Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club Secretary’s Report 2017
When we as a Club look back on 2017, we remember it both with joy and great sadness as our recollections of some wonderful displays from Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club members are tempered by our deep sadness at the passing of Joanna Duignan.
Joanna’s passing shook us all to our core and while we still grieve, our loss pales into insignificance with the loss suffered by Joanna’s family. To her father Philip, mother Theresa and brothers Daniel, Aaron and Keith, again I want to offer my heartfelt sympathy.
I want to thank all my fellow officers, the club’s athletes, particularly Joanna’s close friends and training partners, and their families and so many others for the way they came together in the days and weeks after Joanna’s passing and I include in this Joanna’s training group in Dublin, the DCU Athletics fraternity, Annaduff Mens and Ladies GAA Clubs and so many others who helped us deal with our grief.
If there is some small consolation, it was the way that we, as a community, came together to support each other and cherish Joanna’s memory and I want to specially thank our athletes for the way they supported each other during a very difficult time.
We also suffered losses later in the year with the untimely passing of Bernard Murray, one of life’s true gentleman and a former stalwart of the Club’s Novice Cross-country team, while the McCabe family endured a loss with the sad passing of Jenny’s father Gordon in Australia. Our sympathy to the Murray, McCabe and Rayson families on their great losses.
I would also like to commiserate with any club members and their families who suffered any bereavements during the year.
In performance terms, our dynamic duo of Gerard O’Donnell and Eanna Madden continued to set the benchmark for success with both claiming National titles in Santry in July, a fantastic achievement for both lads and one that we are fiercely proud of.
Eanna retained his 200m crown with a real battling performance and then took silver in the 100m while he also competed over 100m and the relay at the European Team Championships. He also collected a bronze medal in Indoor Championships over 200m as he continues to develop into one of the country’s best sprinting talents.
Gerard regained his 110m Hurdles title with a superb run after an injury hit season, a season that promised so much earlier in the year when Gerard won a silver medal in the National Indoors 60m Hurdles. Despite the injury, Gerard timed his run to perfection and gave a superb display of hurdling to claim the 110m crown.
The National Seniors also provided me with a real highlight as we brought a busload of athletes to Dublin to experience the National Championships for the very first time. I think it was certainly an eye-opener for our athletes to see the best athletes in the country in action up close and personal and a revelation of what it takes on to succeed on a National stage and the fact that two of our own climbed to the top rung of the podium was an added bonus. It was a fantastic day out and I really think it is something we should encourage all our Post Primary athletes to take in and enjoy.
Special congratulations to Toyosi Fagbo on winning a bronze medal in the U14 100m Final at the National Community Games and Elise Bruen for winning an Inter-Varsity Indoors medal with the UCD Women’s relay team while we also had superb performances from Alannah McGuinness, Clodagh Sheerin, Gerard Murtagh and Toyosi in reaching national sprint finals while Gerard finished an agonising fourth in the Indoors Long Jump. Lauren Reynolds also produced an amazing run to break into the top 20 at the All-Ireland Schools Cross-country.
Once again, I want to thank all our athletes for their hard work and dedication, it makes it so much easier to be a coach when you have athletes as interested and committed as we have. Success isn’t measured just by medals but by the way our athletes compete, the support they show each other and the commitment they display daily - on that count, we have a club full of champions!
Of course, none of that would happen without a team of dedicated and enthusiastic coaches and officials. Many hands make light work and while we are always looking for more people to step forward, the team we have working behind the scenes deserved the highest praise and our deep thanks. The work of Siobhan Murtagh, Jenny McCabe, Orla Keaney, Diane Charles, Karen Brennan, Siobhan Whelan, Geraldine Lowe, Mary O’Donnell, Bernice Harman, Donnacha Holmes, Andrew Brennan, Mary Finn, Jennifer McGwynne, Alice Lynott and is second to none and we wouldn’t survive without it.
The other coaches will understand better than anyone that I must say a few words about Mary O’Donnell who has taken a step back from the extraordinary commitment she has given to our Club. When we returned for training on October 3, recently, it is stunning to learn that it was the first time in 30 years that Mary was not down in the complex, leading and organising us all, getting us going and keeping us on the right path.
It is no exaggeration to say that Carrick-on-Shannon AC as it is now and the success it has enjoyed would not have been possible with the inspiration and leadership Mary has shown us down through the years and you only have to witness Mary in action and what can only be described as adoration from hundreds of children who have passed through her care to appreciate just how important Mary has been to us all.
Mary is not leaving the Club and will still be involved through coaching or as a source of advice and leadership but in fairness, nobody can ever accuse Mary O’Donnell of not doing her time or of only looking after her own. Enjoy a well deserved rest Mary and our deep, deep thanks for so many years of unselfish service.
Back to the Tuesday groups, we took the hard decision not to accept any new members when we returned in October and it was not an easy one. It goes against the grain of so many of us who love to see new members joining but we also have to think in terms of health & safety and it can’t have been easy for our Primary School group coaches to look after 70 plus athletes in a small area week after week. It is a decision we will review later in the season but anything that contributes to the safety of our members has to be embraced.
Our Adult Running group continues to grow and grow and it is great to see so many adults competing all around the country with the Carrick AC vest to the fore. Great credit is due to Graham Allen for his leadership of this group as it continues to grow with his enthusiasm the driving force - well done to all.
Our Post Primary group was enormous last year but it seems to have exploded again this year with nearly 60 members out running on October 4, a total that was exceeded just once all of last year! It wasn’t that long ago that a big crowd on Tuesday comprised of 20 people!
It is great to see young adults of that age joining the club and it is exciting to see some of the talent in our ranks but it also poses new challenges and we as a club must ensure that we meet those challenges if we are to continue to grow and prosper.
Some of those challenges are a bit more personal and in all honesty, after 19 years as Club Secretary, I think it is time for a new voice in my role. This is not a devious way to solicit praise or a declaration that I am stepping down but all Clubs need a fresh impetus from time to time and I feel there have been times, on my part, when things have fallen through the cracks.
With a new role as Chairperson of the Leitrim Athletics Board, this is something that the Club needs to consider. I certainly won’t leave the Club short and am immensely proud of my role with our great Club but maybe we can start considering what is best for the long term future of the Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club.
I’d also like to thank Chairperson Mary Finn and Treasurer Jenny McCabe for all their work and, in terms of my coaching, Mary O’Donnell, Siobhan Whelan, Andrew Brennan and Donnacha Holmes for their support and advice, it made my life an awful lot easier.
A special word of thanks to Gerard O’Donnell who was a rock for me, our athletes and club during the Summer and to Eanna, Cathal, Elise, Callum & Kasey, their support was worth more to me than all the medals in the world.
I want to thank Adrian Jackson, Noeleen Murray Noone and everyone at Carrick-on-Shannon Community School for all their assistance during the year.
Finally, I want to wish everyone a successful year on the track, indoors or out, the roads and the country as we keep the Carrick AC flag flying high.
John Connolly
Secretary
