We may be in the middle of another pandemic but the work never stops. Here’s hoping for good news over the coming month and we can all get back onto the pitch. Stay positive everyone, if we can get going in March that’s still one long season ! We can’t wait to see you all again so stay safe, stay well and stay connected. In the meantime here’s a rundown of the various comings and goings this month
AGM
The Club and Ladies committees had their AGMs over Microsoft Teams last month. The officers for 2021 are
- President: Pat Haigney
- Chairperson: Keith Loughman
- Ladies Chairperson: Paul Nash
- Vice Chair: James Kelly
- Ladies Vice Chair: Anne Byrne
- Secretary: Barry McDonald
- Ladies Secretary: Maeve Connell
- PRO: Ciara Lalor
- Treasurer: Fergal Kelly
- Registrar: Allyson Madden
- Oifigeach Cultúr agus Teanga: Gwen Lanigan
- Players Rep: Fearghal Walsh and Natalie Davitt
- Other committee members : Des Morgan, Edel Fynn, Oliver Kavanagh, Pat O’Neill, Roger Byrne, Sam Madden Steven Scully
- Oher Ladies Committee members Ollie Carroll Aideen Gurrin, Ken McHutcheon, Mark Murphy, Paula Duignan and Urban Renstrom.
Club Turns 50
We had a very special day on 21st Jan which marked the affiliation of the club with Meath GAA. We have such a proud history and an exciting future ahead.
Present at the inaugural meeting were Pat O’Neill, Mick Delaney, Paddy Branigan, John McGuinness, Mick Boyle and we know there were others so please send in your information that you have.
The first committee took on the club and was led under the chairmanship of Mick Boyle(RIP), with Paddy Branigan and Pat O’Neill as secretary and assistant secretary respectively. John McGuinness(RIP) took control of the purse in the treasurers role with a grand total of £34 for the club to start out with. Other members of the committee who will be familiar names to some of you are Oliver Kavanagh, Tommy Watters, Jim Murphy, Jim Pickens, Tommy Weir, Pat Beakey (RIP), Jimmy Stafford(RIP), Terry Collier(RIP), Ken Lougheed (RIP), and Mick Baxter(RIP).
We Want Your Memories
As we celebrate our 50th we want to hear your memories and see your old photos. We are currently trying to scan and archive as many old photos and memories as we can so that we have a permanent resource. No memory is too small, they are all so special so please send us your photos and your memories to pro@cilles.com We can’t wait to hear from you
Check Out Our Weekly Club Notes
Our Club notes issue every Monday morning on www.cilles.com and all our social media channels. Links are sent to all coaches and out to the various team groups. If you don’t get yours then please contact your team manager and keep an eye out on all our social media platforms
LOTTO
Our club lotto funds day to day running costs and must be the one of most won lotto in the country. We need your support in these times with all other fund raising sources drying up. You can play online at www.cilles.com or subscribe for an annual ticket for €100 –
The jackpot is now €3,700
My Life Challenge
We have 200 members and supporters currently pounding the roads of East Meath for the My Life challenge, which started Wednesday 13th January 2021 and runs for another 6 weeks until March 3rd 2021. We have started strong and at the time of going to press are just a few kilometres ahead of Clontarf GAA. We are having great fun and a good bit of banter among the walkers sharing photos. You can still join and help us in our challenge and help us get across the line to the top place. All our combined steps count!!
- Download the Mylie app from the App store or Google Play store
- Register your details
- Tap on the social tab on the MyLife app
- Select challenges
- Select the challenge for your province Tap on join & select St Colmcilles East Meath
New Coaching Hub
Conor, our GPO, has developed a new portal with a number of coaching resources for our teams. Well done Conor and thank you. This is an internal resource only. If any coaches have not received their login details then contact Conor on conor.brennan.gpo.meath@gaa.ie
Membership 2021
2021 Membership is now open for the 2021 Season. The price increase which was agreed at the 2020 AGM for the 2021 season has been deferred until 2022. Rates will remain as per last year. Emails will be sent out from Club Zap this week. You can register on www.cilles.com
Healthy Club Conference
The GAA healthy club conference was hosted by the GAA last month. We were asked to present on our experiences of social football and sharing the experience of our Gaelic for Mams and Dads programme with the delegates in attendance. Our “social football” experience started in 2013 and we have never looked back. Paul and Ciara spoke about the benefits we’ve seen from a club, community and personal perspective. There were over 600 delegates in attendance from all over the country. There were lots of interesting initiatives shared by other clubs from around the country from Healthy eating, diversity and inclusion to operation transformation. The conference was an inspiring testimonial of how clubs are reaching out to their communities all around the country and making a difference in people’s lives. Well done Ciara and Paul and we look forward to welcoming back all our social players as soon as we have beaten Covid
County Board Appointments
Congratulations to James Kelly, who has been an integral part of the Healthy Club initiative since its inception in St. Colmcilles, on assuming the role of Chairman of the Meath GAA Healthy and Well Bering initiative. No better man for the role. A big well done too to our club photographer Brian Mulligan who is on the County Public Relations Committee for 2021. Brian’s amazing work has helped power Meath GAA’s public image to another level
Meath U20 Management
Congrats to our own Bernard Flynn and Graham Reilly who have been appointed as Meath U20 manager and selector. The u20 grade is one that Meath has underperformed in over the last few years and under Bernard and Graham’s stewardship no stone will be left unturned to build on excellent efforts at minor level over the last few years
Good luck lads
Virutal Sosad Swim
Our chief organizer of the virtual St. Stephens day swim, Oisin Gartlan, received notice from the SOSAD directors during last week that they had had donations of over €1,700 in relation to our St. Stephens day swim. Well done and a big thank you to all who took the dip to make this possible.