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Sinead Treacy Shines in Nat Senior 400m

Sinead Treacy had a superb performance at the National Senior Track & Field Championships held in Santry at the weekend, qualifying for the finals of the women’s 400m in the heats on Saturday in a time of 57.56 and following this up a day later with a fantastic 4^th place finish in the final in windy conditions and a sizzling time of 57.13. Sinead pictured above and below on live TV on RTE 2!

Also in action, William Fitzgerald placed 7^th in the Junior Men’s 5000m in 16:08.80 while the club had 4 athletes in the heats of the Senior Men’s 1500m with Jack Miskella just missing out on making the final in a time of 4:10.70 and Oisin Davis, Kyle Moorhead and Sean Cotter recording times of 4:14.16, 4:14.29 and 4:16.17 in their heats. Sinead Gaffney set a new club record for the distance with a time of 4:50.57 in the heats of the Senior Women’s 1500m.

Craughwell AC Launch 400m Track Development Plans

Facility Progress

Despite the pandemic, work has been continuing at pace on completing the first part of our building which should be open in time for resumption of training for all groups in September, subject of course to the public health guidelines in force at the time. The building comprises 4 toilets and a small hall for indoor activities. We will be finalizing our Buy a Block fundraiser for the building during September and erecting a permanent poster inside the building of names of people who has contributed to this or any of our fundraising campaigns.

Launch of 400m Track Development Plans

With completion of phase 1 of the building, our attention now moves to the expansion of our track into a full 400m track. We would hope to have a series of fundraisers over the next year to raise funds for this. Our Paralympic World Junior Champion Shauna Bocquet has taken an exemplary lead on this along with her dad Loic in setting up a go-fund-me page to raise money for the track. Click on our gofundme campaign link or the picture below to support.

We are hoping to pull together a small subcommittee of parents, coaches and athletes to help Loic lead the track fundraising activities. The intention is to lighten the load on coaches by getting parents involved. If you have some expertise or energy to lend to this, it is very possible that we could have a track within 12 months if we were also to obtain State grants. The more money we can raise ourselves, the better chance we have of getting a State grant in the next round of funding. So if you can get involved, please contact Loic.

We are trying to get as many as possible to donate to the fundraiser and share amongst friends and family to encourage them to support also. This is our opportunity to build a track for everyone. We have scores of children and adults using the facility on a nightly basis, many of whom would love to have a 400m track for longer sprints (“groan” I hear many of my group say – we are happy with 120m!) .. it will be a major asset to all of us to have 400m, so please get behind the fundraising, check out the go-fund-me page, make a donation and share with your buddies!

And thank you for your support!

Don't forget our weekly club Lotto either which continues to run each week with the jackpot now at €3860. Every cent of the profit from the Lotto goes to the club’s facility development. You can take part week by week or sign up for longer periods. Click the pictures below to support any of these fundraisers.

Athletes Shine at Connacht Games

Craughwell AC's Kyle Moorhead who smashed the club's 800m record at the weekend
in the Connacht Games in Athlone

Craughwell AC athletes participated in good numbers in the Connacht Outdoor Games which were held last weekend rather than the full Championships that take place each year. It was a historic occasion for the club’s new facility as it hosted its first ever official Connacht event with the holding of the long jump and shot putt on Saturday and the sprints and distance races held the following day in Athlone.

A big thank you to Amanda Hynes and Iain Shaw for organising the event .. it was super for the athletes to have some official Connachtr competitive action. Full results of the 2 days are here.

Leanagh Gilligan was the star of the show on Saturday with a massive 5.40m PB to claim gold in the U19 age group, only 5cm away from breaking Sinead Treacy’s club record for the event. Alisha Larkin was also in blistering form with a 5.09 PB to claim victory in the U18 Girls event while Laura Cunningham was unlucky to be a little behind the board on each jump when jumping a best of 4.89m to take victory in the senior event.

Sophie O’Brian placed 2nd in the U17 Girls long jump with an impressive 4.83 while Ella Lyons claimed 4th place in the U16 Girls long jump with 4.48 with Erin Kelly 6th with 4.29 and Leonore Church 7th with 4.11. Grace Keaveney took gold in the U15 Girls long jump with an impressive PB of 4.67m while Ella Farrelly won the U14 Girls long jump with a fine leap of 4.49m, with Isobel Schukat 3rd with 3.97 and Gillian and Beth Crowe in 4th and 5th place with 3.70 and 3.64. In the shot putt, Calvin Ryan placed 2nd in the U16 Boys event with an impressive 9.09m throw.

Lukas Schukat took 2nd place in the U17 Boys long jump with an impressive 5.36m. Evan Quinn took 2nd place in the U16 Boys age group with a best of 4.77m with Andrew Power 3rd with 4.28 while Darragh Kelly took victory in the U14 Boys long jump with a best of 4.48m.

On Sunday, Kyle Moorhead’s super season continued with a club-record-breaking 1:57.08 time to break Jack Miskella’s record of 1:57.47 set last year. Kyle took the victory in the U19 age group on a day which saw some of the fastest times at a Connacht track & field in years. Oisin Davis ran a big PB of 2:00.85 in the same race to take the victory in the U18 age group with Luke Burke 3rd U18 in 2:10.31.

Jack Miskella took victory in the senior 800m in 1:58.58 with Gavin Cooney 3rd in 2:00.16 and Luke Evans 4th in 2:06.04. Mathys Bocquet took 2nd place in the U15 Boys 800m in 2:13.72. In the women’s 800m, Sinead Gaffney raced to victory in a fine 2:20.57 with Leanne Freaney and Grainne McDaid making a long-awaited return to outdoor track & field when racing to times of 2:54.84 and 3:42.65 to place 6th and 7th in the same race. Jade Moorhead won the U16 Girls 800m in a time of 2:43.24 while Hannah Whelan was 5th in the U17 Girls in a time of 2:51.29 and Muireann Leen placed 7th in the U15 Girls in a time of 2:53.15.

In the 3000m, Emily Miskella took victory in the U17 race in a time of 10:59.60 while Emma Boyle placed 2nd in the U18 Girls event in 10:49.99. In the men’s race, William Fitzgerald won the U20 Mens race in 8:56.09 while Ross McGuinness did likewise in the U17 3000m in a time of 9:27.80 with Anthony Boyle 2nd in 9:50.33.

The 100m races also saw some fine performances with Ella Farrelly taking victory in the U14 Girls race in 13.64, Oliver Ginty 2nd in the U15 Boys 100m in 13.35, David Mulligan 5th in the Senior Mens 100m in 12.35 with Brian Malone 7th with 12.85.

Full Resumption of Athletics

U16-18s group and our college group back at training

Since recommencing training as part of phase 1 on May 19th, our athletics training groups have been gradually resuming somewhat normal activities. We started back initially in groups of 4 with older ages, and then were permitted to expand to groups of 15 and then to larger groups – all with social distancing. Then in phase 2 our u14s and u13s resumed training. We didn't resume with U12s and younger due in part to those ages being very busy with other sports in the months of July and August, traditional downtime for them from athletics and also due to the fact that many coaches were unavailable for those months.

Come September we plan to resume with all younger groups during the first and second weeks of the month - subject of course to the public health guidelines in place at the time.

We are seeking more volunteer parents to help out in September as we will need to split the groups into manageable subgroups, particularly in the younger groups. Please contact Mike Tobin 087 659 1879 if available to help - no prior experience required as the club will train new coaches and will arrange courses from Athletics Ireland.

We will also be commencing a new senior infants group for 8 weeks from mid September and are actively seeking parents to help. Mark Gillen will be coordinating this new group at the start with a view to it being self-sufficient with parents leading the coaching by the end of the 8 weeks. Please contact Mark at 086 816 2637 if you are willing to help out. The group will train from 5.30pm to 6.30pm on Wednesdays on the Astroturf.

Other training groups will continue to train on the same days as last year but we will have to adjust times a little to avoid overlap between groups and to allow a gap between sessions to allow carpark to clear.

Timetable for Connachts T&F Event

Easing Back Into Training!

Monday evening saw the return to training in groups larger than 4 athletes for some of our older age groups.

The U16s trained at 5.30pm in 2 seperate groups of 12 and 13 athletes, with the groups remaining seperate and under the direction of different coaches at different ends of the track in order to comply with the Phase 2 rules. And later that day at 8pm, our U20/23s group trained with 11 athletes in the group.

It was super to see a return to training in this size of group and 'a breath of fresh air' for everyone.

The lined track and cones makes it very easy to maintain social distancing and the grass areas are in great order which gives plenty of space to train safely. Thanks again to the local FAS scheme and GRD's Mary Feeney for the track relining and general maintenance of the grounds and to Mike O'Brien for maintenance of the grass in great condition.

We will learn from resuming with the older groups how to structure things safely for when we resume with the younger groups - hopefully later in the summer when permitted. We likely will have to make some minor adjustments to training times or training days so that only 1 group at the track at the same time so that its easy to do the social distancing.

U16s back at training

 U20/23s back at training

COVID Update - June 7th

Craughwell AC - Resumption of Athletics on a Phased Basis 
(v003, 7 June 2020)

Phase 2 - Monday June 8th

As already communicated, athletics was permitted to resume in a limited manner in Phase 1 of the Government’s roadmap for reopening society. Two groups resumed during phase 1 in small groups of 4 or less who lived within 5k of the facility.

Phase 2 has increased the permitted group size to 15 people and increased the travel limit as far as the county boundaries, but retained the age restriction on being aged 13 or older. Coaches of the relevant groups who are eligible to resume will be in contact with their groups during phase 2.

Coaches must complete a risk assessment for their group before resuming – contact the undersigned for more info. Coaches will also need to structure their sessions in smaller groups than 15 if they cannot apply the safety guidelines. The track lanes facilitate the social distancing requirements when one lane is kept empty between athletes so for most, this should help enforce the social distancing rules. As groups resume, some adjustments to training times will be needed to help with this so that groups do not overlap.

The following link on AAI’s website for more information https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/coronavirus-covid-19-update/ on phase 2.

Please note the previous guidelines in the Phase 1 notes below as well as the following in particular:-

• Bookings must be made in advance with Mike Tobin as per phase 1 and complete a booking form
• No access to toilets
• No sharing of equipment – coaches should bring their own
• The long jump can be used provided people bring their own rake, shovel and sweeping brush
  
  

For throwing implements, we hope to be able to facilitate this at selected training sessions by operating a loan scheme whereby throwers bring a javelin or shot to training which is on-loan to them during the pandemic so that it’s not shared with others. Coaches will provide more information on this within their groups.

For other equipment such as marker cones, small yellow hurdles etc. a small amount of such equipment may be borrowed by nominated coaches who bring it with them to each session and ensure it is only touched by themselves and not by other coaches or athletes. Contact the undersigned if you need to borrow equipment.

Best wishes,
Mike Tobin
Facility Development & Safety Officer
Craughwell AC, 087 659 1879

Phase 1 - Monday May 18th - click here

COVID Update - May 19th

Craughwell AC - Resumption of Athletics on a Phased Basis
(v002, 19 May 2020)

  As many will know, athletics is permitted to resume in a limited manner in accordance with Athletics Ireland’s guidelines which comply with the Government’s roadmap for reopening society. The guidelines are described here - https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/coronavirus-covid-19-update. The following is how we plan to resume partial activities in the next 3 weeks (phase 1 of the Government’s roadmap):

• Coaching sessions will not yet resume for athletes aged 12 or younger as this is outside what is allowed by Athletics Ireland. It is hoped that parents / children will appreciate that this is just an initial situation and gives us a chance to practice a safe way of training and to adapt it as we go along before reintroducing the younger and larger numbers.
• The above essentially means that athletics for u14s and younger will not yet resume, with these groups hopefully resuming in phase 2 or 3 if permitted by the Government and AAI guidelines.
• For the current phase, the 5km rule remains in place so while it is disappointing for athletes & coaches outside the 5km zone, we need to keep working remotely until phase 2 on 8^th June when it is expected to shift to 20km.
• For the current phase:
  • The facility will reopen from Tuesday 19^th May for members only (club & park members) in initial phases.
  • Restricting to members only is an essential part of the guidelines for reopening so that contact tracing of people using the facility can be employed if necessary.
  • Mike Tobin, as the club’s Facility Officer, will also be the designated Safety Officer during the pandemic.
  • Mike’s contact details are 087 659 1879.
  • Any individual or group using the facility must reserve a timeslot with Mike so that he can restrict the numbers present in any 1 hour.
  • No indoor facilities of any type will be available in phase 1.
  • So no toilets will be available – look after that before you leave home!
  • No equipment will be available – athletes and coaches should bring their own if needed.
  • No handling of any items other than your own equipment/bottle etc.
  • Athletes and coaches should bring their own hand sanitizers, wipes, towels etc.
  • A member family within the 5km limit can come with a parent to use the facility prior to 6pm – this is strictly under parental supervision and not a club activity.
  • Families need to reserve a slot with Mike Tobin and must stay together as a family while on the grounds and not mix with other families if present.
  • Juveniles cannot be present on the facility without a parent or a coach.
  • Anyone with a high temperature, cough or feeling unwell should not come to the facility.
  • Coach-led sessions with groups of less than 4 people (coach + 3) can take place after 6pm. If only 1 adult present with a juvenile group, a parent needs to also observe the training session from their parked car to comply with child safety regulations.
  • The coach must book the timeslot with Mike Tobin and inform Mike who will be attending.
  • If there is more than 1 coach in the group, they each can have a sub-group of 3 athletes – but the sub-groups should not mix during the same training session.
  • The main coach is responsible to ensure the AAI guidelines are followed and will after each session, email the attendees’ names to Mike for contact tracing purposes should the need arise
  • The following training groups can resume on the basis outlined above:
    • This week - Mike T’s older/college group – Mike will contact athletes within the 5km limit
    • 27th May - U16/17s group – again Mike will be in touch with the athletes
  • Mark/Lisa’s older/college group will resume when group size limit is increased from 4
  • Fit4youth is not in a position to resume yet as the main coaches live outside the 5km limit.
• Some will be delighted with this and some will be disappointed. Hopefully all will appreciate that we want everyone back asap and a gradual approach helps us figure out how to do so safely. Given how infectious the disease is and the potential long-term consequences of an infection, I am sure all agree that safety is the priority.

Mike Tobin
Craughwell AC, 087 659 1879

COVID Update

Just a quick update to people in regard to access to the athletics facility. As people may already know, athletics is one of the activities that the Goverment is permitting to start up in a limited fashion with tiny groups this week - older age groups only.

The trustees of the facility are meeting Monday evening to discuss a limited form of reopening of the facility to enable access for use strictly in accordance with the public health guidelines.

Following that, coaches will plan how to gradually recommence activities for the older age groups in the first phase of the roadmap for reopening society. Younger groups will be considered in the following phases in accordance with guidelines. 

The focus will be on doing this in a very gradual and cautious way to comply with the law and with public health guidelines.

I'm sure everyone is anxious for a return to normality - we just need to do it gradually and safely.

I should be able to provide another update on Tuesday after above discussions.

Support Pieta!

Everyone will know the wonderful work done by Pieta House ... and that their major fundraiser Darkness into Light cannot take place this year. So communities all around Ireland are doing their bit virtually to help raise funds. Shane Comer whose kids are in all the local sports clubs is coordinaring the effort across the local sports clubs inckluding ourselves ... please click on the link below to support, do your 5k at the weekend and donate.

Bye bye Pokes, Howdy Cajuns

Some great news in these strange times

Breaking news across the Atlantic this afternoon! Craughwell’s very own US Scholarship Student-Athlete Damian O’Boyle, (the first and only to date) is set to graduate from McNeese State University in a couple of weeks’ time with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science.

In the meantime, he has only gone and been accepted to Graduate School where he plans to pursue a Master of Science in Informatics, and today has put pen to paper on yet another scholarship deal. This time with the University of Louisiana, Lafayette (Ragin’ Cajuns) for what should turn out to be a two-year stint!

This is an exciting new chapter for both Damian and the club in our American journey. And with Lafayette only a short hour commute from Damian’s current base in Lake Charles, there should be plenty of opportunity for old friends and new rivalries.

We wish him all the best in the coming years, and Geaux Cajuns!

Mathys Gets International Selection Grant

Mathys Bocquet capped off a fantastic year by claiming a coveted spot on the Irish Schools team for the SIAB International in Scotland in a stunning performance on the 7th March.  Unfortunately for Mathys the unthinkable happened and the world changed overnight due to a tiny virus, leading to the 11th hour decision of the Irish team not to travel to the event.  It was a good decision as the event itself was also cancelled the next day!

However, Mathys still got the reward of an international selection grant, presented last night by Lisa at the team training review meeting, along with special guest Damian who was giving us a view of life as a Collegiate in the USA.

Mathys getting his presentation at the Q&A meeting