Roscommon Gaels GAA Club-60th Anniversary
Roscommon Gaels 60th Anniversary. – On Friday 15th November 2019 Roscommon Gaels GAA Club celebrated its 60th Anniversary at its Celebration Night at the Abbey Hotel.
The club facilitates Gaelic Football from u8s up to and including senior, Hurling from u8s up to and including senior, Camogie say all levels from u8s up to junior.
The junior team won the county title this season and as a result, will compete at Senior Level next season, Ladies Gaelic football at all grades from u8s up to and including adult levels.
We can’t leave out the very active Scór teams also at all levels and a new initiative the club started this year called Roscommon Gaels All-Stars which is an academy for kids and kids with special needs.
Managers and coaches do great work at all levels of all the aforementioned codes and the Roscommon Gaels All-Stars received an award for this initiative.
For my involvement in Roscommon Gaels GAA Club, we have to go back to 1990. I made the Abbey National School hurling panel it started with a class league in the school then I got on the school hurling panel as I said. We had a very talented panel of hurlers. So good, we got to the county final in Athleague on a wet Friday night. We played a very good Fuerty National School. Unfortunately, we weren’t good enough and Fuerty National School won the Roscommon National Schools Hurling County Final.
My first season involved in GAA ended in disappointment with a defeat that day. But despite that, I learned a valuable lesson in both sport and life in the sense in sport or life things don’t always go the way you want to.
The next step in my playing career came when I started in Roscommon CBS in Roscommon town.
Every week there were 2 opportunities for sport 1 was PE, the other being Games. PE was once a week and lasted for a period of 1 class every week. During PE we had indoor soccer. In indoor soccer I loved being a goalkeeper the person so inspired me to become a goalkeeper was Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Packie Bonnar. He was a class goalkeeper who played for Celtic at club level and was a goalkeeping legend I wanted to be like him. For me he really came to the fore as my inspiration when he played for Rep of Ireland in the World Cup Italia 90. Brilliant saves throughout the world cup. Unlucky to concede a goal in the 1v1 draw v England, a clean sheet v Egypt and conceded a goal v Holland in the last group game meant we made it out of the group next up Romania 0v0 at full time, 0v0 after extra time and so to penalties Packie saved a penalty and David O’Leary scored the penalty to send Ireland to the World Cup Quarter Final s for the first time in our history. Everyone had high hopes. Next up Italy, formidable opponents with 1 world-class player to schillaci. Unfortunately, a disappointing result 1v0 to Italy .
But I was inspired by Packie Bonnar and that is when I knew I wanted to be a goalkeeper. A decision that stood to me throughout my playing career.