Season review 2020/21
I’d like to say a big thank you to the 2020/21 committee members for their efforts and commitment during another covid disrupted season. The season will be remembered for a long time and not all for good reasons. Our Club secretary Brigid Daly has documented a summary of our Club’s activities in 2020/21, and the overarching item was that of Covid 19 and its effect on the Club, players, members and our competitions.
Our Club Financial Accounts presented by our Club Treasurer Pat O’Hara highlights the effect Covid 19 had on our fundraising. With no Lotto since March 2020 due to the lock down, financially we have struggled. Our Club Lotto was the heartbeat of our financial wellbeing and I would urge everyone in our club to please support any future fundraisers.
Despite all that was thrown at us, I believe our Club will emerge all the stronger and evidence of this was to be seen in spades during the last 12 months. Our members rose to the challenge and did whatever was required of them to do, Covid 19 brought with it a host of rules and regulations which required our full attention, and our volunteers were up to the task, doing whatever was necessary to abide by the rules so as to enable us play games, train our teams and experience some normality. Our members and volunteers safety always comes first and we will always follow the guidelines set out to us.
A very special thank you to my fellow covid officers Mark Barrett and Brigid Daly for their input and support on all things covid during the season. A big thank you to all of the Covid volunteers for each team who did a wonderful job. I would like to thank them for all their work and our players and mentors who co-operated in order to keep everyone safe and well. They gave their time to make sure training and matches could go ahead when allowed. Without your collective support we could not have continued to provide a safe environment for our members.
On Behalf of everyone in Charleville Afc we would like to offer our sincere Condolences to our members and their families who may have lost someone over the last 12 months, May they all Rest in Peace.
Last season we had 2 men’s junior teams and one ladies junior team, our schoolboys section had 14 teams from U10 up to our U17 youths as well as our Littlekickers academy for boys aged 5 to 8 years old. Our schoolgirls section had 6 teams from U10 up to our U16 age group and our hugely popular girl’s only academy for 5 to 8 year old girls. Our competitive teams returned in the summer of 2020 to complete the season after the lock down was enforced in the spring time. We enjoyed a small bit of normality for a while but the 20/21 season was hit hard with further restrictions and lock downs with everything being called to a halt before Christmas due to covid 19.
One highlight of the 20/21 season was the awarding of the “club mark entry award” we’d like to thank Roy Finucane for his time and dedication to the FAI club mark application which we believe will help give the club a solid foundation and more structure for the future. We now look forward to progressing our one star application. Charleville AFC is looking forward to next season when we hope to continue to improve on the pitch through our club mark pathway as we develop and further improve the club facilities off the pitch.
We are delighted to have recently entered an u17 girl’s team in the LWSSL league; we see this as an important stepping stone as the girls make the transition from underage to junior ladies competition. I would like to wish Sean, Roy and the entire squad the very best of luck in the upcoming competitions. They’re first match is on Friday 18th away to Castle Utd.
I’d like to thank the many managers, coaches and assistants we have involved with all our teams, especially at underage boys and girls teams as they are the future of Charleville AFC. On the field we want to see all our players back training and playing matches for their club and competing for Silverware again.
A big thank you to our sports scheme workers Mike, Ed and William for all their hard work and dedication to their roles in keeping the pitches and club house so well. It takes a lot of time to have the grass pitches in Tim Fitzgerald Park and our pitch in the town park looking so well all year round. We are especially proud of the up keep of the town park pitch which we have maintained for many decades now. The pitch is also used by St Mary’s secondary school for school activities and the perimeter of the pitch is used by North Cork athletics club. It is lovely to see families and individuals using the town park area especially during covid times when restrictions on travel were enforced. We welcome the current upgrade taking place with the installation of lighting for the walkways and look forward to returning to using the pitch again for our members in the near future.
I’d like to thank Mikey Curtin and Dave Shanahan for all their support over the last 12 months during a very difficult period for the club, these men always make themselves available to help anyone in the club and we would struggle without them.
I’d like to thank Eileen Quealey O’Connell for her role as child welfare officer and also for making herself available to support the club when needed, it is very much appreciated.
Thanks to Jason O’Hara for his role as registrar for the club and also for organising 2 very successful last one standing competitions which helped boost the balance sheet during these difficult times.
Thanks to Paul Goodison for his website support, our website can be viewed at Charlevilleafc.com
As a club we would like to thank Charleville Community Sports complex, this is a wonderful facility for the club to have access to on its grounds and I’m sure all of our members are very appreciative also.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the sponsors for their very kind generosity this season to the club it’s of great help and assistance to us and is very much appreciated. I would ask all our members and their families to support Charleville AFC in any way possible, we need more volunteers as our membership is so big and I would also appeal for support towards our fundraising efforts to help maintain and improve the club going forward.
We would like to 4 new members to the committee, Stephanie O’Malley, Cathy Quaid, Paul Goodison and Sean Manning. We look forward to the new season with great enthusiasm. Please contact any Committee member for any concerns or information regarding the Club. The Committee are responsible for running the club and all decisions are made in the best interest of the club.
| Elected Committee Members for the 2021-22 season | |||
| Position | Name | ||
| Chairman | Kevin Buckley | ||
| Hon Secretary | Brigid Daly | ||
| Hon Treasurer | Pat O’Hara | ||
| Vice Chairman | Mark Barrett | ||
| Child Welfare Officer | Eileen Quealey O’Connell | ||
| Committee Member | Roy Finucane | ||
| Committee Member | John Slevin | ||
| Committee Member | Mikey Curtin | ||
| Committee Member | Jason O’Hara | ||
| Committee Member | Stephanie O’Malley | ||
| Committee Member | Cathy Quaid | ||
| Committee Member | Paul Goodison | ||
| Committee Member | Sean Manning | ||
