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A very successful underage medal presentation took place in Gurteen Hall on Sat night Jan 17th.

On display were the 6 cups that were won by our underage teams.
Proceedings were opened by chairman Padraig Henry who welcomed everyone especially all the players and coaches that had amassed victories for all underage boys and girls from U.12 to U.16.
Guests on the night to present the medals was local man Paul Taylor along with Kathleen Kane from Sligo ladies Co Board.

Paul played all his life for Eastern Harps where he won numerous underage medals. At 17 years of age he played and won his first Senior Co final. He went on to win 5 more county medals and picked up numerous accolades along the way. He played on the Harps team that lost the Connaught club final in 2008.
In a glittering career he also excelled for Sligo and won a Connaught senior medal in 2007. Previous to that he received a nomination for an All Star and in 1997 he was the top scorer in the National Football league.

Kathleen Kane played her club football with St Nathys and was present when ladies football was started in 1993.
She won a Connaught title with her club along with 2 National league medals with Sligo and also a Connaught Junior Championship medal. She also coached Sligo Ladies and brought them to 2 All Ireland Football finals in Croke Park. Her assistant at that time was our own Patricia Mc Donagh. Since then she is immersed in administration both at county and provincial level.

Each team was introduced and got a rapturous reception from the large gathering of parents, supporters and players.
First up were the victorious girls U.12 team that were captained by Leanne Mc Gowan and coached by Benny Connolly, Deirdre O Brien and Shaun Dorrian.
They Were followed by Patricia Mc Donagh and Mary Hannons U.14 team that had joint captains in Orla O Dowd and Aideen Coyle. They beat Owenmore Gaels in the B Championship final in Corran Park.
After each medal presentation a team photograph was taken by Ashling Stephenson and it can be found in the photograph section on this site and also on Facebook. We are very thankful to Ashling for all her photographs, not just on the night but for the entire year.

The all conquering U.16 girls were up next and in the absence of team captain Elaine Murray, Niamh Hannon was happy to deputise for her. They were coached by Morgan Mc Cormack, Michelle Mullen and Padraig Henry. These unbeaten girls had the distinction of winning both the League and Championship, beating the same opposition, Drumcliffe in both finals.

Next up it was the turn of the boys and Jake Stephenson was captain as the U.14 lads won the A league for the first time in 10 years beating Shamrock Gaels in the final. This group of lads deserve great credit as they also did the club proud by participating in the All Ireland Feile. The Chairman gave a special mention of thanks to coaches Shaun Dorrian, Eamonn Clarke, Damien Mc Govern and Neil Molloy for the trojan work they did with this bunch of players and for all the organising they did, along with the parents when the club hosted Ennistymon from Co Clare in the Feile last June.

Last to receive the medals were the U.16 team and due to the unavailability of team Captain Shane O Grady, Sean Bruen stepped in for the photograph as captain. John Bruen, Colm Duffy and Paul Dwyer were the mentors of this team that captured the A2 title by beating St Marys in Markievicz Park. The chairman congratulated Shane O Grady, Sean Bruen, and Niall Gardiner for winning the U.16 Fr Manning Cup with Sligo a team incidentally sponsored by our own premium sponsors Padraig and Catherine O Dowd.

Both Paul Taylor and Kathleen Kane spoke and offered words of encouragement to all our young players and expressed their happiness at been asked to officiate at the event.

The organising Committee of Paul Dwyer , Mary Hannon, Colm Duffy and Annette Henry were then thanked as they had put in a lot of work and also had lovely refreshments on hand. They were helped by lots of parents who had arrived with their own home baking. There was also hot food from The Humble Spud and Fryers.
To round the night off popular D.J Francis Candon played a variety of music to suit the teenagers but alas not to the liking of their parents.
The club would also like to thank Gurteen Hall Committee for allowing us use of their facilities.