AGM Celebrates Successful Year
Published on: 19th February, 2009
A large attendance turned out at the recent AGM to hear the positive reports from our Club committee.
Kicking off the proceedings was Bren Bermingham, Club Secretary, who informed all in attendance that the Club currently caters for 37 teams, 14 in the small sided games, 20 schoolboy 11-a-side teams and 3 senior teams, playing in 5 different venues! Obviously this is a huge commitment from everyone involved arranging fixtures, training sessions, subs, registration, gear etc and he thanked one and all for all their efforts.
Brendan also spoke about the various fund raising events, especially the Klotto and the Christmas Raffle, and the importance of same. He spoke of how the Klotto had contributed so much to the development of the Club over the years, and continues to do so, and asked that everyone support the Klotto on a weekly basis. All funds collected went back into the Club so that the 37 teams we have and our teams in the Mini Leagues set up can continue to enjoy the best facilities available. It was therefore vital for all teams to support the various initiatives that the Club undertakes.
Brendan spoke of the importance of this year as we celebrate 50 years of football and expressed a wish that everyone take full part in the celebrations planned during the year. Already there was a waiting list for places at the Gala Dinner and the Golf Outing was also proving to be hugely successful.
Brendan finished up by expressing his gratitude and appreciation for the work undertaken by our FAS members under the supervision of Ken Donohoe and Sharon Mitchell whose assistance and support were invaluable during the year.
Brendan was followed by a detailed report on the Club’s finances by Treasurer, Pat Daly. Pat informed the attendance of the high cost of training facilities and pitch rental that the Club provides and reiterated Brendan’s remarks on the importance of managers ensuring that subs and registration fees are collected and returned to the Club promptly. Pat spoke of the damage inflicted by the floods in August and
spoke of the costs involved with getting the Clubhouse facilities back on track. The need to focus on the damaged areas had forced the Club to put a number of other projects on hold and they hoped to return to these projects during the coming year.
Next up was the report of Director of Football, Ken Donohoe.
Ken spoke at length about the various developments during the year with teams, managers, coaches and players and of the various functions and courses that were held within the Club.
He praised the continuing success of our teams in the small sided games that go from strength to strength. He spoke of the need to strike the correct balance between player development and staying in contention for league and cup honours.
He spoke of the recent affiliation with Liverpool FC Academy and hoped that St Kevins Boys as a club would reap the benefits for our players and coaches of such a prestigious alliance. He expressed his gratitude to the staff at West Brom with whom the Club were linked for the previous four years, and praised the way that they allowed both our players and coaches the opportunity to sample life at a professional football club. While many plans are still in the pipeline with our new partners, Liverpool, the one confirmed plan is a Liverpool Soccer Academy School weekend that will be held on July 17th to 19th.
Ken then switched his attention to our 11-a-side teams. He informed us that we now have a team in each Premier League from Under 11 right up to Under 16 level and all the teams were currently in the top 4 of their respective leagues. We were also the only club in the country to have seven teams compete in the last 32 of the SFAI Cups this season, one each from U11s to U15s and two at U16 level.
Last season was the most successful season the Club has ever had with the Club picking up 10 League titles, 4 League Runners Up places and 3 Cups from the various teams from Premier sides to 4th teams at all age groups. Pride of place went to our U15 Premier side last season who managed to win the SFAI Cup for the fourth consecutive year.
Ken went on to praise all those who were selected to play in the various representative squads. Neil Yadolahi, Lorcan Shannon and Mark Hughes of our U15 Premier and Johnny Carroll and Conor Dillon of our Senior Premier team all gained International recognition. Special mention was made of the ten members of last season’s U15 Premier side who received honours at international level, Ryan Kinsella, Robert Brady, Jeffrey Hendrick, Anthony Bolger, Eoin Wearon, Ethan Mannion, Conor Murphy, Conor Carberry, Sean Stewart and Jean Biansumba.
Ken did warn of the effects of this success on players and asked that managers and parents keep it in mind that with the extra strain put on players involved in the various representative squads it was important the players get the right amount of rest. Ken spoke of a new sports science programme that was being introduced in conjunction with DCU. Daniel Tobin, Head of Sports Science and a former SKB player and Club Coach, Alan Caffrey will oversee this programme which will concentrate on our Premier players between the ages of 11 and 16. It is hoped that this will help players involved in their various pursuits.
The numbers of managers, coaches and players that achieved success in the various FAI Coaching Badges during the year was a great credit to the club and spoke volumes of the commitment from these individuals to increase their knowledge of the game and to set themselves higher targets again and again.
Finally, Ken thanked all those involved at any level with teams within the club, those involved in the Academy Training, Goalkeeper Coaching, the SSG Competition at Christmas (which proved to be a huge success and very popular with our younger players), the Mini Leagues and the Summer Leagues for all their effort, support and unending enthusiasm and wished them all success in the seasons ahead.
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