Thanks to the efforts of all our fundraisers and donors we are delighted to have had the opportunity to provide some help and support to a few of our local clubs over the last few weeks.
Erne Gaels Belleek (top left) & Loughgiel Shamrocks Under 14’s (top right) represented Fermanagh and Antrim respectively in the 2018 Féile na Gael competition which took place in Co. Galway this year. The Foundation were proud to support both teams by providing training tops for Erne Gaels and Kit Bags for the Loughgiel team.
We are also pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to the great work taking place in two of our local clubs in County Antrim.
Naomh Padraig (bottom right) is an amalgamated juvenile club encompassing Armoy, Carey and Cushendun Parishes. Individually the clubs find it difficult to field underage and so the amalgamation aims to provide an opportunity for kids to play with a juvenile club closely associated with their parent clubs rather than drift away from GAA or join one of the stronger neighbouring clubs. Naomh Padraig has offered hurling for the last 3 years and has now also started to introduce Camogie with primary school aged teams competing in summer blitzes. The aim going forward is to build Camogie within the club but at the minute this has been difficult due to the limited availability of training equipment. With over 100 boys and girls in the Under 10 age group we were very keen to support this great work and delighted to have had the chance to work with club Secretary Sinead to identify and provide the equipment they needed.
St. Mary's Aghagallon (bottom left) have also undertaken a new training initiative this year, focusing on the under 8 age group with the aim of introducing both boys and girls to Gaelic games at a young age by teaching them the fundamentals and ABC's through fun and games. With over 40 kids involved in the early sessions this was another great opportunity for us to support the commitment of the coaches and parents within the club. We appreciate the hard work that goes into organising training for large groups of children and the expense that this can involve. Special thanks to Patrick Tallon for contacting us and taking the time to identify the equipment needed. Thankfully we were able to provide all the equipment requested and were delighted to see the work first hand when we met with the coaches and kids to complete the presentation.
We wish both clubs great success in the future and hope that all your hard work is rewarded when the boys and girls take to the field in the years to come!
The Shane Mulholland Foundation are keen to support any new initiatives aimed at increasing participation in Gaelic games and are particularly pleased to assist in providing fundamentals equipment for use with children in the primary school and nursery age groups. Please get in touch if you have identified a need within your club or school, we will be happy to consider every request on its own merits.