Minor Champions 2018
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Well done to the Ballinamere Durrow u14 Ladies who claimed the u14 A Plate on Saturday 30th Sept 2017, defeating Naomh Molaoise.
Well done to the Ballinamere Durrow u12 Ladies who claimed the u14 A Shield on Sept 10th 2017, defeating Naomh Molaoise.
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Ballinamere Durrow Ladies Club
Ballinamere Durrow Ladies Football began seven years ago with about six girls and one coach. This year we now have in excess of hundred girls registered together with 16 coaches. We are delighted with the progress we have made and have so many people to thank for helping along the way.
The first year we played only challenge games, mainly against Clara who were very helpful with advice and support. The Ballinamere Durrow Underage Club were extremely supportive to us as were Durrow Football GAA Club. The first few years, we trained on the same night as the boys but as numbers grew in both girls and boys this was no longer tenable. So thanks to the two clubs mentioned we got our own evening to train, Thursday, which we still have today. In fact, we now train up to four times a week with different teams.
Following on from the challenge games we entered an U10 team in a league six years ago and we began to grow from there. Two years later we qualified for our first Offaly County Final beating St. Broughans in an exciting semi final. While we lost the final narrowly to Shamrocks, we were up and running. The following year we won our first silverware when our U14's won the Shield Final by beating St. Rynaghs. Later the same week on a memorable Sunday morning we won our first County B Final when our U12's beat Rhode after extra time.
Since then we have won several competitions including another U12 County Final and a B Feile Final both last year. We are proud to be now playing in the A championships this year and competing very well in both U12 and U14. We are also very proud that for the first time this year we had a strong and competitive U16 team, who went on to become County Champions. However winning competitions was never the main motivation behind setting up a Ladies Football Club. It was, and still is, to provide enjoyable exercise, a sense of belonging and an opportunity to learn new skills for the girls of Ballinamere Durrow. It gives them a chance to meet their friends and make new ones in a positive environment.
As previously mentioned we certainly could not have achieved the participation levels we have without huge support from the Ballinamere Durrow Underage Club, Durrow & Ballinamere Clubs, various sponsors but most of all an incredibly supportive group of parents, so many of whom help out in coaching, at committee level or simply show great support by tirelessly chauffeuring the girls to training in Durrow and Ballinamere and all over Offaly for matches. No matter what plans we put in place, we could not continue without this commitment.
For the last two years in particular we have worked closely with the boys club and I think it has enhanced both clubs as so many parents have children in both camps. The sharing of courses in coaching, first aid, child protection and Garda clearance, as well as equipment and facilities are areas where it has been an advantage to work together. The nursery, SAQ training & fitness testing during the winter and the enjoyable club barbeque are also things in which both boys and girls participate.
A challenge now will be to continue to grow the club, maintain the participation levels and to progress to minor and adult level. I feel that if the support we have received up to now is anything to go by we have every chance of succeeding in these aims.
Cathaoirleach Peil na mBan
