Westmeath G A A Notes By Pat Reilly Westmeath P R O. O' BYRNE CUP FOOTBALL: The opening round of the O' Byrne Cup Football took place last Sunday in Lakepoint Park Mullingar where a new look Westmeath side took the field against a strong DCU side who by the way are fancied to lift the O' Byrne Cup. The Westmeath side featured many new faces and in fairness there still is some work to be done. The game lacked fire and in truth DCU was never in any danger of loosing as they powered into an early 0-04 to 0-01 lead, with Westmeath failing to convert some easy chances, and DCU's Seanie Johnson causing problems for the Westmeath defence this was always going to be a tough day for Westmeath. It was after all only the first competitive outing for the new Westmeath side and things will certainly improve, we travel next weekend to face Kilkenny in the shield and all these games will help the team along as we prepare for the opening round of the League in early February. Co. BOARD MEETING: The first county board meeting of 2010 takes place on Wednesday eve @ 8pm in Cusack Park. It is important that all clubs are represented at these meetings as the main items on the agenda is the transfers and regarding for the coming year. WESTMEATH GAA STRATEGIC PLAN: The proposed date - January 25th for the launch of our Strategic Plan is now postponed until Wednesday February 3rd in the Mullingar Park Hotel. It is also intended to hold the next County Committee meeting featuring draws on that night also. WINTER MINOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE: The Westmeath GAA Minor Committee are organising a Winter Minor Football League (Fe 17), the League will be played by way of a series of 'Blitzs' involving teams selected on an amalgamated basis, North & South of the County.Only players who are Under 17/18 on or after the 1st.January 2010 will be permitted to participate i.e a player eligible for Fe 16 Grade in 2010 is not allowed to play in the 'Blitz'. This winter League will commence this coming week-end 23rd & 24th January 2010. The games on the Saturday 23rd.January will take place in Rosemount at 11.00am sharp whilst the games on Sunday 24th. January will take place in Kinnegad also at 11.00am sharp. The South Westmeath teams are, (1) Maryland-Tang/Millmore Gaels. (2) Castledayl/Moate All Whites. (3) Athlone/Garrycastle (4) Caulry/Rosemount/Tubberclair (5) St.Malachys-Ballinagore/Kilbeggan-St.Josephs. The North Westmeath teams are, (6) Clann Braonáin, (7) Bunbrosna/Delvin/Multyfarnham/St.Fintans/St.Michaels/St.Pauls (8) Coralstown-Kinnegad/Killucan (9) Ballynacargy/St.Lomans M'gar/Shandonagh (10) Mullingar Shamrocks/The Downs. The following Mentors have agreed to co-ordinate/organise each team, (1) John Gordon (2) Ger Heavin (3)James Duignan (4) Frank Lynam (5) Alan McCormack (6) Damien Gavin (7)Eugene Dolan (8) Jack Cooney (9) Declan Cox (10) Graham O'Connor. SCÓR NA nÓg FINALS: The Leinster Finals of Scór na nÓg took place last Sunday in Ballymore Westmeath were successful in three categories Recitation Mark Dalton (The Downs), Ballad Group (Moate All Whites) and (The Downs) in the Set Dancing.Congratulations to all three acts and they will now represent the county in the All Ireland Final. A wonderful evenings entertainment was had by the sell out crowd in attendance and made this a fantastic occasion for Westmeath GAA, great credit must go to the Scór committee for organising and overseeing this event. TICKETING - SEASON TICKET: Westmeath GAA would like to remind members and supporters that Season Tickets are available for the 2010 season. These tickets offer excellent value. Further information is available from and purchases can be made through www.tickets.gaa.ie HURLING HELMETS: The time has arrived. The compulsory use of approved hurling helmets, complete with face guards came into effect on January 1. Hurlers of all ages and grades will be obliged to comply once they have a hurley in their hands whether in training or a match. Match officials will stop play in a situation where a player removes a helmet or attempts to enter the field of play without one. Posters outlining this initiative can be downloaded from http://www.gaa.ie/page/hurling_helmets.html. NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES: Please be aware that there are new GAA email addresses for all underage club secretaries and club registrars. The format is as follows- [email protected] & [email protected] it is of utmost importance that all relevant elected officers logon to their mail as this is the only official form of communication for fixtures etc from now on. If anybody has any problems please contact either myself or Noel Tierney 086 3934884 GAA MEMBERSHIP DATABASE: As it is now time for clubs to start registering their players and members for 2010 please make sure to do so on the new GAA Membership Database as this is now the Official method of registration for the GAA. IRISH WEBSITE: These are details of an Irish web service that may help you and the team organisers in your club save significant time and money over the course of the season. Teamer is literally saving team organisers like you hours every week as well as completely eliminating the text messaging costs of contacting their teams. More details can be found on www.teamer.net. LEINSTER CLUB HURLING LEAGUE 2010 INFORMATION: All competing Clubs to be confirmed (with 300 deposit) by January 29th 2010. Cheques made payable to COMHAIRLE LAIGHEAN and sent to the County Secretary. County Secretaries are requested to forward same to Aras Laighean, for the attention of Lester Ryan. The Secretary from each participating Club will be requested to complete an information sheet (which will be forwarded by e-mail by Friday 5th Feb). This information will be required for the successful running of the competition. Groupings will be finalised and fixtures sent to Counties by Friday 19th Feb 2008. First round will begin on Saturday 27th March. Dates: (All Games 4pm). Round One - Saturday 27th March, Round Two - Monday 5th April Round Three - Saturday 17th April Quarter Finals - Saturday 24th April Semi Finals - Monday 3rd May. Finals - Prior to Inter County Games where feasible. Format: Teams in groupings of four, with each team guaranteed three games. There will be a maximum of 32 teams in each division, with the number of divisions depending on the uptake from the Clubs. It is important to note that there is a restriction on the number of clubs which can be accepted, therefore it will be on a first come first served basis. Information Required from Club when applying; Club Secretary Name , E-mail address, Mobile No GAA Museum January 28: Heroines with Hurls An evening of Camogie History. GAA museum. Mary Moran will give a talk on the personalities and performances that have enriched the game of camogie down the years. Sports historian Eoghan Corry will talk about camogie's place in sporting culture, the national and international context into which Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael came into existence, and the ovften overlooked international significance of camogie's rich history. Afterewards there wil be a panel discussion involving players, administrators and historians sharing their reminiscences and views of the game. More History: The Camogie Association will be compiling the first authoritative history of the game at national level over the coming months. We are interested in hearing from players, administrators and officials who have participated in camogie down through they years, and who may have photographs, memorabilia and reminiscences, great and small. For more info on the above contact any of the county camogie board officers. WESTMEATH GAA DEVELOPMENT LOTTO: (Results 12th January) NO JACKPOT WINENER: WINNING NO'S: 2, 12, 17, 20 NEXT WEEKS JACKPOT 1,820 10 MATCH 3 WINNERS @ 32: Nollaig Mc Entegart C/O Ballinagore GAA Mary Geraghty C/O St Oliver Plunketts GAA Mona Darby C/O St Oliver Plunketts GAA Deirdre O' Connor C/O St Oliver Plunketts GAA Denis Vaughan C/O Delvin GAA Annie Ruane C/O Loughnavalley GAA Brendan Cocoman C/O Mullingar Shamrocks GAA John Bennett C/O St. Lomans Mullingar GAA Sean Robinson C/O Ballinagore GAA Ronan Reynolds Westmeath Ladies GAA NEXT DRAW DATE: TUESDAY 19th January 2010. I can be contacted by phone on 044 9666476, 087 2777987 or by email on [email protected] Tweet

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