Sport

Ladies gaelic football is considered to have commenced in Ireland as far back as 1926 when a a parish league was organised in County Clare. For almost 50 years after that the sport made little or no impact until the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) was officially established in 1974. By 2007 it had grown to 132,000 members and now there are about 200,000 spread over 1,000 clubs nationwide, making the sport not just the fastest growing sport in Ireland, but generally considered the fastest growing in Europe. The sport can help any young girl fulfil her dreams – from kicking a ball at her local club to becoming an elite athlete performing before crowds of over 50,000 people in Croke Park. The first step on that journey is joining a local club and one such club is the Shamrocks Ladies Gaelic Football club on the east side of Enniscorthy town. The club started in 2007 and has mushroomed since then with 50+ players now participating spread over a range of teams from age 6 to adult. It’s very much a familyfriendly club with dedicated mentors and officials welcoming new players and all those wishing to give the game a try. Club Chairwoman Regina Tirbhowen says, “We at Shamrocks LGF Club pride ourselves on our holistic approach to ladies football always encouraging healthy choices and positive mental health. Within our club we promote all aspects of community involvement with our members helping the vulnerable in our community, during Covid lockdown, collecting their shopping etc.” Like most clubs, it urgently requires more coaches for all age groups, so if you can spare a couple of hours a week, please contact Regina on 086 8711224. The club is very grateful to its sponsors and in particular it thanks O’Callaghan’s Centra, The White House, Eddie Kenny at Bodyworx and The Village at Wheelocks. With the weather improving, and a ‘grand stetch in the evenings’, it’s time for the girls and women of Enniscorthy to get active. Check out the club’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ShamrocksLadies-Football-Club-1540847179515207/ or contact Regina Tirbhowan, the club’s proactive Chairwoman, who would be delighted to hear from you on 086 8711224. n

The 2021Shamrocks Ladies Gaelic Football U-12s (below)with mentors Anne and Megan and U-14s (above)with mentors Fiona and Lisa.

Charlie Tector from Rathnure guided Ireland from the outhalf position to the Grand Slam in this year’s U-20 6-Nations championship. Charlie’s performance against England was particularly impressive winning Man of the Match in the emphatic 42-27 victory. As well as possessing superb handling and kicking skills, standing 6’2” and weighing almost 15 stone, Charlie has the physical attrributes to make a big impact in the professional game over the coming years.

On 27th March, Enniscorthy’s Shamrock Rovers Youths travelled to Dundalk to take on Walshestown FC in the Leinster Junior Cup semi-final, securing a superb victory by 4-1. Best of luck to them in the final.

Congrats to Gorey Community School’s Senior Footballers on being crowned All-Ireland champions last month and taking the Paddy Drummond Cup back to north Wexford for the first time ever. n

Congratulations to John Brennan, his management team and the U-13 Moyne Rangers players on winning Division 1a last month. The team secured top spot with an emphatic 7-nil win over Wexford Celtic and were unbeaten all season.

Wexford’s Menapians Athletic Club is to receive €5,000 funding under the Texaco Support for Sport initiative hosted and organised by Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited, the company that markets fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand.

Former Irish rugby international and well-known broadcaster Donncha O’Callaghan is the Texaco Support for Sport Ambassador who oversees the judging process.

Under the scheme – similar to that which proved successful last year when the Wexford county award was presented to Kilmore United FC – a fund of €130,000 is made available by Valero for distribution in equal amounts of €5,000 to a successful applicant in each county. Established in 2001, Menapians AC is a progressive athletics club with a diverse membership in terms of age and ability ‘from young to old, from joggers to Olympians’. With training provided at various locations – including Rosslare Strand, Wexford CBS and Enniscorthy Sports Hub – the club maintains a prominent presence across the county. The €5,000 award made to Menapians AC under the Texaco Support for Sport initiative will be used to reserve venues and fund equipment for its proposed 2022 Wexford Summer League, an undertaking aimed at getting young athletes involved in the sport.

Pointing to what he termed “the invaluable contribution” that sports clubs make to the heart of community life in Ireland,

James Twohig, Director of Ireland Operations, Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited, congratulated the Wexford club saying,

“Special to us, and the purpose for which our Texaco Support for Sport initiative was introduced, is the opportunity it presents to ease the financial pressure on members by providing new and additional funding so often required to help clubs achieve their objectives and play a pivotal and positive role in their communities.” n

Having spent years of development at Enniscorthy Rugby Club and then Lansdowne Rugby Football Club, and having recently represented Ireland at U-20 level, young Enniscorthy prop Temi Lasisi earned his first senior cap for Leinster last month against Ulster in Belfast. Well done, Temi. Enniscorthy’s Festy Ebosele has joined Italian club Udinese from Derby County on a five year deal. Festy played with Enniscorthy club Moyne Rangers until he was 14 and then joined League of Ireland club Bray Wanderers before joining Derby County in the English Championship when he was 16.

Starlights: Winners of the Jim Byrne Cup 2022.

Well done to Enniscorthy CBS secondary school and their teachers Ms. Burke and Mr. Murphy on winning the Leinster Schools final last month beating Templeogue 5-4 on penalties. Unfortunately, the team lost out narrowly in the All Ireland semi final beaten by De La Salle Waterford.

Could Wexford be the home of Ireland’s fittest man or woman? That’s a question being asked by organisers of Ireland’s first National Fitness Games – a weekend-long ‘festival of fitness’ being held at Dublin’s UCD Sports Campus from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th April inclusive. Supported by Irish banana distributors Fyffes, the event follows a formula established in the UK involving tests of power, endurance, strength and speed. Included will be weighted runs, rowing machines, sandbag carries, kettlebell snatches, assault bikes, deadlifts and more from which ‘Ireland’s Fittest Male and Female’ will emerge. An attendance of over 2,000 is expected from individuals, teams and corporate groups. Further details can be viewed online at www.nationalfitnessgames.com n

As we head to the beginning of the playing season with the All County Leagues up and running, our young footballers are already well on the way emerging victorious in the final of the Jim Byrne Cup. Getting off to a slow start in the semifinal it looked like the end of the journey for our boys who were 3.4 to a goal down to Duffry Rovers in Coolree at halftime with our chances of a spot in the final disappearing fast. But after some good encouragement at the halftime pep talk, the Starlights returned to the field almost a different team, and in the second period took the game to their opponents, drawing level at the fulltime whistle, necessitating extra time. Extra time belonged to the Stars as they notched up 5 points to no reply from the Duffry, who seemed to lose their shape as Starlights ran at them exposing their defence, to secure their place in the Jim Byrne Cup Final against St. Anne’s. The final was a tight affair, as expected, against the Annes, going right down to the wire in St. Patrick’s Park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon with the Stars just edging it by a single point 3.5 to 3.4, in a cliffhanger. The win was celebrated later that evening at the clubhouse where these promising and talented young men received their premier Feile football medals along with Division 2 U-15 Shield runners-up medals from Senior Football Captain Rory O’Connor. A Presentation of Medals night was held in the clubhouse on Friday night, 4th March, to celebrate the tremendous success of our underage camogie and ladies football teams in 2020 and 2021. MC for the occasion Seamus Doyle called on very popular Ladies Captain Nicola Davitt to make the presentations, complementing her on being a leader and a role model on and off the field, driving and motivating herself and everyone else.

Seamus thanked team sponsors, and the huge array of sponsors on the night of hampers, and gift vouchers, and had a special mention for Diarmuid Furlong of the Early Learning Garden for his generous sponsorship of jerseys for U-14 and U-16 girls in memory of his late father John, who was a staunch supporter of Rapparees/Starlights. The jerseys were presented on the night by Diarmuid’s mother Anne and sister Sinead.

Weekly bingo is back at the complex every Wednesday night from 8pm, our weekly Lotto can be done online or tickets can be purchased from the usual outlets, and local women’s group, the Delightful Dollies, are once again back at the clubhouse on Wednesday mornings. Follow us Rapparees/Starlights on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for details of all fixtures, results, and club events as our 2022 season kicks into gear. – Words & Pics by Maria Nolan PRO

Above: U-16 camogie winners. Below left: Jim Byrne Cup mentors L-R: Sonny Hyland, Michael Donohoe, Stephen Murphy, Johnny Hyland, Paul O’Reilly and Shane Murphy. Below right: Camogie jerseys sponsored by Diarmuid Furlong in memory of his late father John presented to the club by Diarmuid’s mother Anne, sister Sinead and Diarmuid’s grandnephews.

U-14 Camogie winners.

U-14 football winners

Fiona McEnery and Paula O’Rourke. Sharron and John Dier. Dirwn and Pa

Above: Amy Coleman and Lisa Murphy. Above: The United Striders Zip team from New Ross supporting the Wexford night run on the Quay, Wexford, 3rd March 2022, in aid of two local charities.