Updates from our Club Committee

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Updates from our Club Committee

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May 8th 2020

This message from Club Chairman Ian Hutcheson can be viewed and downloaded as a PDF here.

October 9th 2019

Hello All

Welcome back everyone to the new season and especially so to any new members on the junior or senior teams. I hope you all have an enjoyable and successful season with the club over the coming months.

In keeping with previous updates, I will try to be concise but welcome any comments or questions from any members or parents:

  1. Club membership packs (click here to download) must be signed and returned by all members and coaches before the 18th October. We have been somewhat loose on this in previous years but the Club needs the latest Membership Pack version to be signed by everyone who is active in the club as a player, coach, team manager or volunteer support role including committee members. In the unfortunate case that we fail to get signed forms, we will regretfully have to ask the relevant person to cease their activities with the club until the required paperwork is received. Signed copies can be given to coaches or any member of the committee as listed below.
    1. Welcome to the new committee as elected at the recent AGM on 3rdSeptember and the new members and officers are as follows:
    2. Club Children’s Officer: Amanda Naan
    3. Parent’s Representative: Orna Kiernan
    4. Committee Member: Michelle Gaffney
    5. Communications: Shane O’Brien
    6. Club Head Coach: Stephen O’Brien
    7. Secretary: Joan Hynes
    8. Treasurer: Eoin Bridgeman
    9. Chairperson: Ian Hutcheson
  2. A new constitution was approved by the recent AGM and a club handbook is in the final phase of being prepared for new members. The minutes for the last AGM and the new handbook will be available on the club website shortly.
  3. It is a priority for the committee that all members enjoy and feel part of the club and while there are still some details outstanding in terms of Leinster leagues, if you do not clearly have a team or details on matches, please do talk to the relevant coaches or come back to me or any member of the committee.
  4. We had another Taster Session for new members on Sunday 29thSeptember and had a good attendance of 8-12 year olds in the pool most of whom had never touched a waterpolo ball for this. Thanks to all the volunteer coaches who made sure that we had a very high ratio of coaches to players and ensured the children had a fun time.
  5. Key dates for the rest of the calendar year:
    1. Laughter Lounge Fundraiser on Thursday 21stNovember – tickets still available
    2. Under 19 Cup in Limerick on Friday-Sunday  22-24thNovember
    3. Cyclathon Fund Raiser at Pavillions S. C., Swords on Sunday 24thNovember
    4. Leinster Cup Finals & Christmas Night-out & Raffle Saturday 21stDecember
  6. The best piece of news piece to finish is that we have been successful in gaining the Clubmark award for the Club which Eoin Bridgeman accepted at the recent SI Awards night on 28/09/19. Even better, we won the Leinster and Overall Swim Ireland Club of the Year award at the same event which makes us the second only waterpolo club to receive this accolade. This is a reflection of the strong team performances in the leagues and cups as well as the good management of the club. I would like to thank all who helped in whatever way in making this achievement possible for the Club.

Wishing you all the best in your league and cup competitions.

April 22nd 2019

Hi All

This note is long overdue and as we would like to send out a Club update every 4-6 weeks during the season, all members and parents are welcomed to suggest points or news updates for inclusion. There are a lot of points to cover since last update so I will try to be brief but there are a lot of good things to share:

1) 50th Anniversary Gala Night

It was great to see almost 150 members enjoying themselves at the gala night in the Bonnington Hotel on 23rd February and once again thanks are due to all those who organised the event and the sponsors. In particular, thanks are due to Ciaran Caverley for the extremely enjoyable and professional anniversary booklet and an electronic copy will be placed on the website shortly.

Photographs from the night can be seen and downloaded at the following link: 50th Anniversary Photos-thanks to Conor Bridgeman

2)  With most of the national leagues completed, congratulations are due to the following teams on winning their leagues

  1. Womens NLD2
  2. U16 Girls – 14 straight wins
  3. U19 Girls
  4. U16 boys – 14 straight wins
  5. U19 Boys

The mens’ NLD2 had the toughest competition in a number of years and couldn’t manage to retain the title and finished third which is the same position as the NLD3. The latter team had the largest squad in many years and great to see an increase in the number of junior boys paying on this team. The division 1 leagues are not yet finished but both women and mens’ teams are still in first place.

3)  Congratulation to Cliona Colvin, Keri Noonan, Erin Kindlon and  Katie Hynes who represented Ireland on the U17 girls team at the recent EU Nations Tournament and best of luck to Sam O’Dwyer, Alex San Emeterio and Marius Sandu who are off to Brno this week for the U17 boys EU Nations Tournament.

4)  In March, there was also an “amazing & very successful” training camp to Budapest organized by Michelle Gaffney and Steve O’Brien. It was attended by senior ladies & men and  included 11 juniors, (8 girls and 3 boys). The high point was a special master class orchestrated by former Olympian in Rajmund Fodor.

5)  Cyclathon Fund-raising for Temple Street Childrens’ Hospital and Club

Thanks are due to Mick Kelly, Eoin Bridgeman and Fiona Noonan for organising a fund-raising event at the Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords which ran all day and thanks to those who supported with cycling and collecting.

6)  Irish Senior Cup in the  National Aquatic Centre

The senior national championship will be held from Thursday 25th to Saturday 27 April with the first match kicking off with the men at 5.30pm. The women then first play at 10.30m on the Friday. Details of all match times can be found @ http://www.waterpolo.ie/irish-senior-cups-2019.html .

Best of luck to both teams and do come a long in cub colours to support both teams!

7)  May will also be a busy month for junior teams with the U15 cup being held in Galway from Saturday 4-6th May and then the U13 mixed cups being held on 18 and 19th May in the NAC, Dublin. Best of luck for all these teams.

8)  As a final note, I would like to emphasise that the club has expanded the training hours for members this year and I would like to thank Mick Kelly for organising the extra training hour for juniors  on available Sundays in the NAC and Stephen Harris for getting a lot more junior boys down on Monday and Wednesday nights which is great to see.

Looking forward to the next update in early May.

April 22nd 2019

Hi All

This note is long overdue and as we would like to send out a Club update every 4-6 weeks during the season, all members and parents are welcomed to suggest points or news updates for inclusion. There are a lot of points to cover since last update so I will try to be brief but there are a lot of good things to share:

1) 50th Anniversary Gala Night

It was great to see almost 150 members enjoying themselves at the gala night in the Bonnington Hotel on 23rd February and once again thanks are due to all those who organised the event and the sponsors. In particular, thanks are due to Ciaran Caverley for the extremely enjoyable and professional anniversary booklet and an electronic copy will be placed on the website shortly.

Photographs from the night can be seen and downloaded at the following link: 50th Anniversary Photos-thanks to Conor Bridgeman

2)  With most of the national leagues completed, congratulations are due to the following teams on winning their leagues

  1. Womens NLD2
  2. U16 Girls – 14 straight wins
  3. U19 Girls
  4. U16 boys – 14 straight wins
  5. U19 Boys

The mens’ NLD2 had the toughest competition in a number of years and couldn’t manage to retain the title and finished third which is the same position as the NLD3. The latter team had the largest squad in many years and great to see an increase in the number of junior boys paying on this team. The division 1 leagues are not yet finished but both women and mens’ teams are still in first place.

3)  Congratulation to Cliona Colvin, Keri Noonan, Erin Kindlon and  Katie Hynes who represented Ireland on the U17 girls team at the recent EU Nations Tournament and best of luck to Sam O’Dwyer, Alex San Emeterio and Marius Sandu who are off to Brno this week for the U17 boys EU Nations Tournament.

4)  In March, there was also an “amazing & very successful” training camp to Budapest organized by Michelle Gaffney and Steve O’Brien. It was attended by senior ladies & men and  included 11 juniors, (8 girls and 3 boys). The high point was a special master class orchestrated by former Olympian in Rajmund Fodor.

5)  Cyclathon Fund-raising for Temple Street Childrens’ Hospital and Club

Thanks are due to Mick Kelly, Eoin Bridgeman and Fiona Noonan for organising a fund-raising event at the Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords which ran all day and thanks to those who supported with cycling and collecting.

6)  Irish Senior Cup in the  National Aquatic Centre

The senior national championship will be held from Thursday 25th to Saturday 27 April with the first match kicking off with the men at 5.30pm. The women then first play at 10.30m on the Friday. Details of all match times can be found @ http://www.waterpolo.ie/irish-senior-cups-2019.html .

Best of luck to both teams and do come a long in cub colours to support both teams!

7)  May will also be a busy month for junior teams with the U15 cup being held in Galway from Saturday 4-6th May and then the U13 mixed cups being held on 18 and 19th May in the NAC, Dublin. Best of luck for all these teams.

8)  As a final note, I would like to emphasise that the club has expanded the training hours for members this year and I would like to thank Mick Kelly for organising the extra training hour for juniors  on available Sundays in the NAC and Stephen Harris for getting a lot more junior boys down on Monday and Wednesday nights which is great to see.

Looking forward to the next update in early May.