Carrigdhoun clubs to vote on senior hurling participation

BY HOWARD CROWDY

THE clubs of Carrigdhoun have been asked to bring a motion to their AGMs on whether or not the divisional hurling side should take part in the county senior hurling championship.

The annual divisional AGM at Cork International Hotel on Monday evening, hosted by Ballygarvan GAA club, attracted delegates from all of the clubs in the division who, aired their opinions and observations on the past year’s activities.

Declan O’Neill’s detailed secretary’s report outlined all of the competitions held last season, from junior A hurling down to junior B football. 

Other items included the very successful Munster U15 hurling tournament, hosted by Valley Rovers, summer camps and a long list of thanks to sponsors, clubs for hosting games, referees, members of the media, club delegates and county board officers and delegates.

Ballygarvan’s Finbarr Marshall raised the matter of the Carrigdhoun senior team’s participation in the championship. He remarked that, following his experience with the senior team in recent years, he found it difficult to get players when they play for colleges such as UCC and CIT. 

He added that he could easily face five or six of his own club and divisional players in a championship match, making it particularly difficult and frustrating. Carrigdhoun were well beaten in their two games in the championship last year, one against UCC, and he felt that the Carrigdhoun divisional team were getting a raw deal.

He proposed that the college teams be prevented from entering or that the Carrigdhoun side would have precedent over the college teams, an idea which received some support at the meeting.

The general consensus was that Carrigdhoun should continue to take part, with chairman Pat Desmond adding that ‘the players are there and available’, but consideration must be given to these players who played five weekends in a row at one stage last season. Each club was asked to put the motion before its own AGM, with full backing necessary from the clubs and players involved.

The issue of the Scór competitions was brought up by cultural officer John Newman, who said that the Scór na nÓg competition in the division ‘has gone’ with barely three competitors contesting the south-east final the previous weekend. 

‘The Scór na bPáistí is thriving while the senior Scór is also on a slippery slope downwards,’ he added, and called upon the cultural officers of each club to make an effort to revive the Scór competitions.

In his address, chairman Pat Desmond noted that perhaps there was a bit of apathy creeping into the AGMs, with no motions put forward, and none for the county convention next week. He remarked that the loss of the U21 hurling championship was a blow to the division and felt that the division was being overlooked as regards having to re-arrange matches and being given very little consideration by the board.

He added that many clubs are being dictated by their managers regarding players for the divisional team, where it should be the officers who lead the club. He also congratulated Valley Rovers for capturing the junior A hurling and football titles this year. 

He was delighted to see that the smaller clubs in the division also had some success, with Crosshaven winning the junior B football and Shamrocks capturing the U21B football championship.

Medals were presented to delegates from clubs who won titles last season by Jerry Walsh of Cork County Board, who made note of the suggestions at the AGM and went onto wish the division all the best for the coming year

Officers were re-elected for the 2018 season as follows: chairman, Pat Desmond; secretary, Declan O’Neill; treasurer, Eamonn Kelly; development officer, Kevin O’Donovan; PRO, Joe Kennefick; cultural officer, John Newman.