Elm Cafe – Adult Championship Top Scorers
Senior – Eimear Kelly (Truagh Clonlara)
Intermediate – Louise Woods (St Joseph’s)
Junior A – Aoibheann Malone (Corofin)
Junior B – Chloe Philpott (Kilkishen/Bodyke)
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Clare Camogie Lifetime Achievement 2019
Seamus Hayes – Lissycasey
An rud is fiú a dhéanamh, is fiú é a dhéanamh i gceart –
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
I think it’s a fair comment to say that Seamus Hayes embodies what it is to give a lifetime of service to a voluntary body. 1969 – a pivotal year in Seamus’ life. He finished school in St Flannans, became the secretary of Lissycasey GAA Club and for us in the world of Clare Camogie fortunately he joined the Clare Champion.
He served as secretary, treasurer, PRO & Chairman of his beloved Lissycasey Club from 1969 to 2019 – 50 years unbroken service. He started off in the Champion covering Shannon town, but his big passion was sport and he soon made the corner desk his spot where he was able to combine his love of sport with the day job.
Ní ceart go cur le chéile – There is no strength without unity
Seamus involvement in Camogie was on the sideline, not with the Bainisteoir jersey on his back but his trusty biro & spiral notebook in his hand. Week after week our game was reported on with accuracy and diligence.
Indeed, some of those early years following Clare’s first All-Ireland success in 1974 led to further interviews decades later as Seamus has a knack for tracing the family link between current and past players. Seamus always had a welcome for our County PROs and built up a contact book down through the years which proved invaluable.
He was a presence at games, County AGMs and a solid source of advice. Seamus was a visionary for his time and was painstakingly efficient in how he managed the balance between female and male sports coverage.
Tada gan iarracht – Nothing is done without effort
Seamus has been hugely involved with Lissycasey GAA and represented his Club at all levels playing football. Early retirement due to knee injuries saw him take up squash firstly and then golf – and again he put in the hours, and gained accolades in both squash and golf.
Married to Marie for over 39 years now, Seamus will be the first to admit that Marie carried the can in relation to carting all 4 of the kids – Joe, Jane, Mairead & Sean all over the county; but even with his busy schedule he always managed to make it to their matches, swimming galas or dancing feises.
The summer was his busiest time with sport and even though he wasn’t a holiday man he made sure that the family always got out few days away together during that time. He now cheers on his 5 grandchildren.
He may have retired officially in 2018 from the Champion but he is still to be seen on match days as he indulges his passion for sport with some freelance work. His collection of match programmes continues to grow, and now he has a bit more time to enjoy them.
Seamus is a true Gael, both Clare Camogie and Lissycasey GAA have been fortunate to have such a talent at their disposal over the last half a century.
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Clare Camogie Volunteer of the Year Award 2019
Catriona (Cats) McMahon – Newmarket on Fergus
Catriona (Cats) McMahon has been involved & helped manage NOF’s U15/16 & Minor teams for the last few years. She has played both club & county and to put it mildly is very passionate when it comes to camogie and does not seem to have the word “no” in her vocabulary when it comes to the GAA.
She has a great way of communicating with the girls and they in turn have great respect for her. Her ultimate goal is to keep them together playing camogie and to see them win silverware.
This particular age group have had very little success so she set up a “Winter Academy” to keep them fit over the Winter months, bringing along various coaches every week to keep it interesting and to sharpen their skills in readiness for the upcoming season.
Not an easy task, getting girls or coaches out of their bed of a bleak Sunday morning but with pure heart and dedication she achieved it. Interspersed and to keep all focused, she organised fun “bonding events” throughout which resulted in the younger girls mixing with the older girls.
In NOF, we have always had a few girls who would never entertain playing with the age group above them, this has long been an issue as our panel numbers are very tight.
Due to the Academy, the major bonus for the club was that a number of the girls did make that required step-up, as they had come to know the older girls and were confident playing with them which was really a great achievement.
It was evident to see a marked improvement in performance and due in no small way to Cat’s sacrifices & those that were in assistance to her, we won in both our U16 & Minor Championships.
Within the club, Cat’s was also on the Management of our U21 Hurling Team. She also assisted last year with the Clare Minor Camogie Team training and this year organised a very successful U15 Clare Development Squad Blitz which took place during the Summer.
She has assisted in our Club shop; in fact it would be very rare indeed that when called upon that Cat’s would turn you down.
Cat’s is a great fundraiser for the club, always coming up with ideas and entering competitions. Last year she worked hard and helped NOF Camogie Club enter the “Liberty Insurance” competition with a chance to compete in Croke Park, All Ireland day.
The club submitted a video all co-ordinated by herself and as a result of being successful with it, 5 girls from the club were selected and headed to Croke Park to represent club and county in the skills competition. Though we did not win, we won €3,000 in funds for the club and a great bonding trip ensued for all members who attended in great numbers.
This year the club held “The Chaser” in April and again, Cats was on the fundraising committee and worked tirelessly for what was a very successful event for the club. The ‘TG4 Subaru Competition’ caught her eye and again she solely organised and got a video produced for this competition.
She promoted it tirelessly among the community and even travelled to neighbouring clubs handing out flyers looking for much needed votes, brazen indeed! She won the video competition as a result of this!!
Now looking forward to 2020, she has already put her name forward for getting involved again with club teams. Not only that but this week, has already started again with her “Winter Academy 2020”.
Catriona is one of the most efficient Club Managers in Newmarket on Fergus with regard to her response to the Executive on team reports, player nominees etc. Her timeliness and efficiency is an example to all of us.
She volunteers her opinion on issues that arise, and questions the rules regulations with the sole objective of improving the Newmarket on Fergus Camogie player experience. She goes above and beyond her role as Club Manager with regards seeking opportunities for fund raising and takes responsibility for player and club development.
Cats is never idle, always planning and gives 100% to camogie and Cora Chaitlin GAA Club. A “True Blue”.
A very worthy nominee of the Clare Camogie “Volunteer of the Year Award 2019
