A Chara, 

We have emerged on the other side of the dreary month of January and the evenings are already considerably longer which is certainly a sign that a full host of games is only around the corner. Before we dive into the newsletter, it is important to note that we have now combined all sections of our clubs' news into one document in recognition of the recent amalgamation of Aghada GAA Club, Camogie Club and Ladies Football Club. My thanks to each section's PRO's for their assistance on this.  

Celebration Night in Garryvoe Hotel:

The club will be holding a celebration night to officially recognise the amalgamation of Aghada GAA, Camogie and Ladies Football club. This event will take place in Garryvoe Hotel on the 16th of March. This promises to be a great night which will be a once-in-a-lifetime event. It's safe to say you will not want to miss the night so be sure to get in early when the ticket details are released next week. After a very long few years during the pandemic, it would be brilliant to see as many Aghada Gaels from near and far attend the historic event. You're guaranteed to have plenty of craic! 

Healthy Club:

Our Healthy Club committee have been incredibly busy over the last number of weeks with the fantastically run Ireland Lights Up walk. This walk takes place in Rostellan on Wednesday nights between 7-8 pm. The crowds have been growing every single week so it would be brilliant to see an even bigger attendance on Wednesday coming the 15th of February. Registration takes place at 6:45 pm. Make sure you bring a Hi-Vis. Well done to all the volunteers who are running this brilliant community event which allows both young and old get some fresh air and more importantly have a chat with some friends in a beautiful setting.  

Irving Oil visit Aghada GAA Club:

Aghada GAA was delighted to welcome Rosemarie Kenny from Irving Oil to Rostellan recently. Club chairperson Anthony Connolly thanked Rosemarie for Irving Oil's continued support of our club and outlined how their support helps the running of our day-to-day activities. Rosemarie explained how happy Irving Oil are to support Aghada GAA and congratulated the club on its recent amalgamation with the ladies' clubs.

Rebels Bounty 2023:

The Rebels Bounty Draw is back and it is important to thank the 300+ people who supported Aghada GAA Club by purchasing one of these tickets last year. A few weeks ago we held a draw for all of the 2022 Aghada Rebel Bounty members. We had ten winners of €100 which can be seen in the attached image. This draw was a key fundraising drive for the club in 2022 which enabled us to both run our club and also improve our fantastic facilities in Rostellan. This included the addition of our amazing new walkway that people are enjoying so much over the last number of months.  

Tickets for the 2023 draw are now on sale and we would be delighted if you would support the club by buying one of these. There are fantastic prizes up for grabs with a total prize pot of €500,000 over the course of the year. It has never been easier to join. All you have to do is click on the following link https://rebelsbounty.ergogroup.ie/prod/rebelsbounty/join-draw or contact John Motherway on 086 214 2582 or email Vince Rohan at pro.aghada.cork@gaa.ie

When purchasing your ticket make sure you select AGHADA as your chosen club.  

Lotto: 

Our club lotto jackpot stands at a huge €18,750. Tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/3bWAiqD and in all the usual outlets. Thank you to everyone who supports our club lotto every week. Your support is greatly appreciated.  

Camogie News (By Michael Daly):

After a successful 2022 where we managed to win the Junior B Championship and gain promotion to Junior A, we are busy at the moment making plans and preparing for 2023 across the Juvenile and Adult groups. As ever we are very welcoming to any parents or community members getting involved in the successful operation of the Camogie group. 

We held our AGM a number of weeks back and the following are the officers for 2023 

Chairperson - Vera Terry 

Secretary - Deirdre Somerville 

Treasurer - Kieran Walsh 

PRO - Michael Daly 

Registrar - Andrew O Brien 

Following the AGM we also held an EGM at the end of 2022 where we voted in favour of the "One Club" model. This is a very exciting initiative and we look forward to working closely with our fellow Gaels across the Aghada GAA Community. 

Roll on 2023. 

Ladies Football News (By Lauren McAllister):

We'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and sporting New Year. Hopefully, 2023 will bring joy both on and off the pitch. We started the New Year with our annual Long Kick. A great day was had by all involved. We'd like to thank Paul and Julie of The Schooner Bar for their continuous support towards the Long Kick. Congratulations to our winners Anna Hurley, Erin Roberts, Matthew Condon and Eoghan O'Shea.  

We’d like to wish all the girls selected on various Cork panels the best of luck for the coming year. Ava Coughlan and Ellie Lee (U14), Maisie McRae (U16), Brianna Smith (Minor), Sarah Leahy, Rachel Leahy, Hannah Looney, and Roisin Phelan (Senior). Also, a big congrats to Sarah who was named as joint vice-captain for the Senior team.  

Our Juniors and Seniors have returned back to training on Monday and Wednesday nights. Monday nights are being carried out in Midleton College Sports Hall. Wednesday nights are in conjunction with the camogie club with Dan McCarthy down in the sports hall. 

Juvenile GAA News (By Donal Walsh):

We have headed out of the long dark cold and wet days of January and into February with the renewed optimism of brighter days ahead, in fact, the grand auld stretch is upon us as there is now a full hour of more daylight than we had on the shortest day of the year, just before Christmas the 21st of December. We look forward to the days when our 3 pitches in Rostellan will be a hive of activity, with all teams back in the swing of things and the sight of our club president John T Motherway spinning around the fields on the tractor lawnmower, as the smell of freshly cut grass fills the air once again. We already have some teams in training as certain age groups are currently on strength and conditioning courses that will have them in good fettle for the year ahead and a big thank you to all involved in facilitating this, as momentum builds up for the rush of summer. Our Annual Tony Ahern long poc competition on Stephen’s day proved to be a great success as the weather was kind and we had a lovely morning to meet up with club members, young and not so young, to walk off the excesses of Christmas day. Many thanks to all who participated and supported the club along with Paul and Julie of the Schooner bar who sponsored the event. Our Juvenile AGM was also well supported and the best of luck to all who have been elected to run the juvenile affairs for 2023. Chairman PJ Hurley, Vice Chairman Alan Devoy, Secretary Willie Wallace, Fixtures Secretary Diarmuid O’ Shea, Treasurer Elaine Counihan, Registrar Pearse O’ Neill, PRO Donal Walsh. 

The club are holding a face to face child protection safe guarding course on Wednesday February 15th in Rostellan. Places are filling up fast and anyone who wishes to avail of this course or of another one at a future date or just to check that you are meeting all the requirements for your involvement in the club then contact our child protection officer Anthony Oosthuizen 0868375204 or email childrensofficer.aghada.cork@gaa.ie

The club held a very successful Juvenile GAA medal presentation as we celebrated the success of our many winning teams over the last few years with an enjoyable evening in Rostellan. This evening was made possible by the excellent organisation of our juvenile committee led by our chairman PJ, secretary Willie, the mentors of the various teams and of course the parents who helped out with the catering and providing an abundance of refreshments that added greatly to the occasion. Our thanks also to Brian Walsh a member of the Cork senior footballers’ backroom team who organised our special guest for the evening, the 2015 Olympic Bronze medallist, the 2016 World champion and the first person to represent Ireland in five Olympic games, the Cork and Ireland legend Rob Heffernan. The extremely popular and likeable athletics champion had everyone enthralled as he spoke of his humbling beginnings growing up in Cork, the difficulties he encountered and the people who inspired him along the way, as he climbed the ladder of success to the heady heights that brought him to the top of the world in his chosen sport. He spoke of his pride in winning the school mile as a young boy in Cork and how he appreciated every medal he won, he shared his delight in that the club are participating in the Ireland lights up initiative and he marvelled at the beautiful scenic walks that surround our parish and club grounds and the great work being undertaken in our schools to promote a healthy lifestyle. The down to earth charismatic and popular figure was an inspired choice and a good role model that our young players can aspire to. 

The route to success is not always a series of rungs in a ladder tried and tested and perfectly spaced for easy climbing! You may have to spend quite some time placing it in the right position. Carrying it from one level to the next and even then, you may find some rungs are broken and others are completely missing! Eventually you will probably have to leave it behind altogether for newer more advanced methods of upward motion. In fact, when you do succeed, you can rest assured you will have earned it. 

Return to training for our Adult teams:

All of our adult teams have returned to training over the last month. Our adult men's teams have been on an S&C programme during the month of January and returned to the pitch in Páirc Liam Uí Riain two weeks ago. Preparations are in full flow for the busy year ahead with both hurling and football managements delighted to see huge numbers training every night. Our first football league match of the year doubles up as the 2022 League Final against Kanturk. This game is pencilled in for the 26th of February at 11:30 am in Blarney. Our hurlers kick off their campaign on the 5th of March Vs Argideen Rangers in Timoleague at 11:30 am. Our adult ladies' teams have returned to training on Monday and Wednesday nights with further details above.  

Membership 2023:

Membership for 2023 will be available soon. As you can imagine, there is a lot of work involved for our registrars this year to set up our new membership structure. They are getting through the body of work extremely efficiently and hope to have everything up and running very soon. Further details on when membership is available to purchase will be posted on social media and via email.. Watch this space! 

One Club Executive Committee Officers 2023: 

Chairperson: Anthony Connolly 

Vice Chairperson: Eoin O’Neill 

Secretary: John Murphy 

Assistant Secretary: Brian Walsh 

Treasurer: John O’Neill 

PRO: Vince Rohan 

Registrar: Anne Marie McAllister 

Children’s Officer: Anthony Oosthuizen  

Irish and Cultural Officer: Brendan Crowley 

Well, I hope that has whetted the appetite for the year ahead. Plenty of matches and events to look forward to. Remember that the Ireland Lights Up walk takes place at 7 pm on Wednesday. I know many of ye will have a very romantic Tuesday night planned but there'd be nothing more romantic than a walk on our walking track on Wednesday night with your special someone. Looking forward to seeing ye all there!!! 

Slán, 

Uinsionn Ó Ruacháin

Oifigeach Caidreamh Poiblí

Vince Rohan - PRO  

Aghada GAA, Camogie & Ladies Football Club 

Ár nDícheall Go Deo