NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE ROUND 1
Tipperary’s Senior Footballers begin their Division 2 National Football League campaign on Saturday evening, February 6th against Laois at 7.30pm in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise. After the rapid progress of the last 2 years from Division 4 to Division 2, our senior footballers will be looking to continue the upward trend in their performances. A good start on Saturday night would be a huge benefit to the team and we would urge as many supporters as possible to travel to Portlaoise to support them. For those travelling, there is a competition for 2 tickets for the game. To enter the competition text the answer to the following question along with your name and contact phone number to Hugh Coghlan, PRO of the Tipperary Football Board on 087 9877355 before 7pm on Friday night : From which county does Tipperary senior football manager John Evans come?
Captain and Vice Captain of Tipperary Senior Football Team
Congratulations to Robbie Costigan of Cahir who has been appointed captain of the Tipperary Senior Football team for 2010 and to Philip Austin of Borrisokane who has been named as vice captain. Both have always represented their county with skill and pride and are more than equal to these important roles.
WATERFORD CRYSTAL CUP SENIOR HURLING
Hard luck to the Tipperary Senior Hurlers on their narrow 2 point defeat to Clare in the Waterford Crystal Cup quarter final played in Borrisoleigh on Tuesday, January 26th. Well done to the Borris-Ileigh club for the excellent arrangements they had in place for the game. There was a fine crowd in attendance and everything ran very smoothly. Hosting an inter-county game is never easy and doing so at night in January poses additional problems, but it was great to see such a strong club and community effort proving more than equal to the challenge. Well done and thanks to all who contributed to the success of the occasion.
DR. HARTY CUP COLLEGES SEMI-FINALS
Next Sunday February 7th is a big day for the Munster Second Level Colleges with the two Dr. Harty Cup semi-finals being played. Tipperary will have a representative in the final as defending champions and strong favourites, Thurles CBS take on Nenagh CBS in Templemore at 2.30pm. The other semi-final will be played between St. Caimin’s College Shannon and Ard Scoil Rís, Limerick at Meelick also at 2.30pm.
COACHING SEMINAR
There will be a hurling seminar for club coaches and trainers run in the Dome at Semple Stadium on Saturday February 6th. It will run from 10am to 1pm. The cost per club for the seminar is €50 irrespective of the number of coaches attending. The seminar will be a combination of theory and practical sessions. The main speaker will be Dr. Cian O’Neill, from the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science in UL and physical trainer of the Tipperary Senior Hurling team. His theme will be “Theory and Application of Physical Performance Attributes in the Game of Hurling – developing fit and functional athletes”. Queries re the seminars should me made to Dinny Maher, Tipperary Games Manager on 086 3551830.
Thanks to John Evans for delivering the Football Coaching seminar last weekend and thanks to all those who attended.
Tipperary Supporters Club Membership Launch
Liam Sheedy launched the Tipperary Supporters Club 2010 Membership campaign on Friday, January 29th at the Horse & Jockey Hotel. Membership in 2010 will cost €30 (unchanged since 2005). Each Membership Card will be accompanied by a Tipperary Car/Window Sticker and a specially-designed Irish-made Tipperary Supporters pen. This special pen includes a unique pull out insert giving details of dates, times and venues for more than thirty fixtures in 2010 including all of Tipperary’s games in the Senior, Under 21, Minor and Intermediate Hurling Championships and National Hurling League. Members will be entered in Ticket Draws for five pairs of stand tickets before each of Tipperary’s Munster and All-Ireland championship games. They will also be entered in a Draw for an All-Ireland Hurling Weekend stay at the Four Star Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Dublin (match tickets included). Also members can access a discount scheme and can receive regular updates by email on team news, match reports and events.
The Club is actively seeking more people interested in helping the Tipperary hurling effort – particularly people living / working in Tipperary itself. Anybody who would like to sell Supporters Club membership is welcome to contact Supporters Club PRO and Membership Officer, John Coman on 087-9087105 or by email at info@tippsupportersclub.com. Supporters can join on line on www.tippsupportersclub.com by credit card or debit card. On the website details are also available of the direct debit facility. If joining by post please send a cheque or postal order payable to Tipperary Supporters Club to John Coman, 52 Hazelbrook Road, Terenure, Dublin 6W.
JUVENILE GROUPS FOR NATIONAL LEAGUE GAMES
Tipperary County Board are inviting Juvenile Clubs and Schools to organize Groups to attend the following National League games in Semple Stadium:
Saturday, February 13th: National Football League under lights: Tipperary v Kildare
Saturday, February 20th: National Hurling League under lights: Tipperary v Kilkenny
Sunday March 14th: NFL and NHL Double Bill: Tipperary v Meath in Football and Tipperary v Galway in Hurling.
Under 16’s will be given free entry and one accompanying adult will also be admitted free with every 10 juveniles in the Group. If you are interested in attending please fill out the form sent to all clubs and return well in advance of the game to Andy Ryan, Games Development Administrator, Tel: 087 909 0985 or email: andy.ryan.gda.tipperary@gaa.ie
REFEREES FOUNDATION COURSE CANCELLED
The foundation course for new referees which was planned to run over 4 nights in February has been cancelled due to insufficient interest. It is very disappointing that there was such a lack of interest and it is a challenge to all involved in club and county administrative roles to support the efforts of the County Referees Committee to attract new referees. If each club introduced just one new referee, it would make a significant impact. We need plenty of good capable referees for our games and we would urge every club to make a big effort this year to recruit at least one new referee
GAELTACHT SCHOLARSHIPS
Coiste Chontae Thiobraid Árann are offering a limited number of Gaeltacht Scholarships to 2nd level students in the county. Closing date for applications is Friday, February 12th 2010. Please note that students who have already booked a place in a Gaeltacht College and have the deposit paid cannot avail of this scheme. These scholarships are only available in two colleges as follows:
1. Coláiste Aodain Co. Na Gaillimhe (cost to student after scholarship = €450)
2. Coláiste Na Mumhan Beal Athan Ghaorthaidh Co. Chorcai (Cost to student after scholarship = €350). Complete the application form available from your club secretary return to An Runaí, Coiste Chontae Thiobraid Árann, Lar Na Páirce, Durlas Éile Co. Tiobraid Árann on or before Friday February 12th 2010. Please ensure the form is signed by your local GAA club secretary and your divisional board secretary as both units will be contributing towards the cost, if the scholarship is granted. Suitable candidates will be called for interview between February 18th and 26th and all applicants will receive a response by March 1st.
SPORTTRACKER / SETANTA COLLEGE MANAGER CONFERENCE
SportTracker and Setanta College are running a conference for sports team managers in the City West Hotel on February 20th. Tickets cost €75 each and places are limited. To book your place go to www.sporttracker.ie. Among the topics are building a plan for the coming year, team fitness and mental toughness, tips on eating and staying fit, how to monitor and develop your team’s goal setting and achieving those goals, developing your teams individual performance, building the jigsaw and media relations. Among a very strong cast of speakers are Donal O’Grady , Jack O’Connor, Pete McGrath, John O’Mahony, Dr. Liam Hennessy, John Deehan, Professor Aidan Moran, Garry Keegan, Gerry Fitzpatrick, Peter Quinn, Bart McEnroe and former Liverpool manager, Roy Evans.
TEMPLEDERRY KENYONS IN MUNSTER JUNIOR B HURLING
Hard luck to Templederry Kenyons on their defeat by St. Mary’s Rathkeale on a scoreline of 0-14 to 0-13 in the Munster Junior Hurling “B” final played at Raheenagh in Limerick last Sunday. This was the second year in a row that the final of this competition ended with a controversial refereeing decision. Last year Moyne Templetuohy were the unlucky losers. One wonders at the value of a tournament such as this with the associated travel and other costs. Perhaps it should be an official Munster Council competition or not take place at all.
COACHING AND GAMES DEVELOPMENT WEBSITE
A new website has been launched for Tipperary Coaching and Games Development – www.coaching.tipperry.gaa.ie. The new website has loads of useful information and contains all the latest news, details of upcoming events, coaching newsletters, games development activities and contact information. Well done to John Smith, County Youth Officer; Ed Donnelly, County IT Officer; Dinny Maher, County Games Manager on producing a great site and we thank them sincerely for the great effort they gave to the project.
TIPPERARY GAA SCENE
Information concerning all areas in the GAA will appear in this section in the future. If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles, please contact the County Public Relations Officer Ger Ryan at 086-8149146 or via e-mail at pro.tipperary@gaa.ie on or before 3:00pm on Monday. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at http://tipperary.gaa.ie to keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles.
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