Great news for our club, community & parish

There was great news on multiple fronts last week for our club. 

First came the news that our new members Gym has been opened. A project which has been spearheaded by Kieran O'Keeffe and Don O'Riordan delivered, installed and fit-out complete in a matter of months. During the initial phase, use will be open to our adult male & female members whilst the logistics of broader use are finalised to enable safe and beneficial use for our remaining teams and the community at large. There is great credit due to Kieran and Don for driving this project to completion, it is another step in our capital program to enable Felix Sarsfield Memorial Park to be an asset to the entire community.

The second piece of great news arrived when planning permission for Phase 2 of our capital program was granted. This phase involves the construction of a 1,800m²  flood-lit astro-turf pitch and an extension of our existing hurling wall to match. It goes without saying that this will be an invaluable asset not just to our club but also to the Ladies club, Glenville GAA and the parish as a whole.

The final piece of the jigsaw was put into place when we were informed that we had been awarded €75,000 as part of the Sports Capital Program. The awarding of this grant was the largest in the clubs history and will enable construction to begin on our astro-turf and hurling wall project. It is the result of an enormous amount of hard work by our development sub-committee as well as tremendous support from Cllr. Sheila O'Callaghan and Padraig O'Sullivan TD and as a club, we are thankful for their support.

As a club, we are committed to being of the community & for the community. The recent completion of our new cycle & foot-path connecting our grounds to the village along with the great progress on our capital program is delivering an asset for our entire community which will hopefully stand to benefit not just our GAA teams, but our community & parish for many years to come.

Reeling in the year 2021

The tenth instalment of our Reeling In the Year feature brings us back to October 2021.

With most teams beginning to wind down their season - one which was condensed & contorted due to the on-going restrictions there were still games a plenty in October. Our Fé-7 team played in the Cork GDA organized monster blitz on the 4G pitch at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. In what can only be described as food for the soul of every GAA fan in the county, over 1000 kids from 160 teams playing 240 matches brought energy, excitement and fun to the venue. Our Fé-18 team also enjoyed their trip to the 4G pitch at Páirc Uí Chaoimh when they overcame Erin's Own by the narrowest of margins (2-10 V 1-14) thanks to a last-minute Cian Cronin-O'Neill penalty in a night that could best be described as "a night for ducks".

Our Fé-13 boys unfortunately lost their P2 final against a strong Blackrock side having had a comprehensive semi-final win over Valley Rovers. We are all very proud of this group and playing at P2 level is evidence that there are exciting times ahead for this group of lads.

Our intermediates lost out to Valley Rovers in the championship having led for long periods, this meant that they now went into a relegation play-off against Aghada, a game which would have massive on both clubs' future at Premier Intermediate level.  

Pride of place in October went to our Fé-17 team who came through a titanic battle with St. Colmans to win the Rebel Óg East – Fé17 D2 Hurling Championship – Shield Final in Caherlag. In a game which was shackled by the strong wind and very soft underfoot conditions, our lads showed incredible skill and tenacity, matched by grit and determination to win by the narrowest of margins. Having got off to a flying start with goals from Ciarán O’Leary & Ryan Loftus in the opening period, our 4-point waterbreak lead was reduced to 2 as St. Colman’s accuracy from frees helped them to stay in touch but we led on a score line of 2-6 to 0-10 at half-time. The lads dug-in again and despite a 2nd half red card, our 14 men held a 5-point advantage at the waterbreak, 3-8 to 0-12. St. Colmans accuracy from frees again allowed them to come back into the game, bringing the gap back to just one point, but relentless hard work throughout the team led by Ciarán O’Leary, Sam Dennehy, Brendan Lehane and Mike O’Driscoll to name but a few meant the men from the Hill held on for a memorable win.

Lotto 

There was no winner of the Lotto Jackpot this week. Numbers drawn were 2, 15, 18 & 22. Lucky dip winners are Darragh O'Callaghan, Michael Kelleher (Tralee), Winnie Sheehan and Nestor/McHugh/Cronin/O'Shea (Fir Tree). Congrats to you all. Next week's jackpot is a fantastic €12,000 and draw will take place Monday 22^nd February. Tickets are on sale in some of the village businesses like The Hut Bar, The Fir Tree, Johnny's Shop and our new Lotto stand in Ross's Centra. Tickets can also be purchased on-line via our club website (www.watergrasshillgaa.ie). The Club would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and supporters of the Watergrasshill GAA Club Lotto. The Club Lotto is a vital source of income for the running of all our teams within the Club and for future development of our facilities, so we ask you to please support it if you are in a position to do so. Remember, if you’re not in you can’t win. 

Rebels Bounty Draw 

Support from across the parish and beyond has been fantastic and we've now surpassed our minimum target, meaning that proceeds from every ticket sold go directly back into our community. We've also now set up an internal monthly draw for a €50 prize for all Rebels Bounty ticket holders giving 31 chances to win per month, that's 372 prizes over the 12 monthly draws.

The Rebels Bounty draw is an initiative of "One Cork" to give clubs a significant opportunity to raise funds. Proceeds from every ticket sold above minimum targets go directly to our clubs in Watergrasshill & Glenville.  We had a fantastic response in 2021 and tickets are now up for renewal. We are asking all members and supporters to renew again this year and support this very important fundraised for both clubs. The 2022 prize fund is over €500,000 with 30 chances to win every month. Entries can be made on-line via www.gaacork.ie/rebelsbounty or through any club member. If you need any assistance, feel free to contact Brian or Paud or please email rebelsbounty@gaa.ie or hillglenvillerebelsbounty@gmail.com. Your support is greatly appreciated with much needed funds going directly into supporting your club and your community, míle buiochas duitse go léir.