No Joy in O Byrne or Walsh Cup games.
Westmeath had little joy in the O Byrne or Walsh cup games over the course of the past week. On Wednesday 8th January, DCU came away with a 2-15 to 2-09 victory over Westmeath at Lakepoint park tonight in what was a well contested O Byrne Cup encounter. The students who have an impressive record in this competition raced into a 1-2 to 0-2 lead but were pegged back by a Westmeath side that dominated possession in the middle of the opening half as the teams were level at 0-7 to 1-4 with eight minutes remaining in the opening half. The home side lost momentum after David Duffy was black carded and DCU grabbed their second goal to lead by 2-6 to 0-7 at half time. Westmeath made a number of changes for the second half and when Paul Sharry netted a great goal the pendulum seemed to be heading back in favour of the home side. However, DCU moved back into a five point lead before Dessie Dolan finished off a great move to draw Westmeath within two points but the Students finished stronger to run out six point winners. On Sunday, Westmeath made the journey to Drogheda to play Louth and were beaten by 1-15 to 0-10 in a fixture from which neither side could make progress to the latter stages of the competition. The sides were level at 1-5 to 0-8 at half time and the game remained well contested until the final ten minutes when the home side closed out the game to win by eight points. In Mullingar, Westmeath Senior Hurlers were very unlucky not to have overcome DIT in a cracking game at Cusack Park which went to extra time with the final score being 3-17 to 4-12. Westmeath led by 2-5 to 1-7 at half time and when Robbie Greville nabbed his second goal and Westmeath's third, the game looked to be heading in favour of the home side. However, the students came with a strong rally which saw them lead by 3-12 to 3-07 with a minute of normal time remaining. Westmeath grabbed their fourth goal in added time and a late Noel Conaty free saw the sides finish level at 3-12 to 4-09. The first half of extra time saw DIT ahead by 3-14 to 4-10 but they finally shook off the hosts by two points in what was a very competitive encounter. DIT now progress to play Kilkenny next Sunday while Westmeath will play Antrim in the semi finals of the Walsh Shield.
Hastings Cup:
Westmeath Under 21 footballers bounced back from their opening round defeat to Kildare to come away from Miltown Malbay in Clare with a 3-09 to 2-08 win over the Banner boys on Saturday 11th January. Westmeath will face Roscommon next weekend.
County Board Meeting:
The most recent County Board meeting was held before a bumper attendance as the club delegates discussed the planning reports for both the local Football and Hurling championships. This meeting is normally where transfers and regradings are discussed but these are now being dealt with by the cccc as per rule so certainly some of the liveliness of similar years from previous years was missing. Cathaoirleach Sean Sheridan informed delegates of the new Sponsorship deal with Renault and it was outlined that the official launch of the new Jersey will be within the next two weeks and clubs will be informed in due course. The planning reports for the football championships were approved with a few small variations to what was proposed but generally follow a similar pattern to recent years. The Adult football leagues remain as a seven division contest with Divisions 1 to 4 being 15 a side and Divisions 5 to 7 being 13 a side competitions. In Hurling, the major change comes to the Senior Hurling championship where the two division structure of recent years changes to a single eight team Division where they will be seven championship rounds. In terms of timing of contests, there was some discussion on the proposals to commence Cup competitions on the weekend of 18 January but after a vote, the proposal was agreed upon. The leagues will commence and finish prior to the championships which are planned to start in June. Full details of the planning reports have been issued to the clubs and are listed on the County website for information. www.westmeathgaa.ie

#GAAnextgeneration
#GAAnextgeneration is being launched as a wide-ranging consultation process to be conducted with young people in Ireland - both GAA members and non-members - in order to identify how the Association can best cater for their needs in order to maximise the recruitment and retention of young people as well as to develop structures to ensure that young people to have a voice within the Association.
#GAAnextgeneration will combine both consultative and promotional events, and these will be structured in a manner that reflects the tiered structure of the Association i.e. grassroots through to national level. Furthermore, a crucial element of the programme is that young people will be involved as activists in the overall process - to this end each County is requested to identify 5 'young social organisers' to assist with the implementation of activities within each County. Westmeath County Board has contacted clubs on this initiative and more information will be published in the coming weeks.
GAA Season Ticket 2014:
The Provincial Championship draws are complete and the League fixtures are being finalised. Dublin and Clare are our Champions. Who will reign in 2014?
The GAA Season Ticket can be purchased at a base price of  €85 for adults, juveniles are €10.
Loyalty rewarded - qualify for All-Ireland Final tickets. Click here for more information.
Great value - great price plus more discounts throughout the Championship.
Convenience - you have your ticket for your team.
Exclusive Extras - 'bring a friend' options, special purchase options for other matches

What's included?
- All your County's Allianz League round matches plus all League semi finals, play-offs and finals in that code
- Your County's opening Championship fixture
- All Allianz League round matches in your selected code. So if you have a Longford Football Season Ticket you can go to any Allianz League Football match.*
- AIB GAA Club All-Ireland Finals in Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day.*
You will also enjoy discount prices during the Championship - Pay & Play kicks in after your opening Championship fixture.

GAA Season Ticket is county specific & code specific, so that means you need one for hurling and one for football.
The Ticket provides entry to the stand for one person at all of your county's Allianz GAA National League matches & GAA Senior Championship matches.

You can buy the Ticket on-line only and you will need a credit card or laser card to do so.
You pay an initial base price of €85 that includes all of your county's League round matches plus the opening Championship match. It is then Pay & Play for each subsequent match that your county plays in whether you attend or not. The new Juvenile GAA Season Ticket has a base price of €10 and then Pay & Play applies.
Dedicated fans will be entitled to All-Ireland Final tickets. See Qualifying for All-Ireland Tickets for more details.
For details on your county specifically click on the relevant code and then select your county: Hurlingor Football.
For any queries in relation to the GAA Season Ticket please contact: [email protected]

Scór:
Westmeath Scór committee held a meeting to decide dates for Scór Sinsear which will commence in February. On the basis of interest shown to date, it seems likely that only a County final will be required and this is set for Saturday 22nd February with the Table Quiz final on Friday 21st February. Westmeath will be represented in force at the Leinster Scór na nÓg final on Saturday 18th January in Erins Isle and all competitors are wished the best of luck as they attempt to qualify for the All Ireland final.

Mouth Guard Rule in force for all players
As of January 1, 2014, all GAA players must wear a mouth-guard when playing as part of the GAA's ongoing efforts to safeguard the welfare of players. Participation in Gaelic Games will be dependent on players wearing a mouth-guard and match officials have been instructed accordingly.
This latest move is the second implementation phase of a motion which was passed at GAA Congress in 2012 - the first phase focused on beginners grades to Minor level and came into effect 12 months ago. 

The aim of the Mouthguard initiative is to reduce the number of dental injuries in the game and research figures, compiled prior to Congress in 2012 indicated that Ireland has one of the highest rates of sport-related oral injuries in the EU, with one third of all adult dental injuries being sports-related and a survey of Irish parents found the average cost of emergency dental treatment for sport related dental injuries in children to be €214.23. Studies have also shown that the overall injury risk is close to twice as high when a mouth guard is not worn, relative to when mouth guards were used during athletic activity. 

Prices for the GAA/GPA endorsed mouth guards start at approximately €8 for "boil and bite" mouth guards and custom fitted mouth guards are also available. The boil and bite mouth guards come in four categories of protection: bronze, silver, gold and platinum and are available from the following local retailers: Supervalu; Centra; Lifestyle Sports; Elverys; O'Neills and Sportsworld. 

Players, Parents, Coaches and Club Officers can find further information on the "Mouth guard rule" as well as general advice on the type of mouthguards available at www.gaa.ie/medical-and-player-welfare/mouthguards/

I can be contacted at [email protected] or 086 3992403 Tweet

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