Loughmacrory GAA Handball Club - A review of the past year (2014/2015)
Loughmacrory GAA Handball Club has had a very rich tradition in the sport and this goes back over 100 years. There
have been many great people involved in the club over many decades who have built, organised and ran the club with
such distinction since the very first committee was formed back in 1958. It is thus great to see the tradition continues
and we are very lucky again to have another very committeed group of people in our committee and in our community
who continue to ensure that the sport of GAA Handball continues to thrive in Loughmacrory.
It takes a great deal of organisation and a huge amount of selfless time and effort by a large team of people to ensure
the success of any committee and club. Loughmacrory Handball is no different and this has been exemplified in no
uncertain terms over the past twelve months. What has also been very gratifying for the club now is that it has worked
very closely and enjoyed a very close affiliation with all the other community groups in the area, with the LCDA and
Loughmacrory St. Teresa’s GAC in particular working very closely with the Handball Club to see the launch of
impressive new facilities and also in the organisational support of some major events.
In terms of development, the club has seen an excellent complete refurbishment of the 40x20 Handball court where
we have installed a complete new roof on the premises, new ceiling and lighting system in the court plus various
other additional improvements to the complex. This has already received considerable recognition with the court now
deemed a ‘top tier’ court at national level.
The past year the Club also saw the launch of a
fantastic new One Wall Handball Arena as part of the
impressive and “Award Winning” Community
Development Project, launched on 28th June 2015.
This has seen three Outdoor One Wall Handball Courts
which means complete 24hr access for anyone
wishing to try out our sport. The fact it is fully
covered, with lighting installed, has already proven
hugely popular and with the massive numbers
consistently availing of the facility, particularly
throughout the one wall handball season, its benefits
to the club and community have proven immense.
A factor which GAA Handball, from club to national
level, has seen a detrimental effect on the profile of
the game has been the problem of being able to see
games and having the sport open to the public. This
facility has clearly ticked all the boxes in terms of
overcoming this issue with a massive open profile now
enjoyed and which has seen very large numbers introduced to or returning to handball in the community, as
a result of the launch of this One Wall facility.
Indeed it has also seen two major awards since with
the RICS recognising the entire Community project
as a whole at the annual RICS Awards when the
LCDA picked up the “Community Benefit” Award for
2014. For the Handball Club there was then the major
distinction of becoming only the second Club ever in
the Province to win the highly prestigious Ulster GAA
Writers Handball Award for 2014. This award was won
in recognition of the success of the club as a whole but
with the new One Wall Handball Facility and in
particular the record breaking Lough 1Wall Showdown
Handball Tournament highlighted as being a major
factor in the outcome of the award category.
Committee members present at the inaugural Lough 1Wall Showdown tournament with special guest, Puerto Rico’s Wally Amaro. Pictured are Back Row (L to
R) Barry Fox (Youth Officer), Kenny Curran (PRO), Wally Amaro, Pat O’Brien
(Treasurer), Shane McCullagh, Conal Curran; Front Row (L to R) Martin Toner
(Secretary), Lisa McAleer (Vice Chairperson), Chris Curran (Chairman), Ciara
Fox, Paul Curran, Kelly Conway. Missing from the photograph are Finbarr Fullen
and Ciaran Meenagh.
Loughmacrory GAA Handball Club - A review of the past year (2014/2015)
In addition to the refurbishment of the 40x20 court, the launch of a new One Wall Handball Arena, the club also added
a One Wall Handball court line-out in our 60x30. As part of our orgainstaional improvements the club introduced a new
Online ‘Real-time’ Booking system for the 40x20 and 60x30 handball court in the last year which has worked very well
and can be developed further now to enhance the booking system procedures for the one wall courts, now the one
wall season is just getting underway again.
In terms of success on the courts of play, the club enjoyed fantastic success over the year. As highlighted at our AGM
in May 2014, that calendar year began with brilliant USHA Junior Nationals triumphs for both Antoin and Mairead Fox
while Dara Curran and Mairead Fox went on to score a 2nd ever triumph for the club in the Gael Linn event. The club
also celebrated many Ulster championship titles and All Ireland triumphs which were highlighted at the last AGM.
Tremendous ‘first’ All Ireland Féile na nGael double
Loughmacrory GAA Handball Club have also just celebrated one of our most successful ever twelve months with 27 All
Ireland Gold Medals secured over the year on the playing courts. Our juvenile development programme and successes
on are at last seeing a return to the incredible levels of juvenile success seen by the club from the mid eighties.
Possibly the highlight of the year was the Club completing a Boys and Girls All Ireland Féile na nGael Division 2 double
triumph - the first time the feat was achieved by the club! Indeed, Loughmacrory were one of only four clubs in Ireland
who had entered both a boys and girls club team at Feile 2014, from the 72 entries, and it was a brilliant achievement
for our young boys and girls to go on and succeed in both competitions. Congratulations to the Boys team of Antoin
Fox, Ronan Curran, Shane Grimes, Dara Curran and Diarmaid Gallagher and to our girls team of Caitlin Conway, Aideen
Curran, Mairead Fox and Michaela Curran on their All Ireland Féile wins. Also a special mention for Antoin Fox on his
super All Ireland Division 1 Féile Skill Awards gold medal success. Ten gold medals in the All Ireland Feile na nGael
event was a fantastic achievement for the Club. I would thank Kenny & Lisa for their work with the Girls Team too.
One Wall successes
The club’s new One Wall Handball facilities have certainly sparked major interest in this code of the game in the past
twelve months. Caitlin Conway won the Mount Talbot Tournament 13 & Under Singles event in June 2014 while at the
One Wall Nationals in Breaffy Sports Arena, Mairead and Dearbhail Fox added the 11 & Under 1Wall Nationals Doubles
title to the 40x20 win earlier in the year.
The Club played host to the Ulster One Wall Handball Championships for the first time in the new OW Arena as part
of the launch weekend at end of June 2014. The launch of the new £1million complex and facilities saw Deputy First
Minister, Martin McGuinness; GAA President, Aogán Ó Fearghail; Minister for DARD, Michelle O’Neill; Minister for DCAL,
Carál Ní Chuillin; Ulster GAA President, Martin McAviney and World Wallball Association President, Joe O’Shaughnessy
amongst the special guests on the day. Over 223 matches were played in the new state of the art Outdoor, fully
covered One Wall facility, the first of it’s kind launched by a club in Ireland. This event saw a record 162 entries for
Ulster with the club organising all entries, fixtures and scheduling for the competition. Armagh’s Charly Shanks and
Down’s Lorraine Havern won the Open titles at the weekend while there was success celebrated by the club in a
number of grades.
For the club there were an impressive four Championship wins and four Shield wins at the event. Antoin Fox’s 11-10
tie-break win over Cormac Munroe in the Boys U14 Singles final was arguably the game of the weekend. Mairead Fox
added success in the Girls Under 12 Singles Championship, Caitlin Conway had a terrific win in the Girls Under 14
Singles Championship and Aoife Kelly won the Girls Under 18 Singles Championship while there were Shield wins for
Arnoldas Macidulskas in the Boys Under 16 Singles, Aideen Curran in the Girls Under 14 Singles, Sinead Donnelly in the
Girls Under 16 Singles and Martin Toner in the Masters Singles.
The Club then organised and hosted the first ever Lough 1Wall Handball Showdown Tournament in mid August 2014.
This proved to be one of the biggest highlights the club has ever seen in terms of the number of competitors and
spectators present at the event. It was a record in terms of competitors for a club tournament ever in Ireland as 251
players in all competed in the event - a record for a National Tournament outside of the Breaffy One Wall Nationals
Loughmacrory GAA Handball Club - A review of the past year (2014/2015)
Tournament. While it may be difficult to pinpoint exact numbers there was over
1,000 spectators throughout the day on Finals Day of the Tournament on the
Sunday, culminating in some 650+ spectators around the centre court for the two
Open Finals on the Sunday night.
This was a massive achievement for the club and took a huge “Team Effort” to
ensure its overall success. The comments afterwards received by a host of travelling
players highlighted the organisation and prestige of the event.
Puerto Rico’s Wally Amaro, who won the Open title, saying “I would say that is
probably the biggest crowd I have ever played in front off. Over 1,000 people in that
arena is a players dream and I could not speak more highly of the venue or the organisation around this tournament. I have great memories and loved the entire trip”.
Cork’s Catriona Casey won the Ladies Open title in a field which had 5 World
Handball Champions and the current USA Number 1 and WPH Pro Tour champion,
said “This is a fantastic venue and I really loved the tournament. It is a great social
weekend too and the organisation made it one of the most impressive events I have
been to.”
There were club successes too at the Tournament for Mark McCullagh (Mens C),
Ryan Keenan (Mens Challenger), Ryan O’Brien (Mens Contender), Conal Curran
(Mens 35+B), Kenny Curran (Mens Silver Masters), Gary McAleer & Sean Rafferty
(Boys U10B Doubles), Antoin Fox (Boys 13&U), Diarmaid Gallagher (Boys 13&U B)
and Mairead Fox (Girls 11&U) and a host of other runners-up with special mention to
our Under 10 Boys and Girls A doubles runners-up, Ruairi McCullagh & Eoghan
Donaghy and Dearbhail Fox & Niamh Curran.
However, it was the overall participation which really stands out. There were massive
numbers playing in this event and huge numbers from Loughmacrory itself. With the
return from many years out of the game of so many players plus the introduction of
so many new faces, the massive benefits of the facility and the Tournament itself are
there for all to see. The Mens Challenger Singles competition in particular garnered
huge interest over the weekend with big numbers competing and providing
fantastic entertainment for large numbers of spectators. We must make a special
note of “Buíochas” to the Breacach club who helped us at the event and in particular
to Paula Clarke who worked tirelessly on the tournament desk all weekend.
You can check out a full review of the weekend here: http://loughmacrory.com/2014/08/
amaro-and-casey-win-in-memorbal-lough-showdown-weekend/
RESULTS: Lough 1 Wall Showdown 2014 Finals
Mens Open Final: Wally Amaro (Puerto Rico) dft Conor McElduff (Breacach) 28-17
Ladies Open Final: Catriona Casey (Cork) dft Maeve McElduff (Breacach) 22-20
Mens A Final: Darren Doherty (Monaghan) dft Pól Clarke (Breacach) 31-13
Mens B Final: Johnny Woods (Breacach) dft Patrick McCrory (Carrickmore) 28-9
Mens C Final: Mark McCullagh (Loughmacrory) dft Brian Donaghy (Loughmacrory) 24-14
Mens Challenger Final: Ryan Keenan (Loughmacrory) dft Niall donaghy (Loughmacrory) 23-16
Mens Contender Final: Ryan O’Brien (Loughmacrory) dft Edmond McKevitt (Down) 12-12, 5-0
Mens Masters 35+ Final: Ducksy Walsh (Kilkenny) dft Chris Curran (Loughmacrory) 24-20
Mens Masters 35+ B Final: Conal Curran (Loughmacrory) dft Rory Grogan (Carrickmore) 19-5
Mens Silver Masters 45+ Final: Kenny Curran (Loughmcrory) dft Finbarr Fullen (Loughmacrory) 30-14
Mens Silver Masters 45+ B Final: Sean McNally (Down) dft Sean McCrory (Breacach) 18-11
Mens Diamond Masters 55+ Final: Brian Havern (Down) dft Sean Devlin (Louth) 18-17
Ladies Challenger Final: Michelle Warren (Breacach) dft Annie Havern (Down) 31-9
Ladies Contender Final: Elaine Donnelly (Carrickmore) dft Aileen Havern (Down) 14-14, 5-3
Boys Under 10 Doubles Final: Oliver McCrystall and Matthew Smith (Cavan) dft Ruairi McCullagh and Eoghan Donaghy
(Loughmacrory)
Boys Under 10 B Doubles Final: Gary McAleer & Sean Rafferty (Loughmacrory) dft Oliver Anderson & Ronan Kelly (Loughmacrory) 21-12
Boys 11 & Under Final: Josh Kavanagh (Wexford) dft Liam Egan (Roscommon) 17-10
Boys 11 & Under Final: Fiachra Ó Dhuill (Armagh) dft Sean Callan (Monaghan) 21-3
Boys 13 & Under Final: Antoin Fox (Loughmacrory) dft Cian Kehoe (Wexford) 21-11
Boys 13 & Under B Final: Diarmuid Gallagher (Loughmacrory) dft Cahir Munroe (Carrickmore) 17-13
Boys 15 & Under Final: Sean Kerr (Breacach) dft Daniel Kavanagh (Wexford) 22-11
Boys 15 & Under B Final: Ciaran Cuddy (Carrickmore) dft Arnoldas Macidulskas (Loughmacrory) 19-14
Boys 17 & Under Final: Jack Campbell (Breacach) dft Niall Allison (Carrickmore) 26-9
Boys 17 & Under B Singles Final: Jack Coughlan (Tipperary) dft Mark McCullough (Louth) 19-5
Girls Under 10 Doubles Final: Clodagh Munroe & Clodagh McNAmee (Carrickmore) dft Dearbhail Fox & Niamh Curran
(Loughmacrory) 21-15
Girls Under 10 B Doubles Final: Kerry Havern & Sarah Havern (Down) dft Bronagh Farley (Breacach) & Tara Curran
(Loughmacrory) 21-12
Girls 11 & Under Final: Mairead Fox (Loughmacrory) dft Alana McGaughey (Loughmacrory) 31-0
Girls 11 & Under B Final: Jodie Keeling (Wexford) dft Emma McElduff (Loughmacrory) 20-12
Girls 13 & Under Final: Dearbhla Coleman (Armagh) dft Meabh McCambridge (Armagh) 24-14
Girls 13 & Under B Final: Sinead Havern (Down) dft Claire Conway (Loughmacrory) 13-13, 5-0
Girls 15 & Under Final: Eimear Ni Bhiadha (Galway) dft Michaela McCartan (Breacach) 20-11
Girls 17 & Under Final: Eilise McCrory (Breacach) dft Aoife Kelly (Loughmacrory) 23-5
Girls 17 & Under B Final: Laura Finn (Sligo) dft Aoibheann McAnespie (Loughmacrory) 20-4
Loughmacrory GAA Handball Club - A review of the past year (2014/2015)
Welcomed 60x30 success
It was also great in 2014 to see
the club back winning titles in
the traditional 60x30 court. The
club has the distinction of having
the only 60x30 Handball Court in
the north and it was great to see
Antoin Fox, Caitlin Conway and
Aoife Kelly winning All Ireland
60x30 Championship titles, as well
as Colleges All Irelands in the big
court towards the end of 2014.
There is no doubt that the club
should now be looking to build on
these successes and, in working
with the LCDA as part of a new
phase 2 project plan, with the
emphasis now on the 60x30 court
& Old Hall, we should be aiming
to enhance the participation and
success achieved in the traditional
game of handball once again.
Refurbishing of this facility will be
essential while an effort within
the county and province will be
required too to aid in the
promotion of the game here.
The new 40x20 season got underway back in October 2014 and again the club have seen massive progress in the
sport in the past six months. The relaunch of the Tyrone GAA Handball Leagues and Championships in 2013 was a
massive boost to the county and major success at the highest level continues. The recently completed GAA Handball
All Ireland 40x20 Championships saw Loughmacrory near the top of the national roll of honour too. The club finished
joint top of the All Ireland Juvenile Championship honours list with three gold medals as Antoin Fox (Under 15 Singles)
and Ronan Curran and Shane Grimes (Under 15 doubles) brought a brilliant All Ireland clean sweep in the grade for
the club and county. This came in addition to the club winning an impressive 6 Ulster Juvenile Championship titles with
Mairead Fox (U13s), Caitlin Conway (U14D) and Dara Curran (U14D) the others claiming provincial gold. Aoife Kelly
and Antoin Fox also added All Ireland Colleges 40x20 championship titles to the club’s roll of honour while Lisa McAleer
emerged from the Intermediate grade with an All Ireland Ladies Intermediate Doubles Championship success alongside
Maeve McElduff.
Overall it has clearly been a massive year for the club at provincial and national level and our successes on the court in
the highlighted grades have enhanced the status again of Loughmacrory club going forward. This has all come through
a diligent programme of coaching and great work being done within the club by so many people. Our coaching team
this year included Chris Curran, Kenny Curran, Martin Toner, Conal Curran, Shane McCullagh, Barry Fox, Ciaran
Meenagh, Jarlath Duff, Paul Curran and Lisa McAleer while we must also thank Mark McCullagh who continues to coach
in the Primary School with our young players doing so well again in the Cumann na mBunscoil events.
The high levels of young players from ages 6 up to 11 in the club has been most gratifying but we must ensure that
work continues to see them progress and continue playing up through juvenile and eventually adult level. There is no
question we have enjoyed a fantastic year on the courts and congratulations to all our Coaches, parents, members and
all our players (young and not so young) who have made such a great year possible.
We must also offer a special thank
you to St. Teresa’s Primary School,
the LCDA and Loughmacrory GAC who
have supported the club in so many
ways over the year. A special mention
must be made to the LCDA for their
massive work in bringing the amazing
Community project to fruition in 2014
and which has benefited our Handball
Club in no uncertain terms.
The club ran a Coaching Camp 4Kids at the Lough 1Wall Showdown lead by Puerto Rico’s Wally Amaro and with Irish Open Champion, Conor McElduff,
US Ladies Number 1 and All Ireland senior champion, Catriona Casey, Canadian National Champion, Killian Carroll, All Ireland champion, Sean Kerr, and
national coach, Mervan McCann, among those who helped out over the camp.