< Previous© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 60 Academy Corner, by Paul Byrne The Nippers are Back, at the end of the storms… (Fingers crossed) T he academy returned after a two week break due to the recent storms. It may have been bitterly cold morning but again we had a great turnout as the kids were delighted to get back into it. On a week- end where most grass based games were called off the benefits of an all weather pitch shone through. Numbers for Acad- emy are almost at maximum already but there are a few places remaining. If you would like to bring your child down and give it a go for a few weeks then please do so. You can contact the Academy Co- ordinator on 0851185100 or through our Facebook page. See you soon. If you want to get involved, please introduce yourself to any of the coaching team. Volun- teering at the Academy is such a rewarding experience for all involved It could be you! Coaches Corner, by Dave Gaffrey More than just words… Respect, Effort, Ambition, Teamwork & Humility The ethos of EMU and our core values was originally inspired by Barcelona. They developed a Player Pathway from the famous Masia to first team. Barca’s seek to develop both the player and the person and we strive to be a positive influ- ence to our players. EMU’s core values of Respect, Effort, Teamwork, Ambition and Humility have been adopted from Barce- lona and the detail explanation of these values can be found on the Barca website. For a number of years it's been agreed that a player pathway be in place at EMU to compliment the work carried out by our main committee. Our nippers academy is a constant reminder of why we exist as football is offered to boys and girls from the earliest age and at every possible level. www.instagram.com/eastmeathunited www.twitter.com/EastMeathUnitedwww.facebook.com/eastmeathunitedfc East Meath United© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 61 The Journey… From their induction to our Academy at 5 until players reach 13, our whole focus is on Player Development and teaching players how to play 11 a side football at the highest level they can reach. In March 2015 the FAI introduced the National Player Development Plan (PDP) and this immediately became the blue- print for Player focused development at EMU, reducing the emphasis on winning at all costs. Although there was initial ap- prehension over the 5v5 format it's now widely accepted as a huge success. At EMU every Saturday morning more children get more game time playing their 5 a side games in a twin format (20 kids) on our purpose built all weather. This fa- cility can also host 7v7 games which are played at u10 & u11 and its at this point that the players are streamed to play at level that suits his/her ability. This in turns assists the club in placing teams in the graded divisions of the North Dublin Schoolboy League. At u12 players are first introduced to off- side rules in the 9v9 format and before we know it the full 11 a side game arrives at u13. Everything from the previous 8 years should have prepared the players for this and EMU currently have teams up to u18 at present. Emerging Talent Programmes are hosted by the NDSL to further assist the best players in their development and EMU players are regularly selected to attend these sessions. Irish Soccer Net- works program provides quality coaching once a week in Minnistown for players with ambitions of achieving US scholar- ships or just looking for extra training on a Sunday evening. Our most recent agreement to support Drogheda United in their push for local talent playing locally provides an exciting opportunity for the very best players to train and play at the highest level nation- ally. This completes our pathway from academy to National League and every- thing in between. §© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 62 C2 General Stamullen F.C. Club news I t’s been a slow start to the season with the weather hampering play. Hoping the weather takes a turn and we can get back to matches every weekend. The 2 Under 11 teams competed in the Laytown cup last month and had a brilliant day. They put in some awesome performances and narrowly lost out on semi final places after nail biting penalty shoot outs. They really did the Club proud. Please contact the club on the details be- low to register your interest. Get booking quickly to ensure your place! Players wanted!!! Our under 12 girls are looking for players to join their amazing team. Training is on thursdays and matches are on Sunday’s. Please see below for more details Our over 35s are looking to recruit new players, so please contact the club on the details below if you would like to join the over 35’s team. Club Contact Details: Email - stamullenfc@gmail.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/stamullenfc Club Secretary Marcus Kelly – 0851477825 Website – www.stamullenfc.com § Our academy is back up and running on Saturday mornings, we are welcoming new players so if you have a budding soc- cer player, please contact the club on the details below to sign up. Easter Camp Following on from the huge success of last years camp, We are delighted to be hosting an Easter camp again this year. Running in Gormanston from Monday 6 th to Thursday the 9 th April. It is open for kids from academy up to age 13, and open to club members and non club members. © March 2020 The Meath Coaster 63 Castlehill Riding Club Caitriona! In the advanced primary class, Elaine Mulligan, Susan Kennedy, Roslyn Byrne, Olivia Nolan and Sarah Malone had fantastic rounds, but it was Genia deSouza and her horse Romeo that took home the 5 th place rosette. In the inter class, Caitriona Kavanagh, Justyna Adam, and Kate Hutcheson had super rounds, but it was Anne Dickenson and her horse Rocky that placed 2 nd , Marie Moore and Danny Boy came 4 th with Regan Dunne and BWE Hermes Calover placing 5 th ! In the AI class, Ciaran Finnegan jumped a great round at his first RC competition. The second leg of the league was run by Killossery RC in Killossery Lodge, Swords. The Castlehill Crew placed very well, with Caitriona Bowens improving her placing on the previous week, coming 2 nd in the primary class. In the AP class, Sarah Malone and her sparky mare Jinx placed a fantastic 2 nd after upgrading at the start of the year. Well done to every- one who competed, it’s gearing up to be a hotly contested league! For more information, please “like” our page on Facebook, or contact Olivia on (086) 383 1802. § T he competition season has officially begun in theNorth East Region of the Association of Irish Riding Clubs, with the Equipet NER Winter SJ League. Our members have been out in force training and competing, and have been having a ball in the process. In preparation for the Winter League, our club training committee provided two further dates with international SJ course builder, Tom Holden, at Killossery Lodge Stud, and Castlehill Equestrian Centre. Huge thanks to Tom for sharing his knowl- edge and expertise, and the fact this train- ing was well supported by our members, shows how enjoyable and beneficial it was. The first leg of the league was run by Drynam RC at Broadmeadows EC, where our members were out in force to com- pete. In the primary class, Caitriona Bow- ens and her lovely horse Beau placed 3 rd after being out of the competition lime- light after having a baby. Welcome back Olivia Nolan, Susan Kennedy and Genia DeSouza Club training with Tom Holden Marie Moore, Anne Dickenson and Regan Dunne© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 64 EST. 1950 Cockhill Road, Stamullen, Co. Meath T: 086 1731739 E: pro.stpatricksmeath@gmail.com Facebook Stpatricksgaastamullen/ Naomh Padraig GAA W e would like to Welcome Niall Russell as our new Chairman to the Club. Niall’s family has been involved with the club for generations and have al- ways played an active role in the club. He will be a welcome addition to our team and we wish him every success and look forward to working with him in 2020. Reports The weather conditions have been so bad in February that it has called a lot of matches off and shut a lot of pitches down over the month but our teams still managed to get training in and braved the weather for some great games. Senior Ladies The ladies have played one League match on the 16 th February against Skryne in terrible conditions and earned one point so far in the League. The next match is scheduled for 1 st of March. Unfortunately due to weather conditions a lot of their challenge matches had to be postponed or cancelled this month. The Saints St.Patricks/St.Colmcilles U15 Hurling Team are looking for players born in 2005 & 2006 for the Season ahead. Training is in Pilltown on Monday nights and Stamullen on Wednesday nights. Anyone interested please contact either club. Minor Male Team The minor male team played a great match against St.Colmcilles in their League match on the 1/2/20 drawing 2-06 to 1-09. Under 12/13 Boys The boys had a great day and were very proud to form a guard of honour for the Meath Senior Team ahead of their clash against Mayo in Pairc Tailteann, Navan. They are doing very well in their Leinster League so far. Pats Óg We would like to welcome our young- est members back again for another year. They had their first training of the year on Saturday 22 nd February from 12pm to 2pm in the main hall of the club house. If any- one is interested in helping on a Saturday they are more than welcome to come and speak to Lynnette. Juvenile Section We are looking for a Young Whistlers Co- ordinator. The role would involve appoint- ing young whistlers for matches when re- quired by Club mentors. This role does not require anyone to attend matches and is only a small admin role. Please contact Stephen Brennan if you are interested. Cúl Camps Vacancy If any of our young adults are interested in working at the Cúl Camps this year could they please contact Stephen Brennan for details. You have to be 18 on or before 1 st of July 2020 to be considered for this position.© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 65 Sponsoring Your local Club If you are interested as a business in ad- vertising on the sidelines of our pitch etc please contact Siobhan on 086 6698900 for more information pro.stpatricksmeath@ gmail.com. There are options for spon- sorship to suit every size business and every budget so please don’t hesitate to contact us. Health and Wellbeing Once again our Health and Well being officer, Linda Dungan has run another successful ‘Irelands Lights Up’ walking group on a Monday night and everyone re- ally enjoyed it. She also more importantly attended the Club Launch and information day in Croke park at the beginning of the month and many more events over the last year to finally get us to the finishing line for the Healthy Club Flag. A lot of work has gone into this and we would like to sincerely thank Linda. Social Evening On the 31 st of January Martin Byrne and Katie Dowling ran a very successful Din- ner Dance in the Glenside Hotel. It was a fantastic night of glitz and glamour and plenty of dancing. Congrat- ulations to all the prize win- ners on the night and every- one will be looking forward to the next one. Membership Fees Membership fees for the club are now due. We have had a series of registration evenings and more to come. Can people please download the app ‘Clubzap’ to their phones for future communications with their teams and club and type ‘Patricks’ in the club menu to join our club, St.Patricks Meath. Here is the link to pay your mem- bership online https://stpatricksgaameath. clubifyapp.com/membership¬_products Dates for your Diary We will be holding a Drive in Bingo on Easter Monday, 13 th of April 2020 in the Club house. This promises to be a great event for all the family and lots of fun. It will be at 3pm so gives you all time to get there if you are away for the couple of days before hand and gives the kids something to look forward to at the end of the weekend. Please save the date….great prizes, lots of fun, a family event and most importantly you get to support your local club! Club Lotto Our club lotto is at €8000 at the time of going to print. You can buy tickets in our clubhouse, Whytes, Centra or off any committee member. We will have an on- line option very soon on our clubzap so please watch out for same. § Club Captains of L&B Golf Club with some of the supporters at the Captains’ Drive In© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 66 Naomh Colmcille C.L.G. www.cilles.com The storms have come in and disrupted the season start but start it has. Before you know things will have dried up and the days will have gotten longer and we will be dusting down the cobwebs In the meantime here is a run down of a busy month all things considered Feis Cup We were unlucky not to make the semi fi- nal of the Feis Cup competition missing out on score difference. A good win over Seneschasltown was followed up with a disappointing loss to Moynalvey but a great win over county champions Ratoath under the lights at Piltown really sent eve- ryone off in good spirits and saw us into the semi-final at that time. However a late Moynalvey goal v Seneschalstown forced the group into score difference and it was the county champions that progressed The competition was primarily for devel- opment purposes and it was wonderful to see so many young players make their competitive debuts The All County Leagues commence next weekend with two tough tests. The Di- vision 4 team will welcome the league Champions and Intermediate side, Moy- lagh to Piltown on Friday 28 th Feb whilst the Division 2 team will travel to Walters- town in what will be a tough test Ladies Leagues It has been a great start to the All County Ladies leagues for our girls, the Divi- sion 2 team opened their campaign with a fine win over Dee Rangers at Piltown when Nobber and Meath Hill venues were declared unplayable. Everyone starred in what was a great performance and a long overdue win over a team that has proven to be a handful over the years. The Di- vision 5 side also opened with a fine win over Boardsmill again at Piltown as the south meath venue was unplayable. Well done to both sides and we look forward to tracking progress this year Underage Leagues Conditions put paid to many league games but the some competitions are up and at it. Our Division 1 and 3 minor boys had bright openings defeating Duleek Bellewstown and drawing with St Patricks respectively. Round 2 fell by the wayside due to Storm Dennis whilst our u13 and U15 boys foot- ball took to the field in cross county league action whilst the hurling teams have been restricted to friendly action. Our U16 girls are making good progress through their league with 3 rounds and strong perfor- 2020 is under way and our teams are off to a great start so far© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 67 We were delighted to launch the 2020 Shane Black Property Advisers Academy recently. Pictured with Shane are Chairman and President, Keith Loughman and Pat Haigney, Hurling Co-Ordinator Gwen Lanigan, Academy Co-Ordinator Sam Madden, GPO Conor Brennan and young referee Niall McElearney. it was a great start to 2020 for the Division1 minor boys mances throughout whilst the u14 teams have been washed out in their attempts to date. We look forward to the year starting for them Our New Membership System Membership is now due and should be paid via the ClubZap platform. Members will have received an email link to pay- ment and all new members can play via www.cilles.com and following the link to the secure payments site. Where possible we would encourage everyone to pay on- line as it greatly reduces the administra- tion burden on teams. However if this is not possible then payment should be made to coaches. Instalment plans are possible Shane Black Property Advisers Cul Cilles Launch We are delighted to announce that the Shane Black Property Advisers Acad- emy will return on Sunday 5 th April. We look forward to welcoming back all our © March 2020 The Meath Coaster 68 Storm conditions have meant that the Saints hurlers have been restricted to friendly action so far the division 3 minor boys battled storm and 4 seasons to grab a draw v St Patricks in Rd1 of the league Goal - Alannah bags a screamer v Boardsmill in the division 5 league game existing players and many new ones. The Fun starts as ever at 11am and with park- ing at a premium we ask everyone to share lifts where possible and to respect our neighbours On the go for over 20 years the Club are delighted to be associated with a dynamic business such as Shane Black Property Advisers and we are deeply indebted to the team for their support. Shane and his business are at the heart of the local com- munity and it is something they hold very dear. We ask all our members to support all our sponsors County Player Update A big Get Well Soon to Ben Brennan who suffered a serious knee injury whilst on county duty. We wish Ben the very best in his recovery. Congrats to James Con- lon who starred for the Meath seniors v Kerry n Killarney in the NFL. A huge well done to Ellie, Caoimhe and Alannah who are all part of the Meath Minor squad that are in Leinster Championship action. We wish all the girls good luck as they look to build on an excellent 2019 at County level. Well done also to our 9 representa- tives on both Meath minor boys teams v Carlow recently and we wish all the very best in the upcoming minor championship and Gerry Reilly competitions Club Lotto – We Need Your Support Our club lotto is the lifeblood of the club and funds our day to day running costs. For just €2 a week or €100 a year you can have the chance to take part in what is surely the most won lotto in the coun- try with 3 winners already in 2019. Lotto tickets are available from our three main outlets – Southgate Shopping Centre (Fri- days), Tesco Bettystown (Saturdays) and the Shane Black Property Advisers Acade-© March 2020 The Meath Coaster 69 a wet night under lights but the ladies got their division 2 league campaign off to a winning start over Dee Rangers a big well done to all at Coláiste na hInse winning back to back north Leinster titles my on Sundays. Play online at www.cilles. com or in the clubhouse our local shops and hostelries. All funds raised go towards our day to day running costs. As a New Year starts why not sign up for the annual lotto membership and play your part in supporting the club? Congratulations To Colaiste Na Hinse A big congratulations to Colaiste na hInse on their North Leinster Colleges title re- cently to make it two in a row. A great achievement and well done to all §Next >