Setanta Ceatharlach Camogie

Setanta Ceatharlach Hurling/Camogie Club, Carlow Town

ON THE CAMOGIE PITCH (EXTRACT FROM SETANTA CEATHARLACH AGM 2018 – SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT BY LEO MCGOUGH).

U-6: Small of size, small of numbers starting out, the girls grew, the numbers grew, and fun was had, the coaching sessions in the Pres improving the skills, skills put to good use in a half-dozen Go Games camogie outings while some of the girls also swung ash with the boys in their Go Games and field day expeditions. As with the hurling Norah, Dympha, Deirdre, Catherina, Ronan and a host of parents facilitated the Queen Bees in their exciting exploits. Quality and Quantity, you ask? Good goods come in small parcels!

U-8: The top right-hand corner of the Presentation Grounds is a hive of activity every Tuesday and Friday evening as the eager beaver eights under the astute mentorship of Mick Doran, Jen Kelly, Lorraine Du Plessis and Paul Sinnott as these enthusiastic queen bees work on their skills. And spreading their wings on the Go Games circuit the Setanta U-8s have displayed to all the benefits of that hard work with a series of heart-warming displays. This group enjoyed 8 outings and were in full flight on finals day when a big travelling support cheered their every puck, block and tackle to the echo. Quantity at the start of the year was small enough but gained a few as the year went along and as to the quality, didn’t they challenge the parents to a ‘grudge game’?! And what a battle that was!

U-10: Quantity? Well here is a group that ticks all the quantity boxes. Well over 20 girls on a consistent basis attended training and matches and lead coach Eddie Coughlan informs me, as of tonight’s indoor, their tally of get togethers, indoor and out, is 75!, With big numbers of players you need a lot more mentors and here the U-10s again delivered, Ian Pender, Elisha Sinnott, Keith Sweeney in regular attendance, Paul Challoner helping out when study and work allowed, Brendan Short coming on board too. Ok, that’s field-camp explained, now to the battlefield … word from the trenches was that the quantity was matched by quality as our girls went toe-to-toe with the traditional giants of the game in Carlow, regularly fielding two teams at the Go Games, two competitive teams. And when the Go Games ceased these girls and their mentors sought battle outside the county confines, tipped across the border and returned from Paulstown and Bunclody with Kilkenny and Wexford scalps!

U-11: Time was the question was would we play at all in the Autumn U-11, we wouldn’t have enough to field a team. This year, with the U-10 management expressing a wish to play their 10s in the U-11 as a single entity and the U-12 management happy to mentor the actual 11-year-olds we were able to field two teams. That’s quantity! So was born Setanta Purple and Setanta Yellow and both teams were ultra-competitive, both contested finals with a vim and vigour that was a joy to watch. And what about the derby to beat all derbies, the night in the Pres that the Setanta Jerseys played the Setanta Inside-Outs, aka Setanta Purple v Setanta Green. It was a merging of quantity and quality.

U-12: The unrelated Ahe(a)rn(e)’s - their names aren’t even spelled the same! - took charge of the U12 girls this year. And Pat Ahern and Noel Ahearne had a busy year for the statistics reveal this group in terms of actual match outings was the busiest Setanta group, camogie or hurling, fulfilling 13 fixtures for a total of 18 games. Three of those games took place in the Leinster Blitz at the National Sports Centre in Abbotstown, 6 in the early season Go Games and 9 in the league, including the final in Fenagh when, believe it or not, we led Myshall at half-time. Time was we’d be afraid to keep score against Myshall at the grade. Ok, Myshall, the traditional powers, got a couple of goals to win but our girls were heroic in defeat. As regards quantity here, numbers were small enough early on and the promotion of U-10s not only alleviated the problem but caused a bigger one, 24 togged out for one home league game leaving Pat and Noel with quite the game time problem as regards running in substitutes! Things settled down again after that and the skill set of the actual U-12s improved as the year went on.

U-13: The age-old problem that was there with U-11 in previous years when lack of numbers would leave us with no choice but to withdraw from this Autumn League looked to be there for this U-13 event but into the breach came coach Paul Sinnott who not only rallied enough troops but motivated the girls into three worthwhile performances.

U-14: ” We enjoyed our day”. Four words that capture the essence of sport, words spoken by Setanta U-14 coach Katherine Barcoe Keogh after her girls competed in the Carlow B final blitz in Kildavin in July. "We won our first game, lost our second, finished second but we enjoyed our day" Numbers were small enough for this group, especially actual 13 and 14-year-olds but those who enlisted soldiered well and won their 3 games against Kildavin and made things increasingly difficult for Burren Rangers each time they met. Katherine Barcoe-Keogh was often a lone-hand here and when study commitments proved a challenge Paul Sinnott came on board as coach. Quantity of players and coaches was a concern, but the quality was good.

U-16: Participation by dent of perseverance was the order of the day here. Katherine Barcoe-Keogh was again a lone-hand here until Paul Sinnott came on board and without the assistance of the U14s, with whom they trained, the U-16s would have struggled for numbers. But numbers they got and fielded in every fixture, 3 league games, a play-off and the final in Fenagh. Beaten in all 5 games, beaten heavily enough on occasion, the girls were not deterred and after a long break from games over the Summer turned out in large numbers for our own 7-a-side blitz in which we renewed rivalry with Burren Rangers and allowed Kildavin bring their isolated players back to the fold to field a Kildavin U-16 team, keep the red and black colours flying. As we have isolated minor players with Burren Rangers due to our lack of numbers at that grade we empathise with Kildavin and the need to keep the jersey alive in the girl’s minds. Speaking of colours, our own blitz featured a cross bar challenge for each of the competing teams, the prize for which surely created camogie history … a colourful mascara set!

Adult Camogie: “Patience and perseverance” were words of advice from Michael Dempsey, the wellknown Kilkenny and IT Carlow mentor, in the early days of Setanta, “it will take patience and perseverance”. Well Adrian Corcoran, the Setanta Adult Camogie coach, is blessed with both! Early doors, as the English soccer pundits say, early doors the numbers were small, so small they were nearly non-existent! But sessions continued to be called, emergency meetings were held, prayers were said … and lo and behold things began to improve. Then the Angel Gabrielle appeared in the guise of a go-ahead lady in Co Laois who wished to run and Cross Border Development League. Now the Adult group had a focus … it’s not just children want games you know! Training numbers rose and a first-round win over Burren Rangers in the Pres lifted the spirits of the entire club, our young girls had role models to look up to. Next it was off to Co Offaly, to Coolderry. There was reason to quietly allow “what happened in Coolderry stay in Coolderry” but manager Adrian, having weighed up the pros and cons, released the score line, not, though, before explaining the opposition just simply should not have been in a Development competition, it was akin All-Ireland champions Cork playing a Junior B county. If anything, this reverse on the road strengthened resolve and back in the home comforts of the Pres our ladies produced a wonderful performance when running organising club Naomh Eamhain of Laois close in a high scoring thriller. Now all eyes were on a Shield final rematch with Carlow neighbours Burren Rangers, the ladies goal now ’silverware’. And it was goal achieved, victory after extra-time in Mountrath adding to the fairy-tale. And probably most satisfying of all from the club point of view was that no fewer than six of the girls who saw action during the victorious campaign were graduates of our own juvenile system while others had been press-ganged from other duties in the club! (Take a bow Norah and Helen!) To Adrian Corcoran, already a busy man with county hurling commitments, goes major kudus, a fact recognised by the ladies themselves at a celebratory dinner when Adrian, his father Tommy and Mary Bates were all recipients of gifts, proof of the camaraderie generated amongst a group captained by Noelle De Lacey with a special mention to Casey Tobin whose brave move to transfer her club allegiance to Setanta prompted our affiliation. Q & Q test passed with flying colours.