TIPPERARY GAA SCENE BY COUNTY PRO ED DONNELLY WATERFORD CRYSTAL CUP FINAL Congratulations to the Tipperary Senior Hurlers who retained the Waterford Crystal Cup on Sunday thanks to a 3-13 to 0-13 victory over Waterford at Templemore. Afterwards, Eoin Kelly collected the Waterford Crystal Cup from Munster Council Chairman Jimmy O'Gorman. Brendan Cummins, Eamonn Buckley, Declan Fanning, Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly are the only players to start in the Waterford Crystal Cup Finals of both 2007 and 2008. SENIOR HURLING CHALLENGE GAME Tipperary will play Wexford on Saturday next at 12:00pm in Clara GAA Grounds in Kilkenny in a Senior Hurling challenge match. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Tipperary will play their first match in Division 4 of the National Football League on Sunday next when they travel to Freshford to play Kilkenny at 2:30pm. Eddie Craul (Wicklow) will be the referee. Best of luck to the Senior Football management team of John Evans (Laune Rangers, Kerry - Manager), John Cummins (Cahir) and Niall Kelly (Kildangan) as they look to get their League campaign off to a winning start. Meanwhile, Brian Tyrell (St. Marys) will take charge of the Division 3 clash of Wexford and Longford on Sunday next at Wexford Park. SENIOR FOOTBALL CHALLENGE GAME Tipperary drew with Wexford in a Senior Football challenge game played at Ardfinnan on Sunday last on a scoreline of 0-13 to 1-10. The Tipperary team and scorers were as follows - Paul Fitzgerald (Fethard); Aidan Foley (Moyle Rovers), Mark Peters (Galtee Rovers), Ciaran McDonald (Aherlow); Christopher Aylward (Clonmel Og), Niall Fitzgerald (Monaleen), Tony Dunne (Burgess); Kevin Mulryan (JK Brackens, 0-1); Eamonn Hanrahan (Commercials); Philip Austin (Borrisokane), George Hannigan (Shannon Rovers ), Damian O'Brien (Eire Og Annacarty, 0-5); Eoin Kearney (Ballyporeen), Seamus Grogan (Aherlow, 0-2); Barry Grogan (Aherlow, 0-4). Subs used - Robbie Costigan (Cahir); Laurence Coskeran (Aherlow); Darrel Darcy (Shannon Rovers); Cian Maher (Fethard); Michael Harding (Golden/Kilfeacle); Shane Stapleton (Golden/Kilfeacle); Brian Jones (Arravale Rovers); Brian Fox (Eire Og Annacarty); Cathal Dillon (Aherlow); Philip Donnellan (Shannon Rovers). IMPROVING FOOTBALL IN WEAKER COUNTIES The Munster Council Chairman, Jimmy O'Gorman has set up a committee to come forward with proposals that will lead to rebalancing football standards in Munster. Anyone with ideas to achieve this should contact the Tipperary representative on the committee, Pat Moroney at Ballinacourty, Aherlow, Tipperary, via e-mail at [email protected] or via phone at 087-6597841. The committee is due to make an interim report on it's suggestions to the Munster Council in February. ALL-IRELAND CLUB JUNIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Well done to Moyle Rovers who qualified for the All-Ireland Club Junior Hurling Championship Final on Sunday last by virtue of a 4-18 to 1-8 semi-final victory over Sylane (Galway). Moyle Rovers will now have the honour of representing the county at Croke Park in the All-Ireland Final at 6:00pm on Saturday week, February 9th where the opponents will be Conahy Shamrocks (Kilkenny). The second match at Croke Park that evening will be the All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling Final between Tommie Larkins (Galway) and Clonkill (Westmeath) at 7:45pm. MUNSTER JUNIOR "B" HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Ballingarry qualified for the Munster Junior "B" Hurling Championship Final thanks to a 2-12 to 0-6 semi-final victory over Templeglantine of Limerick on Sunday last at Newtownshandrum. COUNTY ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DRAWS The draws for the County Adult Football Leagues were made recently with the first matches fixed for Sunday week, February 10th. The group pairings are listed in full below. SENIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE Group 1 - Rockwell Rovers, Ardfinnan, Aherlow, Mullinahone, Fethard, Killenaule, Arravale Rovers; Group 2 - Cahir, Commercials, Galtee Rovers, JK Brackens, Moyle Rovers, Eire Og Annacarty, Moyne-Templetuohy. INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL LEAGUE Six clubs will be involved in the County Intermediate Football League and are as follows - Golden-Kilfeacle, Upperchurch-Drombane, Clonmel Og, Fr. Sheehys, Newcastle and Newport. JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE Eight clubs will be involved in the County Junior Football League and are as follows - Ballingarry, Emly, Moycarkey-Borris, Clonakenny, Ballylooby-Castlegrace, Cappawhite, St. Patricks and Cahir. DUFFY NEW GAA DIRECTOR GENERAL Paraic Duffy from Scotstown in County Monaghan will succeed Liam Mulvihill as Director General (Ard Stiúrthóir) of the Gaelic Athletic Association on Friday. The term of office will be for a seven year period. Mr Duffy was the GAA's Player Welfare Manager and joined the Association as a full time administrator on January 1st, 2007. A former Principal of St. Macartans College in Monaghan, he brings a wealth of experience to the post. A former Chairman of the Monaghan County Board, he has chaired many central GAA Committees. He was Chairman of the National Audit Committee (2006), the Coaching & Games Development Committee (2003 -2006) and the Games Administration Committee (2000 - 2003). Mr Duffy becomes only the fourth man to hold the top administrative post in the GAA since 1929 and is the 18th in all. He is the first Ulster man to be appointed to a position previously held by the likes of Michael Cusack (a founder of the Association), Frank B Dineen (the man who purchased Croke Park for the GAA), Luke O'Toole, Sean O Síocháin and Padraig Ó Caoimh. On behalf of the Tipperary County Board, we wish Paraic well in his new role and thank Liam Mulvihill for his many years of service in this role during which he led many changes in the GAA. SPECIAL CONGRESS The Tipperary County Board were represented at Special Congress on Saturday last by John Costigan (Chairman), Barry O'Brien (Vice-Chairman), Tim Floyd (Secretary), Con Hogan (Central Council) and Ed Donnelly (PRO). While the rejection of an Under 19 grade grabbed the headlines, a number of significant motions were passed which will help with the running of club fixtures and these include the following - (a) The months of November and December will be a closed period for all inter-county games and for collective training. (b) The National Hurling and Football League will be constructed in order that they are completed over no more than eight weekends (including the finals) except in the case of Division Four in football where 10 weekends will be allowed because there are nine teams in the group. (c) Senior inter-county panel sizes will be set at 30 for the Championships and 24 for the National Leagues. That will enable more players to be available for their clubs during the National League season. (d) Extra-time will be played in all senior and minor inter-county championship games where required, excluding provincial and All-Ireland semi-finals and finals. Extra-time will be 10 minutes each way and if the sides are still level two further five minute periods of extra time will apply. (e) Inter-county challenge games will not be allowed on Saturdays or Sundays after the end of the National Leagues, except where a round of adult club games have been played in the counties involved between the Monday and Saturday of the week in question. (f) Team managers must sign up to a charter agreed with the County Board regarding training and other matters relevant to the smooth running of club fixtures in the county. CLUB OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMME A Club Officer Training Programme took place at the Tipperary Institute on Thursday last. This event was organised by the Tipperary County Board in conjunction with the National Development Committee and Munster Council Development Committee and contained training for Club Chairman, Club Secretaries, Club Treasurers and Club PRO's. The number in attendance was disappointing with about one-third of club officers present. For those who did attend, the introduction included speakers such as Sean Nugent (County Development Officer), John Costigan (County Chairman), Con Hogan (National Chairman of the Development committee), Tim Ryan (Chairman of the Munster Development committee) and a representative of the sponsors Gaelic Telecom. The club officers were then split in to different groups for an hour to concentrate on their officer position and this included a workshop where everyone got a chance to contribute to debate certain issues pertaining to their position. Following a short break, the club officers assembled together again for a Question and Answer session with both County Board officers and the Facilitators present to help to answer a wide range of questions from the floor. County Board Insurance Officer PJ Maher was also present and gave a brief run-down on the whole area of GAA-related insurance before the meeting came to a close. See below a couple of items which arose on the night which may be useful for Clubs not in attendance. CLUB E-MAIL ACCOUNTS Clubs in Tipperary began using e-mail as the primary form of communication in April 2003. All Tipperary clubs have been allocated an e-mail account in the format of [email protected]. Clubs are advised that there is a size limit of 20 megabytes for their club e-mail account. In plain terms, you are advised to read your e-mails regularly and delete those e-mails you no longer require to avoid reaching this limit. Roughly 20% of Tipperary clubs are not using their official GAA e-mail account which could result in clubs missing out on key items of interest. Any club who has problems accessing their e-mail account should contact Ed Donnelly at [email protected] or 087-2055642. GAA CLUB WEB SITES Clubs who wish to set up a GAA Club web site are asked to send their club crest / logo (if applicable) and the club colours to Ed Donnelly. There are no costs involved and the necessary training documentation will be provided - no web design knowledge is required. HARTY CUP QUARTER-FINALS Thurles CBS and Our Ladys Templemore fought out an enthralling Dr. Harty Cup Quarter-Final on Wednesday last with both sides living to fight another day. The replay has been fixed for this Friday, February 1st and if the replay is one-quarter as exciting as the drawn match, then spectators are in for another feast of hurling. Hard luck to Nenagh CBS who lost out to the West Waterford Colleges by 5-12 to 1-18 in their Quarter-Final. MUNSTER COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIP 2007 County Minor Hurling goalkeeper James Logue (Ballingarry) was a recent recipient of a Munster Council Scholarship. The criteria for the award being that the awardees are full time students attending a Higher Education Course and that they contribute to the playing and development of Gaelic Games in Third Level. James was one of 15 UCC students who received scholarships for GAA. He was chosen because of the impact that he has made to the UCC Hurling Club and especially the Freshers "A" hurling team who are preparing for the Inter Varsity competition, a championship UCC won last year. James is studying Arts in College and we are delighted that he joins a long list of Tipperary men associated with UCC Hurling including Nicky English, Eddie and Johnny Enright, Ian Conroy, Rory Dwan, Johnny Farrell, Gerry McGuire, Richie Flannery and Colin Morrissey. NATIONAL LEAGUE TICKET PACKAGES The GAA have announced details of a new supporter initiative for the 2008 Allianz leagues with fans being offered the opportunity to purchase a special ticket package for all of their counties Allianz league games through the GAA website. There are two different types of packages available for each County in both Hurling and Football and supporters can choose to purchase tickets for all of a county's games or alternatively all of their home games in the round robin stages of the Leagues at a discounted price. There has been a very positive response to the initiative. Tickets are currently on sale through the GAA's official website www.gaa.ie. From a Tipperary perspective, the ticket prices are as follows - Hurling - February 10th (vs. Offaly - home), February 17th (vs. Limerick - home); March 9th (vs. Galway - away); March 16th (vs. Clare - away); March 23rd (vs. Laois - home). Purchase a ticket for all five matches for ?55 (Stand) and ?50 (Terrace). A ticket for the three home matches will cost ?35 (Stand) and ?30 (Terrace). Football - February 3rd (vs. Kilkenny - away) February 9th (vs. Clare - home); February 16th (vs. Offaly - away); March 2nd (vs. London - home); March 16th (Bye); March 30th (vs. Carlow - away); April 6th (vs. Antrim - home); April 13th (vs. Waterford - away); April 20th (vs. Wicklow - home). Purchase a ticket for all eight matches for ?65 (Stand) and ?50 (Terrace). A ticket for the four home matches will cost ?35 (Stand) and ?25 (Terrace). ASAP OFFICER Clubs that have appointed an Alcohol & Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) Officer recently should contact their Divisional Youth Officer immediately as training for ASAP officers will start in the near future. VHI CUL CAMPS 2008 Clubs are asked to arrange a date for their VHI Cul Camp in consultation with Dinny Maher. Posters and forms will be available in early February. 2007 saw an increase of 20% in participation levels in Summer Camps in County Tipperary with all clubs very pleased with their progress. PRIMARY SCHOOLS INDOOR HURLING Games Promotion Officers are commencing a series of Indoor Hurling Blitzes for Primary Schools for which prizes will be given. DEVELOPMENT SQUADS Under 16 Hurling Divisional Development Squads will commence their sessions in early February. Under 14 Hurling Divisional Development squads will commence their sessions in early March. Under 14 Football Divisional Squads will commence their sessions in early February. Exact dates will be finalised with Bord na nOg next week. Under 17 Hurling County Development Squad will commence their sessions in early March. TIPPERARY GAA MEMBERS DRAW The February draw will take place in Kearneys Pub Cashel on this Friday night, February 1st at 10:00pm sharp. Michael Cummins will be presented with a cheque of ?12,000 following his success in the December draw. A lotto jackpot of ?6,000 will be drawn on the night so come along and celebrate Michael's big win. CUMANN NA MBUNSCOL SCHOOLS GAA PROJECT Cumann na mBunscol and O'Neill's have teamed up to give children the opportunity to focus on Gaelic Games in the context of their school. There are prizes to be won in every County and Province as well as nationally. Entry forms are available on http://cnmb.tipperary.gaa.ie. Category A: (Open to all children individual or group - max 5) Project entitled: "Tell us About Your Favourite G.A.A. Team". Category B: Individual Infant's - 3rd Class or Primary 1 - Primary 5 "Colour the Poster". The prizes include Category A - National Winner (1 X 25 Track-suits & 3 Adult Jackets and a ?500.00 Voucher). Four Provincial Winners (4 X set of Jerseys, Togs & Socks in school colours and a ?100.00 Voucher). 32 County Winners (32 X ?100.00 Vouchers). Category B - National Winner (Set of Jerseys in School Colours). 32 County Winners - (County Jersey). Entries, accompanied by completed entry form, to be sent to National Co-ordinator: Pat Mc Givern, St. Patrick's P.S., Coalisland, Co. Tyrone by June 30th, 2008. KEHOE CUP In the Kehoe Cup Senior Hurling competition, Meath earned a comprehensive victory over Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Cormac Spooner (Borris-Ileigh) was introduced as a second half substitute in this match while Brendan Duggan (Thurles Sarsfields) is also part of the TCD panel. CONDOLENCES On behalf of the Tipperary County Board, I would like to pass on our condolences to the families of two former inter-county players who passed away in recent weeks. Billy Ryan (Moycarkey-Borris) was the last surviving member of a famous hurling family. The Ryan family of Ballybeg were one of Tipperary's greatest GAA families with seven brothers, Paddy (Sweeper), Timmy, Johnny, Mutt, Larry, Timmy and Billy contributing much to the Gaelic Athletic Association. Billy played with the Moycarkey-Borris club over three decades, mainly in defence and won a County Number 1 Junior Hurling title with them in 1954 before going on to play on the Tipperary Junior Hurling team the following year. Following his retirement from playing, Billy was a selector on the successful County Minor Hurling Final winning team with Moycarkey-Borris in 1983 and was a Tipperary Minor Hurling selector in 1984 when the Premier County lost out to Limerick in the Munster Final. Percy Fleming (Carrick Swan) was part of a family who have had a long association with the GAA in Carrick-on-Suir and Tipperary. Percy's uncle Paddy was a goalkeeper with Tipperary in the 1950's. Percy was a most accomplished hurler in his youth and it was no surprise that following in the family tradition, he excelled as a goalkeeper. His talents did not go unnoticed by the Tipperary selectors when Percy wore the blue and gold jersey in the 1962 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Final. In the same year, Percy was a member of the first Carrick Swan Under 21 Hurling team to win the South title. Soon afterwards, Percy immigrated to New York but never lost touch with the GAA in his native Carrick-on-Suir, helping out the club with a number of successful fund-raising initiatives. May they rest in peace. GAA CLUB FORUM The GAA have announced details of their upcoming Club forum which will be held in Croke Park on February 9th. The forum, which will involve representatives from over 300 clubs, is intended as one of a series of initiatives which will contribute to the development of a National Strategic Plan for the Association which will be launched later in the year by incoming Director General of the GAA, Mr Paraic Duffy. The development of this plan will involve an extensive consultation process which will see the GAA canvassing a broad range of views from across a wide spectrum of Irish society and from within the Association itself. Each County committee will be nominating ten club representatives to attend the forum where they will be involved in a series of workshops covering many areas of GAA activity. The forum has been designed to allow discussion on key aspects of Association policy and to elicit feedback as to the direction and emphasis that club members feel the GAA should be taking over the next five years. The President of the GAA, Mr Nickey Brennan said that the forum was a great opportunity for club members from around the country to put their points across in relation to matters of importance to them and to their clubs generally. 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 Ed Donnelly at 087-2055642 or via e-mail at [email protected] 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. Tweet

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