It’s one of the most exciting days in the Cuala calendar when the first Academy session takes place for another generation that will hopefully find the club to be an important part of their childhood and beyond.
At 9 AM tomorrow morning we will welcome around 100 little boys born in 2016 and about to embark on their GAA journey.
90 minutes later and it’s a case of ‘here come the girls’ with around 80 already signed up to take part.
They’ll be greeted by excellent coaches and enthusiastic TY students starting their own coaching pathway.
The hope is that they will have fun, make friends and, over time, pick up the skills that their older brothers and sisters or those who have gone before and whose red shirts they have looked at passing by, have done themselves.
Good luck to them one and all, and welcome to all the new parents. If you stand around for any length of time there’ll be a job found and Cuala will soon become as much a part of your life as it is theirs.
We spoke to Ken Fitzgerald on the eve of the big day and what the Academy is all about.
Head over to our Twitter account to see Ken Fitz tell us a little about what makes it so special.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Our brilliant young volunteers didn’t get to do their planned trip to Zambia this year but that wasn’t going to stop them from making a difference.
Pictured above are some of the gang handing over a big cheque, in every sense, for €46,339 which they raised for Habitat for Humanity.
Well done, we are all very proud of you.
NOT THE GREATEST OF WEEKENDS
It was not to be for our three members of the Dublin squad that fell to Meath in last Sunday’s TG4 All Ireland Ladies Football Final at Croke Park. It was a stunning performance from Meath that took a five-in-a-row away from us but the girls will be back. Well done though to our own GPO Mark Brennan who was one of the senior coaches with the Meath team.
It was a tough shift on Saturday and Sunday for our adult hurlers as well with only the Junior A third’s registering a win in the first round of Championship. A lot more hurling to be played though.
Our Camógs went better recording a draw for the first’s, decent wins for the seconds and thirds and a narrow defeat for the fourths.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEN’S FOOTBALL GETS GOING THIS WEEKEND
It will be some day of action at Hyde Park on Sunday with no fewer than four of our Adult teams in Championship action. The firsts entertain St Maurs at 10:30, followed by the seconds against St Sylvetsrs at 12, the fourths against Round Towers at 2:30 and the fifths against Good Counsel at 4.
The thirds will feel as though they are not invited to the party with a trip across the county to play St Maurs.
There are two Minor Boys Hurling Championship matches side by side in Shankill against St Vincents and Na Fianna.
The Adult Women’s footballers start their first Senior Championship on Wednesday while the Minors are in Meadowvale on Monday night.
Our U15 D2 girls are home to Round Towers at Meadowvale at 1:30 on Saturday while our two U16 teams are both on the road, the D1 team away to Clontarf and the D7 team away to Good Counsel, both on Sunday.
Good luck to the U10 hurlers taking on Na Fianna and Clan Na Gael in Thomastown on Saturday morning.
The Camogie First Team will travel to Erin’s Isle on Sunday morning for their opening match in the Senior 2 Championship
WALLBALL IN THE NEW HOME4CUALA
Sean Moran has been chatting over on our social media channels about some of the benefits we can hope for from the new #Home4Cuala.
MEN’S ALL IRELAND TICKET DRAW
It’s always good when a deserving winner is drawn out for the All Ireland tickets so good luck to Fergal O’Reilly and Niamh who’ll be singing the Green and Red in Croker on Saturday at 5 PM.
Good luck to both teams, may it be a great game with deserving winners. And the same for the six teams in action in the Camogie Finals Day on Sunday. All the action is on RTÉ.
TY PROGRAMME
There was a great turnout for the introductory session held for TY students into the many different programmes and activities that can be done through the club.
MASKS IN CLUB COLOURS FOR BACK TO SCHOOL
With the kids back to school there may be a fresh run on masks. Why not deck them out in club colours for only a fiver.
No winner of the Cuala lotto this week with 2,12,19 and 24 the numbers drawn. There is the added bonus of a €100 prize for one player every week as part of the Lucky Dip, won this week by Elizabeth Gregan.
Welcome back Drummo!