Club AGM: It was a case of ‘full house’ at our recently convened AGM and with so many achievements in 2013 the mood was very upbeat!

Outgoing Cathaoirleach, Shauna McElvaney, opened the meeting by welcoming the large crowd and then got the business underway with her own address.

In a very comprehensive Secretary’s Report circulated by Marie Greenan, in the absence of Eleanor McQuaid, the many highlights and achievements of 2013, both on and off the playing fields were highlighted. Gratitude was expressed to a large number of people and groups who had supported the club in various ways throughout the past year. Marie also thanked the wonderful supporters who had followed the various teams throughout 2013 – especially on that proud day in October when the club won a first provincial title. She concluded by stating how everyone’s contribution, no matter how big or small, was greatly appreciated by the club.

Honours for 2013:

• Monaghan Senior Championship
• Ulster Junior ‘Bridie McMenamin Shield’
• Louth Minor League
• Louth U-16 League
• Armagh U-16 League
• Louth U-14 League
• Senior County Camogie Player of the Year – Marie Greenan
• Ulster Final ’Player of the Match’ Award – Michelle Morgan
• Ulster Awards, Overall  ‘Chairperson’s Award’ – Clontibret

In her official role as Club Treasurer Marie circulated her financial report. The meticulous detail showed how much it had taken to run the club during the past year and how success can literally come at a price!! However she said that thanks to the wonderful support for our December ‘Breakfast with the Champions’ and Annual Draw, together with a number of financial donations, bankruptcy had been averted!!! Indeed the ‘Troika’ would be very pleased with our current financial standing!

An outline was given of the arrangements currently in place for underage training and parents were urged to ensure that their daughters attended these sessions. The possibility of our club hosting a visiting team in Féile na nGael this year (which is being hosted by Ulster) was put forward and an appeal for host families was made.

Marie also outlined the new financial arrangements put in place by the Camogie Association for registration of players this year.  The importance of all primary and second level students checking if they have 24 hr cover under the Allianz Schools insurance programme was stressed.

Currently our senior and minor players are training on Thursday evenings in the Community Centre. Players to be contacted regarding outdoor training which will commence by the first week of March. Discussions also took place around a proposal by the County Board to inaugurate a 9-aside League with stronger clubs like Clontibret either having to re-grade players or enter 2 teams. Neither option was deemed feasible by those in attendance, given the large cohort of our players doing state exams this year and therefore not available to play senior camogie until the end of June.

The Election of Officers reflected the confidence and positivity in the club at present with positions being filled with relative ease as follows:

Cathaoirleach: TBA

Leas-Cathaoirleach: Helen Moen

Secretary: Michaela McGinn

Asst-Secretary: Mairéad Tomany

Treasurer: Marie Greenan

Asst-Treasurere: Catherine Greenan

Children’s Officer: Nóra Tomany

PRO: Geraldine Clarke

Registrar: Marie Greenan.

It was disappointing, though understandable, that Shauna  stepped down from the position of Cathaoirleach as she had made a wonderful contribution to the club and also, as an officer of Monaghan Camogie Board, contributed considerably at county level. However with a number of personal projects on ‘the cards’ this year, including the small matter of her forthcoming nuptials, it would have been selfish to prevail upon her to remain. So instead we thank Shauna sincerely and wish her well in 2014!

We are also very fortunate in having not just an officer but a county official and underage coach in Marie. She has such passion for the game and the club that it preoccupies her every waking moment!! A huge ‘Thank you’ to Marie for all her work!!

Many thanks to all the other club Officers of 2013 – Aisling, Catherine, Nóra, Eleanor and Michelle  –  on whom the club leaned so heavily, so often, yet who worked tirelessly and shipped the  pressure without complaint.

Presentation Dinner: Saturday March 8^th is the date for our forthcoming Presentation Night in the Hotel Hillgrove. Jennifer O Leary, five- times All-Ireland medal winner and All-Star award winner, from Cork, will be our Guest-of-Honour.  Tickets have been distributed at recent training sessions and are on sale to the public for €30 (including Disco!). We are delighted to be joined by the Clontibret hurlers for this event so hopefully it will be a night to remember!!

Registration for all our under-age players takes place this Thurs (please note change of day) upstairs in the Community Centre at 8pm sharp. This will include a short presentation by our Children’s Officer, Nóra, on the importance of the implementation of the Code of Ethics in working with underage players. Registration fee for the year = €15

Féile na nGael: The most recent update in relation to Féile is that we have been accepted as a host club for Féile na nGael 2014 which means our U-14 team can participate in the competition! This is great news for the club but it will mean a lot of commitment and hard work from the players on this panel to ensure they acquit themselves well on the weekend of June 20.

While we reached the quota in terms of hosts, this in part was due to some families generously offering to host 3 or more girls! So perhaps if there are still families (not necessarily with U-14 players in their midst!) who feel they could host 2 little girls for the Féile weekend, please contact me asap.  The mandatory vetting forms etc have already arrived from the GAA Offices in Armagh so a meeting of all host families will take place early in March to explain the requirements of vetting and distribute these. Again many thanks to those families who have offered to host players.

Sponsorship: In the past few weeks 2 further sponsorships have come the way of the club with AIB, the main national sponsors of this year’s camogie, hurling and football and championships, inviting current Monaghan champions  to a launch last week in the AIB Monaghan. Thanks to Nicola Morgan who represented the Club and was presented with a kit bag full of domes, bibs and training sliotars.

In an exciting development Ward’s Pharmacy, Park Street, Monaghan have also offered our senior panel a substantial sponsorship deal for 2014 in the form of club leisure wear. While the finer details are still being ‘ironed out’ it is anticipated that a club ‘loyalty card’ will be put in place where people, through purchasing from their extensive range of, not only cosmetics, perfumes and medicines, but also accessories such as bags and jewellery (think Presentation Dinner!!), can contribute towards the club. An official announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

Congratulations to Karen Boyle who was awarded a Colleges All-Star Award recently for her outstanding performances –  in goals –  for St Patrick’s College Drumcondra. This is a wonderful accolade for both the club and college! Well done Karen!