Juvenile Awards Night 2004

Posted on 27th Nov 2004 by AMN

Friday night, 26th November, saw the curtain being drawn on another great year for the juvenile footballers of Ballyholland Harps GAC.

The Harps clubrooms have rarely hosted a bigger crowd as a deluge of players, parents and supporters descended upon the club for the occasion.

There was limited standing room only available as on behalf of the juvenile committee, Sean Ross introduced the evening by thanking everyone in attendance for their effort and support throughout the year.

He especially welcomed the trio of special guests, new Down senior football captain Liam Doyle, together with the club’s own pair of county players, Ronan Murtagh and new addition Paul Murphy.

Club Chairman, Sean McAteer, made a short speech and he used the platform to encourage all young players to use Paul Murphy as an inspiration for their dreams and aspirations as footballers. He reminded everyone that ‘Murph’ could often be found as a substitute for his under-16 team, but a combination of hard work and endeavour saw him progress from reserve player to senior football player, and now to the county set-up.

On behalf of the senior committee, Sean also thanked the juvenile committee and mentors for the amazing effort that these men have put in over the last year. He commented that it has been one of his greatest pleasures as chairman to work alongside such a committed group of individuals.

The Down players each took the microphone and they were full of praise for the tremendous effort put into youth set-up and further encouraged the young players that effort reaps reward.

The award ceremony began, rather amazingly, with forty one (yes, that’s right, forty one!) under-8s receiving medals for winning the Annie Kearney Memorial Tournament and for coming runners-up in the Dromintine tournament. Special mention was made of the fact these under-8s played 15 games during the season and amazingly lost just one.

The under-11 team then received their medals for winning the Kieran Sands Tournament, while the under-12s, which were so unlucky in their league final against Bosco, also picked up mementoes of that occasion.

The individual awards then followed, with awards presented to the Most Improved Player, Most Promising Player and Player of the Year at each age group from under-8 to under-16.

The final presentations of the evening occurred when many of the club’s juvenile mentors were presented with foundation level coaching certificates.

Sean Ross brought a conclusion to events with another short speech, in which he recalled that just twenty years ago Mayobridge were a Division IV side, yet just two days after these awards they were to play in an Ulster Senior Football Championship final.

He suggested that a power shift was taking place in County Down football, away from the big town teams, towards the smaller rural teams – and that it was up to the people of Ballyholland to ensure that their club followed in the footsteps of their now illustrious neighbours and become a major part of that power shift.

In doing so he welcomed any additional help, large or small, that any of the parents and supporters in attendance could give to the juvenile set-up next year.

All in all, it was a great evening for the youngsters of Ballyholland. The sheer enthusiasm for football in the area at present is unbelievable, as evidenced by the amazing turnout for these awards.

The final season of the club’s first fifty years has just ended and with it, unprecedented success at senior level. But, if the likes of Sean Ross, Cyril O’Reilly, John Keenan and their team of mentors can maintain and build on the excellent juvenile systems they’ve developed in recent years, then surely even greater days lie ahead for their club.

List of Individual Award Winners:

Under-8 Most Improved Player (Joint Winners): Rory Watterson & Aaron O'Reilly
Under-8 Most Promising Player: Tiernan Rushe
Under-8 Player of the Year: Harrison McQuillan

Under-10 Most Improved Player: Francis Turley
Under-10 Most Promising Player: Niall McKevitt
Under-10 Player of the Year: Ruairi White

Under-11 Most Improved Player: James Keenan
Under-11 Most Promising Player: Nathan Murphy
Under-11 Player of the Year: Christopher Havern

Under-12 Most Improved Player: John Davis
Under-12 Most Promising Player: Daniel McGovern
Under-12 Player of the Year: Rory Keenan

Under-14 Most Improved Player: Ryan McArdle
Under-14 Most Promising Player: Kevin McAteer
Under-14 Player of the Year: Sean McManus

Under-16 Most Improved Player: Stephen McClelland
Under-16 Most Promising Player: Anton Haughey
Under-16 Player of the Year: Ruairi Matthews

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Email stories to anthony@ballyholland.org