Last Saturday our Minis hosted the first round of this season’s West Munster blitzes, hosting boys and girls from Castleisland, Killorglin and Iveragh rugby clubs in absolutely perfect rugby playing conditions in Killarney. We had pitches running at St. Brendan’s College (the Sem) as well as Kockreer as over 250 children took part in some outstanding rugby in front of a bumper home and visiting crowd, proud to show off the skills learned to date and in some cases this was the first time some of the younger children got to play a match against another club. It was amazing to see the children getting stuck in and trying their best to outwit their opponents.
The morning was a very busy one as we lined out 14 pitches across the two venues, manned the car park and set up the kitchens at the Sem as the parents brought a proverbial mountain of food, rolling out the Killarney RFC welcome and hospitality to the visiting clubs. A huge credit must go the all the parents who brought food for the big event as well as the countless volunteers on the day, without whom the day couldn’t have been such a success. It was so good to be able to count on all who helped out and ensured the children got to enjoy the food after a morning of rugby on the pitches. The Dining Hall at the Sem was the venue for the food and the place was buzzing as the children swapped stories about the earlier matches.
The Sem was a hive of activity as we hosted matches from U7 to U10 with U11 and u12 playing at Knockreer. We literally had an army of violunteers who helped with parking to giving out the food afterwards and a special thanks must go to the parents and especially youth players Stevie, Jeremiah and Cathal who helped out with the stewarding on the day.
A huge thanks to Sean, Seamus and Geraldine at the Sem for the use of the amazing facilities there. Thanks to all the coaches who expertly guided their charges through their first blitz of the season, the parents who gave their valued time to help out and to encourage their children from the sidelines. Also, a huge well done to the children who took part so enthusiastically at every age level representing our #blackandredarmy and who can’t wait for the next blitz, in Killorglin at the end of November. Finally thanks to coordinator Liam Murphy for all the hard work in organising the event down to the tee.
The club made history last Saturday by hosting our first ever girls only matches and we welcomed Morna Dixon and girls from Tralee RFC for this occasion as well as the girls from Killorglin who took part in the match. The girls were extremely enthusiastic and delighted to play in the girls only match and there was a fantastic crowd on hand to witness the historic occasion. This is the fruition of all the hard work done to date to promote girls rugby in Killarney and further afield. Last year brought the Women’s Rugby World Cup Trophy to Faha, Fossa and Cullina National Schools and brought our girls to a World Cup fixture in Dublin so this is the next step as we grow the girls section and now we have 20 girls playing rugby for Killarney RFC!
It is fantastic to see 3 years hard work in developing girls rugby in Killarney come to fruition like this. Well done to all involved, especially Liam Murphy, Denise Treacy and Ed Stack who have driven the girls section from day one and to the new coaches Fiona and Peter also. We are planning to take part in Girls minis blitzes going forward so keep an eye on Facebook for further details.