Ennis Track Club AGM Friday 9th September, 2016

Apologies: Siobhan Lennon, Suzanne Deane, Karen Doyle, Vincent Healy, Brian Murphy, Therese Lahiffe, Pat Hogan, David Courtney.

Joan opened the meeting by welcoming everyone, thanking all the volunteers for their help and asking Gerry Hayes, as President, to say a few words.

1. Gerry said that in the club’s twenty five year history, this was the biggest attendance he had seen at a meeting. He thanked the officers, particularly Vera, who has been there since day one. He said that things have changed a lot in twenty five years, especially in terms of technology – mobile phones etc. He thanked everyone who has competed and brought great honours to the club. This year the sprinters have done well and broken National Records. He said that the biggest thanks was due to the people who coached the juveniles, and that this job requires great patience. He said that everyone in the club are doing their best, and are focused on the one goal, which is competing and staying competitive. He said that Ennis Track is currently the best club in Munster, and probably the second or third best in Ireland.

2. Maria gave an update on the book, which is being published to mark the 25^th Anniversary of the club. It will be published in December. There will be a launch night for it. Joe Deasy offered to sell some copies of it in his shop in Clarecastle.

3. Vera gave an update on the finances. It cost €54,000 to run the club in the past two years. We only had one Church Gate Collection this year. We had an extra Flag Day during the Fleadh but the weather was bad and we could have done with more volunteers. Transport is a big expense for the club. A €75 donation is given to club athletes who are picked to represent Ireland. The next Church Gate Collection is on 30/10/2016, which is also the day of the Dublin City Marathon. The club pays all entry fees for juveniles competing at Munster and All Ireland level, and pays entry fees for two events at National Level for Seniors. The club has to pay entry fees for teams at All Ireland level now, whereas previously Munster used to pay entry fees for teams at All Ireland level. Sometimes athletes don’t turn up for an event, which the club has paid for. It was decided that if you don’t turn up for an event you must repay the entry fee to the club. Club members need to help out with fundraising. Rochfords Pharmacy sponsored the banner on the tent for Cross Country races. The Great Limerick Run gives money to clubs who help out with stewarding for the event. This should be looked into.

4. Coaches Reports:

Alex Conway:

Alex trains the sprint squad. They are a small squad of 5 or 6 people but are very successful. Tony Odobuto is the National 400m champion. He is also the captain of the National Schools Squad. This year Alex is hopeful that Tony could win his first international competition. Apart from Tony, Shaun Benson and Chisum are also promising athletes coming through. The under 17 team won the 4 x 100m National Relay and set a new National Record. Gabriel won the All Ireland B’s and set a new National Record. Alex is also working on upgrading coaching skills with coaches in the club.

Dave Lyons:

Dave and Mary took over the 11 to 13 year old squad this time last year. It has been a difficult year. It took a while to get to know the runners and their parents, to gain trust and form a bond. But this is happening now. Rian McHugh joined Mary and Dave during the year. Dave pointed out that Mary went to every competition with the kids last year and that this should be acknowledged, as these are stressful, difficult days.

Gerry Hayes:

Gerry coaches the seniors. He paid tribute to the Master athletes, Mike Clune, Sean Whelan, Mary Cahill, who competed in National competitions during the year. Sean Whelan won the over 65’s in the Dublin City Marathon and won a silver medal in the National over 65’s 5k. Mike also medalled and Mary set 2 PB’s during the year.

He said that there was a Track and Field workshop held at Easter, which was a fun event for kids, involving hurdles, javelin etc. The kids enjoyed it and Gerry stressed that it is important that they continue to enjoy their training.

Gerry said that Rian is a great addition to the club, from a coaching perspective and that she is a great help with the sprinters if Alex is not around. He said that the club is very healthy from a coaching perspective and that we need more help on the fundraising side. He said that it is great to see the improvement in the kids and thanked everyone for giving their time.

5. Joan:

Joan said that there are now 40 kids training in Flannans some evenings, compared to one or two ten years ago. Last year there were 327 registered members.

6. Katie:

Katie got emails from Karen Leyden and Suzanne Deane, who couldn’t attend the AGM. Karen Leyden is travelling with work. They acknowledged the work of the coaches, and offered help in future. They had a few suggestions in their emails, namely that a separate juvenile committee be formed, that income taken in from the juvenile section of the club be kept for the juveniles, and that parents should receive an explanation of the training that their kids were receiving. Ita stated that they are already being informed of this and that she has sent home letters on numerous occasions explaining this. Joe Deasy offered to respond to Karen and Suzanne, and explain this to them.

7. Joan:

Joan sympathised with club member, Margaret Ryan, on the death of her father.

8. Election of Officers:

*The following people are to supply results to Margaret: Brian Murphy – Seniors, Mary Cahill and Dave Lyons – 10 to 13year olds, Lorraine Hayes and Siobhan Lennon – 7 to 10 year olds, Alex – sprint squad, Marie Roche and Ita Hanrahan – 14 to 19 year olds. Michael O’Brien and Tom Micks will do the photography at events.

Brian Murphy updates the Ennis Track Facebook page with Senior results. Dave Lyons will send him on the juvenile results. No juvenile photos to go up on Facebook.

9. Coaches: John Conroy and Frank Landy are gone. New coach Rian McHugh has joined. Joe Deasy and Siobhan Gallagher, new child welfare officers, have to be Garda vetted. Mary Cahill has had no response yet on her Garda vetting application which was submitted some months ago. To be followed up.
10. A Finance subcommittee with responsibility for fundraising was set up. Michael O’Brien will lead it. Joe Devane, Donal O’Bearra, Karen Frawley and Pete Tonge are members.
11. Twilight Run to be held on Friday 14^th M. Carey to organise posters, flyers etc with help from Finance Committee. Katie Maher will do food and organise speakers for music. Entry fees are €5 per child, €20 per family, €5 per adult. Ml O’Brien has some tea lights. Katie Maher will get speakers. Seniors will be in the woods with flash lights to create atmosphere. M Carey to do goody bags.
12. Turkey Trot: December 26^th. All proceeds to the club this year.
13. Sports Day: 23^rd April 2017 fixed for date.
14. Kids Xmas Party: December 16^th. Clare Senior December 18^th.
15. Gerry: Gerry thanked Ita for putting in 2 or 3 reports to the newspapers this year. No-one at county P.R.O. level did this.
16. Joan stressed that the calendar of events be put up on the website ASAP. Katie Maher will continue to update the Database of contact details for members.
17. Any Other Business:

• Joan asked the question as to how people feel about non members training with members. The consensus was that this is ok. Marie Roche pointed out that our own members have benefitted from training with other clubs as well.
• Fergal asked if coaches are approached by a parent with an issue can this be elevated to the committee? Yes it can. Margaret asked if it is ok to tell potential new members to come along for a night or two to try training to see if they want to join. This is fine.
• Registration night will be on 23/09/2016 from 6-7pm. Juvenile Training will be held Mondays and Fridays from 6 – 7pm. If anyone has suggestions on how the Registration form can be improved can they email Ita?
• Fergal McGrath said that the feedback on the Fleadh 5 mile race was excellent. The timing company representative said that as a Race Model, it was the best organised event he had seen. 51 had registered online by the morning of the race. Normally you can expect three times as many to register on the day. This didn’t happen here due to exceptional weather on the day. There was a yellow weather warning. Also it clashed with the Community Games All Ireland. T-shirts were the biggest cost @ €4.40 each to print. €100 has been taken in from selling T-shirts since the race to a few people who wanted to attend the race but were unable to. The remaining T-shirts are to be kept for next year’s race, which will be held the first Saturday of the Fleadh.
• Club member, Grace Eade, is starting up a gym, which could be made available to the club for indoor training. Grace is to talk to Ennis Track coaches about this.