Nursery Management Team for 2018 The Nursery / beginners group will be looked after by Sean Holly (Team Co-ordinator) in 2018, supported by Alan Kelly, Geraldine Griffith, Richard Byrne, Dessie Dolan and David O'Shaughnessy. Contact Sean on 087 6262330 with any queries, or to get details of training activities, etc. Training for 2018 Training
for this age group is on Sunday mornings, from
11:00am to 11:45am, in Garrycastle. All are welcome on the day. Welcome back to all those that were involved in 2017, and a huge welcome also to all of those who are just beginning in 2018!  Nursery fun, Sunday November 25th, at the Indoor running track in AIT. Click on the image to see more photos!  2016 St. Patrick's Day Parade, Athlone! The Under-6 group marched proudly in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Athlone this year. For details and photos, please see the St. Patrick's Day page! New Kit Sponsorship from Grovelands Childcare, Athlone! The Under-6 group will have an all new kit this year, sponsored by Grovelands Childcare, Athlone!  Photo shows Mark Redmond (underage chairman, Garrycastle GAA Club), being presented with the new kit by Regina Bushell and Deirdre Bushell of Grovelands Childcare, Athlone 2015 Under-6 End-of-year party, Bowling Alley, October 19th The Under-6 group held their annual end-of-year party in the Bowling Alley on Monday evening.  Under-6 Football Blitz, Garrycastle, September 12th We held our first home under-6 blitz in Garrycastle on Saturday morning, with teams from Athlone and the Moate All-Whites in attendance. Despite missing a number of key players, the Garrycastle boys and girls gave a great account of themselves. They played two great games, with plenty of determination and skill on view from the youngest players in the club. Particularly prominent for Garrycastle were Jack Tucker, Erin McHugh, Tadhg Mulvihill, Jack Kilmurray, Ella Sweeney, Rory O'Connor, Doireann Keena and James Earley. After the games all the players were treated to crisps and drinks in recognition of their efforts. Many thank to the mentors and players from Athlone and Moate for coming in and to the Garrycastle players and their parents for the great support from the sidelines. 2014 Information Challenge match v. Athlone, August 31st Our under 6's played their first ever match last Sunday morning in a friendly against local rivals Athlone. A large crowd were treated to an exciting match with both teamsshowing great skill and sportsmanship. Athlone had the better start with a couple of early scores. However the Garrycastle boys and girls settled into the game and defended well for the remainder of the half. The second half was a closer affair and a goal from Senan Nugent got the crowd to their feet. The final score of the game went to Garrycastle with a fine point from a free by Jack Dowling. Thanks to Athlone for a good sporting game, which no doubt be the first of many times these youngsters will meet. Match Report : Colin Clyne 2013 News etc. Challenge match v. Tubberclair, October 9thThe very youngest team in the club took to the field in a hugely entertaining challenge match under lights against near neighbours Tubberclair on Wednesday evening in Garrycastle.  For practically all of these players, it was a first experience of playing for the club outside of training matches each week. In later years when they are playing competitive football at whatever age level, we hope that they may occasionally think back to these types of evening, when it was all for the fun of the game itself. On the evening we had: Conor McCormack, Luke Quilty, Senan Nugent, Darragh Clyne, Rian Gaynor, Conor Deeney, Matthew Hardiman, Van McCay, Oisin O'Donoghue, Simon Skoczen, Louie Shine, Darragh Glennon, Hannah Heneghan, Siun Lyons, Amelie Henson, Dylan Maloney, Keelan Ward, Alex Conner, Trudi Quilty. Training Training times for the Beginners group is on Wednesdays, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Training will normally be held on the top training pitch in Garrycastle. PLEASE NOTE : Training for this age group has started, details are texted to all parents each week. At this age group, the focus is on introducing the players to the club, and encouraging them, through fun activities, games and exercises, to play Gaelic football. With this in mind, we follow the GAA best practices, see description here. Football Beginners group - End of year party 2012  The under-6 age group had their well deserved end-of-year party on Wednesday evening in Krazy Kids, in Blyry. A fantastic turnout saw more than 50 of the clubs youngest members have a ball on the astro pitch, slides, climbing areas, etc. After a healthy (!) feed of chips, chicken nuggets and sausages, washed down with "purple" (as one of the kids called it), everyone of the players was presented with a medal to mark their year by Club and county senior players Doron Harte and Des Dolan. Our thanks to Doron and Des in taking time out from their busy training schedule leading up to the senior final on Sunday, (c'mon the Castle!). Huge thanks also to all of the group mentors and parents for helping out during the year, to the transition year students from the Marist College, (Micheal and Donal), who helped out as part of their Gaisce award, and to Cornamaddy NS for the use of the school pitch. We look forward to do it all over again next year! A slideshow of pictures from the party is included below (thanks to Des & Deirdre McEnery for all of the photos) ... Football Nursery Beginnings - 2009A decision was made in 2009 to institute a dedicated programme for the youngest members of the club, boys and girls under 6 years of age. |
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