junior B doubles); Terry Kiernan (Junior Singles); Michael McCarron and Michael Todd (Emerald Masters A Doubles); Peter Larkin (Emerald Masters A Singles); Michael Todd (Diamond Masters A Singles).
In all, over twenty players from the county entered the Ulster 60x30 Championships with Monaghan securing five Ulster titles: Terry McElvaney (Minor Singles) Conor O'Gorman (U-21), Conor McDonnell (Silver Masters), Peter Larkin ( Emerald Masters A), James Fealy (Emerald Masters B)
Meanwhile, with so many of the county winners progressing out of the Ulster arena to get to All Ireland semi-finals and finals, 2011 can rightly be regarded as a very successful year also for Monaghan's juvenile handballers.
The 40x20 Ulster Juvenile Championship finals were held in Kingscourt with Monaghan competing in ten of the twenty four Ulster finals.
Some brillant performances by the Monaghan contingent saw them bag eight of those ten finals namely; under 12 singles Cailean Myles; under 12 doubles Aaron Mohan and Ryan Mohan; under 14 singles Simonas Seskevicius; under 15 Singles Eugene McGeough; under 15 doubles Ramunas and Mantas; under 16 singles Darren Doherty; under 15 Girls singles Casey Treanor; and under 17 Girls singles Niamh Farrell.
Although there were no all-Ireland championship titles for the Monaghan juveniles in 2011, the past year marked the first time ever that the county had such a strong contingent in the semi finals.
All told, the county was represented in three finals with Darren Doherty (under 16), Eugene McGeough (under 15) and Niamh Farrell (under 17) doing everyone proud in the 40x20 all-Ireland finals.
Elsewhere, the colleges competition goes from strength to strength each year with the Sem leading the way in the 40x20 arena.
Thanks largely to the great work being done at St. Macartan's by Michael Todd, handball looks to have a solid and promising future there.
St. Macartan's won two colleges All Ireland 40x20 titles - the Junior Boys Singles (Darren Doherty) and the Senior Boys Doubles (Terry McElvaney and Christopher McKenna).
In the ladies' competitions, Niamh Farrell and Emma Gargan showed their class in reaching the All Ireland final but were unfortunately defeated at that stage.
There was more good news too in the 60x30 colleges provincial championship when Padraig McKenna defeated Carson from Armagh to win the 60 x 30 Senior Boys Singles Ulster title.
Meanwhile the county had three entries in the 60x30 Ulster Juvenile Championships with Eugene McGeough landing the under 15 provincial title.
During the past year, ten players from the county took part in the One-Wall Nationals tournament with Monaghan Harps dynamo Ryan Mooney reaching the under 12 semis in his first outing.
In a tournament dominated by competitors from the USA and Puerto Rico, Ryan and and his team-mates gave as good as they got.
Significantly, Monaghan Harps showed their intent by developing two new one wall courts. The Handball Committee ought to be commended for its decision to stage a 'Have a Go' day for the juveniles in June.
Then, some experienced 'One Wallers' were on hand to give advice and referee games.
Tydavnet also have One Walls in the cooking which will mean an extra two courts in the county.
"The promotion of One Wall is important as it is becoming an increasingly popular code," Secretary Moen opines in her comprehensive report to County Convention.
Several players from Monaghan took part in the annual Abbeylara tournament and also the Lurgan One Wall tournament.
Fittingly, the year came to a climax with the staging of a Presentation Night, hosted by the Tydavnet Handball Club, at Scotstown GAA's complex.
Former Monaghan Handball Secretary Austin McKenna and his wife Lorraine were given a special presentation on the night to mark their many years of dedicated service to handball in Monaghan.
Congrats to all involved with handball in the county on another year of progress.
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