Ballymena - All Saints
2008 has been another historic year in the life of All Saints GAC Ballymena. With the development of our new sports pitch 'Quinn Park' high on the agenda a lot of work was routed towards the fundraising and form filling aspect that goes with such a project. However, not all our energies were put into mere administration duties as a review of our season will tell you:
Juvenile Hurling
This has been a very busy year for our juvenile hurlers.
We recognised early in the year that there was insufficient numbers to field U12, U14 or minor teams and, regrettably, we withdrew from competitions for these age groups. Great work was done under the leadership of Eugene McGarry to form an U16 squad which competed in North Antrim league and championship. Many of the panel had not played hurling before; by the end of the season they were competing well and winning games. We are sure that they will continue this improvement next year – well done lads.
Youth Programme
Our main emphasis this year was to build on the foundation of our coaching programme for children of primary school age. Indoor training sessions were held each week between November and April, these included infant (P1 – P3), beginner and improver sessions for boys and girls. The Wednesday night sessions focussed on teaching and developing hurling skills and were complimented by separate Monday night Fundamental training which focussed on core balance and stability.
Training moved outdoors in April and is ongoing.
Games and Competitions
U10 Hurlers
All Saints GAC would like to express our gratitude to North Antrim Coaching and Development Committee and to all the clubs we played against this year for providing the children the opportunities to experience the highs and lows, and the thrills and spills of competitive hurling throughout the year.
A Successful Year
Success can be measured in various ways. For example; team performance, attendance at training, development of skills and how players respect team mates, opponents, mentors and officials. Our young hurlers have done us proud in each of these areas. However, perhaps the most pleasing indicator of success this year was a text received by one of our underage coaches at ten to eight on a cold September morning. The message said that one of our under eights had been seen that morning pocking a ball against a wall before going to school. Well done Eoghan!
Let's hope we see many more youngsters out practicing their skills before, after and during school throughout the incoming year.
School Links
All Saints have built strong links with local schools.
We thank Mr. Cassidy the principle of St Louis Grammar for allowing us to use the school hall for winter training.
Ulster Council coaches carried out coaching sessions at St Colmcilles and St Brigids primary schools, additional coaching was funded by All Saints.
Both schools entered teams into Cumann na mBunscoil hurling, football and camogie competitions this year.
We would like to thank the principals of both schools for their efforts in promoting gaelic games and the All Saints club within the schools.
UNDER 16 HURLING
All Saints under 16 hurlers competed in Div 2 of the North Antrim hurling league. The highlight of the campaign was when we qualified for the division 2 Feile final which was held in Dunloy as part of their centenary celebrations. Unfortunately we came up against an in form Shane O Neills, but the experience of being involved in such an occasion will live long in the memory. We will have a lot of this years squad who will still be eligible to play under 16 next year, and so we are hoping to build on this solid foundation
U6, U8 & U-10 Football
Juvenile training commenced in January with in-door FUNdamental drills. This ran until Easter, when out-door training started. We were invited to join a Go Games Mini League organised by St James GFC Aldergrove involving 6 clubs, which ran from the beginning of May until the end of September.Each club submitted 2 U8 & 2 U10 teams In total eachclub played 5 home and 5 away fixtures as well as participating in a Final Blitz involving all 6 clubs. All our players thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing other clubs in a'fun' enviroment and it certainly helped indeveloping their footballing skills . We would hope to repeat the experience next year.
All Saints U12 Football
After a baptism of fire in our first game at home to an exceptionally strong Glenravel side the All Saints U12's recovered well to finish a very credible seventh in the final league standings.
One of the highlights of the season was a fantastic draw away to table toppers Agahagallon, who at the end were very relieved to come away from the game with a draw.
There were some fine performances throughout the season, none more so than young Emmet Mc Allister in goals, who put in some great displays. Pierce Casey was superb at half back, and we were very fortunate to have midfielders of the Calibre of Steven Mc Allister and Rory Kinney. In the first half of the season Conor Murray also put in some fantastic displays, but unfortunately was ruled out of the second half of the season due to injury.
In the forwards Connell Lemon was very consistent and took some great scores, and Lee Kirk must be in for most improved player over the season.
With the inevitable loss of some players to the U14 ranks, we still look forward to 2009 with some very promising younger players coming through from the U10's. Roll on 2009!
UNDER 16 FOOTBALL
2008 was an excellent campaign for our under 16 footballers which saw them finish in 5th place in the league, an agonizing one point outside the top 4. After losing out to Sean Stinsons in the opening home game, the boys managed to go through the rest of the season undefeated at home. Highlights in this run included a 4 point win over the previously undefeated Glenavy and a nail biting 2:15 – 0:19 win over league finalists Creggan.
Ultimately the campaign finished in a disappointing semi final defeat to Glenravel, however the boys can take great heart from their performances, and it surely won't be long before this group of players are challenging for places in the senior reserve and senior teams.
Juvenile Camogie
For the first time in a number of years the juvenile camogie section participated in blitzes and leagues at underage level. Having successfully fulfilled all their fixtures they played just over 15 matches. The teams participated with enthusiasm and once they scored their first goal the delight was as good as winning an All-Ireland medal. This year was a good start to developing the juvenile camogie section and with a sound foundation should go from strength to strengt
Senior Football
Senior Footballers
Senior Hurling
The senior hurlers season was a mixed one. Crashing out to a strong D3 Rasharkin side in the Junior C'Ship semi final being the low point. With several key All Saints men missing the St Mary's men proved too strong on a sunny Saturday in Cloughmills. A mid table finish in D4 and a second place finish in the NAJHL, where they were outwitted by Oisin's, seems to be the lot for the season.
Club Development
Sept '08 saw the launch of our eagerly anticipated website and it was definitely worth waiting for. An excellent resource, our 'virtual clubroom' serves the needs of our whole club community. The site includes an interactive events calendar, photo galleries, football and hurling skills videos, player profiles, downloadable resources and discussion forum. Visit the site at www.allsaintsgac.com
Successful fundraising events this year included: A Night of Boxing and dinner (in association with All Saints ABC) in the Leighinmohr Hotel. The popular allsaintsgac.com Golf classic saw much needed funds raised in September. The club Lotto continues to bring in much needed funds on a weekly basis. This incoming year will see the club step up its fund raising activities in a bid to help part finance the building of 'Quinn Park', a new complex opposite our existing grounds on the Woodside Road. Up to this point the work to get Quinn Park up on its feet has been the remit of two or three dedicated volunteers, this must now change if we are to succeed and the whole club must become involved over the next year.