St John’s Notes 7th
February 2007
|
St John’s
Notes 14th February
2007
Best of luck to our set and ceili
dancers will be taking part in the East
Down finals of Scór Sinsear in Dundrum
on Sunday evening with high hopes of
progressing to the All County final in
Saval on Sunday week (25th).
Training for our under-16 and under-14
footballers witches from Saturday
mornings to Friday evenings
5.30 – 7.00pm with effect from this
Friday.
Training for ladies footballers and
camogie players continues in the
clubrooms on Wednesday evenings.
Under-age camogie training (for primary
school and under-12 girls) continues in
Finnis Hall (combined with neighbours
Dromara) on Sundays (12.00
– 1.00pm).
Our Race Day at Downpatrick Racecourse
will be on Sunday 25th March.
The lucky numbers on Thursday were 7,
17, 23 and 28. There were three £10
winners and the jackpot is now £1,850.
The next management committee meeting
will be on Monday 19th at
9.00pm.
Presentation Night and
Dinner
Camogie & Ladies Football
Back row - Martina Cunningham
(Sportsperson of the Year), Maureen
O’Higgins (Camogie County chairperson),
Kelly-Anne McCullough (Most Improved
Player) Jackie McMullan (chairperson).
Front row - Laura Smyth (Camogie Player
of the Year), Siobhan McCann (Young
Footballer of the Year). Missing - Cathy
McCann Ladies Footballer of the Year.
The Burrendale Hotel was crowded on
Friday night for
St John’s annual Presentation Night and
Dinner. We were in the fortunate
position of having not one but two
guests-of honour, both of whom held the
position of chair in their respective
county committees.
Camogie took first place; on the back of
our team’s achievement in winning the
county championship this was only
proper. Maureen O’Higgins, chair of the
County Camogie Committee, was warm in
her congratulations of the team for this
achievement but was adamant that with
such a youthful squad we must use this
as a springboard for further advances.
She then presented individual award
winners with their trophies. The Player
of the Year accolade went to Laura
Smyth; Martina Cunningham was
Sportsperson of the Year while the Most
Improved Player was Kelly-Anne
McCullough. All these awards were warmly
received but the loudest applause came
when the names of the entire
championship squad were read out.
Out-going chairman PJ McGrady then got
his first call to the stage. It was
under his chairmanship that our ladies
football team got off the ground so it
was fitting that he should present the
first awards. Cathy McCann picked up the
Player of the Year award while Siobhan
McCann was acknowledged as the Young
Player of the Year.
Attention then turned to our Senior
Football as Kevin Bell, chairman of the
Down County Committee addressed the
crowd. He spoke engagingly of how the
“small county club” is the cornerstone
of the GAA before flattering us with how
Naomh Eoin stood as a fine example of
all that was good in a small county
club. Kevin then presented individual
awards to the players. Jonathan Addis
was reserve player of the year while
Eugene O’Boyle was Reserve Sportsman of
the Year. Jonathan Addis was then
called to the stage again to collect the
Most Improved Player award for the
senior team. Darren McMullan was the
senior Sportsperson of the Year while
the Senior Player of the Year, picking
up the Rory Savage Memorial Trophy was
Donal Burns.
Football
Back row – Kevin McGlynn (secretary),
Donal Burns (Player of the Year) Eugene
O’Boyle (Reserve Sportsman), Kevin Bell
(County Chairman). Front row – Jonathan
Addis (Most Improved Player & Reserve
Player of the Year), Darren McMullan
(Senior Sportsperson of the Year).
The loudest cheer of the evening went up
when the Clubperson of the Year prize
was announced. Although there were a
number of nominees who had made
outstanding contributions to
St John’s this past year, the award went
to someone who spends many hours round
at the club working with the young and
the slightly older, in summer and in
winter, in daylight and by the electric
light bulb. A lot of the credit for our
two county titles can be laid at Eoin
Walsh’s feet and he was a very deserving
and popular winner.
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame award winner, Eddie Dornan,
with wife Mary. Back row – PJ McGrady
(outgoing chairperson), Jennifer Savage
(Treasurer), Carmel McGrady, Jackie
McMullan (chairperson), Kevin Bell
(County Chairperson).
Eddie Dornan was inducted into our “Hall
of Fame”. Gerry Burns gave a rousing
citation of Eddie’s many qualities,
achievements and contribution over many
years. Indeed his contribution to local
gaelic games goes back longer than our
club does for as a past chairman of the
old Drumaroad club he was responsible
for much of the spade-work for the
foundation of the club. Gerry recounted
that he contribution on the cultural
side, as a great fiddle player and a
storyteller overshadowed his
contributions on the field. He and his
fiddle performed at the monthly concerts
in Drumaroad Hall during the period of
the “Grand Draw” and that was on top of
booking, organising and staging the
concerts. Those fund-raisers paid for
the clubhouse facilities we enjoy today
– but, as Gerry reminded us, Eddie
didn’t stop at that – he did the
plastering as well!
The last speaker was chairperson Jackie
McMullan who thanked everyone for their
various contributions through the year
and noted our many significant
achievements. She was optimistic for the
future too, and given that our emphasis
has been on Youth Development and on
developing an enduring infrastructure
this confidence was well placed. She
concluded by presenting a special award
to outgoing chairman PJ McGrady. In his
eight years at the helm he had been
unfailing in the drive, enthusiasm and
leadership that he had brought to the
club, and
St John’s
have been the better for it. In
accepting his award PJ encouraged
everyone to give the same support to the
current committee as he had enjoyed. To
close Jackie thanked our
guests-of-honour, Maureen and Kevin, for
giving up their time for our club, and
for their kind words of encouragement on
the evening. To round off a very
enjoyable evening there was dancing,
with provided by Divine Harmony.
Rory Savage Memorial
Senior Player of the Year Donal Burns
with Rory Savage Memorial Award, flanked
by Maureen and Malachy Savage.
