I want to welcome everyone of you to our AGM here today and
thank you all for coming out this evening. It is my honour to address you this
evening after completing my second year as chairman of this great club. 2012
was an eventful year for our club. Our senior team retained their senior league
status by mixing the good with the bad. We finished on 10 points but some good
displays were equalled by some very poor displays. Our group campaign in the
championship was the same with an excellent win over Western Gaels cancelled
out by a very poor effort against Strokestown and an unlucky defeat against
Padraig Pearses. Our senior status was confirmed for 2013 with a battling win
over St Croans. I want to thank our senior selector John Crowe for the work and
effort he put in with the senior team. I also want to thank our manager Noel
Crossan for his effort, commitment, time and dedication he has put in with the
senior team. Our junior team competed during the year with numbers very tight
on the panel in a lot of games. They had a great league campaign and finished
joint second on 14 points but were then knocked out in the Quarter final by a
team who had finished 6 points behind them. Thankfully the county board have
changed this for 2013 and this crazy situation can never happen again. The
junior B team were successful in winning the northern final and were then
defeated by a very fit St Brigids team. Our junior grade is of crucial
importance to keep players involved and I would encourage every available
player to get involved in 2013. I want to thank our manager Anthony Carroll for
his great effort and time he put in to working with the junior team. I also
want to thank his selectors Colm Garvey and Paul Beirne for all their efforts. Our
U-21 team had 2 good wins in the group stage of the championship but were then
defeated by St Barrys in the county semi final. I want to thank our manger
Martin Garvey for his efforts and time with the team. I also want to thank his
selectors Michael Connellan and Pat Gannon for their work. I want to thank all
players involved with our senior, junior and U-21 team for their commitment and
work in 2012. I would ask every player to give it that little bit more in 2013
and hopefully you will get your rewards on the pitch. Our underage teams again
competed as good as ever despite small numbers on panels. The highlight of the
underage year was our U-14 team who gave us all a few very good days out along
the way to winning the league & championship double. I congratulate Raymond
Early and his management team on this mighty achievement. I want to thank all
our underage managers and selectors for their work with their teams. Your help
is very much appreciated by the club. I want to thank our minor board committee,
our chairman Padraig Doyle, Secretary Ann Sheridan and treasurer Gary Vesey.
You 3 officers hold a crucial role in the development and future of Kilmore
G.A.A. club and I thank you for all your work and efforts. I especially want to
thank Ann Sheridan who has unfortunately decided that she wishes to step down
as secretary of our minor board. I thank Ann for all her work and I hope to see
Ann involved with the club in the near future. I want to thank the parents of
all underage players for all their patience and work with our underage teams.
2013 may be a very special year for our underage teams. Our decision to field a
joint team with Shannon Gaels at U-14, U-16 and minor will hopefully ensure
that all our young players get to play at the highest grade possible. I stress
the point ALL our young players as it would be a disaster for our club to lose
any young players because of us fielding a joint team. I hope this can be a
successful partnership but we as a club must always keep our own identity. I want
to thank everyone in our club who has supported any fundraising venture that we
took on as a club during the year. Our club draw, Horse racing night, senior
team sponsorship, last man standing, golf classic and all our other fundraisers
we done I thank you most sincerely for all you financial support. i am well
aware of the difficult financial times that our country is experiencing at the
moment and your support in these times is even more crucial to our club. I ask
you again for your support in 2013 in
any fundraising adventure we take on. We need money to continue the upkeep of
these excellent club rooms so as our future players have the best available
facilities at their disposal. In 2011 we introduced our text messages which I
hope and I think keeps everyone up to date with whats happening in the club. Our
website is now into its second year and I would encourage everyone to check it
out and keep up to date with everything that’s happening. Our website was
launched on the 14th of August 2011 and since then we are averaging
18 visitors a day which is a good start. I would encourage anyone who wants
anything circulated via our text or website to contact myself and anything we
can do we will. I want to thank Tommy Reynolds and all his lads in FAS for all
the work they put in during the year here at the pitch. In particular their
work in the preparation of the pitch for the Strokestown game was most helpful.
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to help out at the pitch during the year, Thanks
to all stewards and people who helped out on getting the pitch prepared. This
year our Kilmore GAA golf society got up and running and I congratulate and
wish Tommie and everyone on the Golf society the best of luck. Our ladies GAA continues to progress within the
club. Our ladies club is in safe hands under JJ MCWeeney and his committee and
I would appeal to everyone to support our ladies GAA in any way you can. Our
SCOR also continues to prosper in the club under the great work of Annette
McWeeney and her committee. Our SCOR committee hosted a regional heat this year
in SCOR and was a great nights entertainment for anyone that was there. I would
encourage as many people as possible to get involved in SCOR in the year ahead.
I want to thank the teachers of our 3 schools in the parish. We can be proud of
all our young people in the parish and a lot of credit must go the the way they
are been taught in our 3 national schools.
I congratulate everyone who represented our club with Roscommon in 2011,
in particular Jack Sharkey who was a member of the Roscommon senior panel in
2012. A special congratulations to Dara Feely who brought a Connacht minor
league and championship winners medal back to our club, I want to congratulate
our former player Garreth Carroll who managed the Roscommon minor team and
Damien Tiernan who was part of the minor management team. I want to thank my
secretary Alan Ffrench and my treasurer Gary Vesey for all their work and
efforts throughout 2012. Thanks to Damien Tiernan who steps down as PRO after 2
years for all his work. I want to thank all members of our executive for the
co-operation and work in 2012. Our club would struggle without a good executive
and I appreciate all they effort and work you all put in. I also want to thank
all members of our sub-committees, our finance committee, our development
committee and our historical committee. Your work is very much appreciated. I
want to thank every player, supporter and member of our club for everything in
2012 and I ask you all for your support in 2013. As like every other year many
families in our parish were hit by death in 2012. I extend my deepest sympathy
to each and every person who has lost a loved one in the past and we all pray
for you all during difficult times. In particular we remember Ann McEvoy who
was buried just over 24 hours ago. As we sit here in our home dressing room I
would ask every single player and supporter of our club to give everything you
have on and off field for Kilmore G.A.A. in 2012. This is the greatest club any
person could be a part off and every person should be proud to say their from
Kilmore. Kilmore holds great respect in the county and we need to keep that
going. I wish you all the best of luck in 2013 and I apologise to anyone I have
forgotten. Brian Carroll Chairman Kilmore GAA Club
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