Annual Review: Cailíní Faoi 10
Following the begining of academy in March we had a list of 23 players in this age group which was a fantastic number of players to start with . We played a number of blitz’s and had some very good games against other teams .
We played John Mitchel’s in our first day out and even with conditions not great for football on the day our girls played very well on the day . As the game progressed we proved the better of the two teams . The older U10s on the day played quite well and the younger ones showed some potential in particular Kate Collins , Alice Brosnan, Aoife Sweeney and Rachel Creedon .
Back to academy on Sunday mornings for a while we could see good progression in the skill levels . Our next game was v Keel who were fielding an U10 girls team for the first time , again Roisin & Ciara played very well but Orla O Connor gave a big display in defence on the day , Niamh Lynch in the forwards showed well also .
We then hosted Leigon girls and this proved to be a great game against 2 very evenly matched teams . Abby Leahy , Ella Quirke ,Rachel Griffen and Aleia Weiss did very well in this game as did Roisin Raggett who got 3 points on the day . Rachel Creedon bagged 2-2 and Kerry Hennesy played well at mid field.
On June 14th we entered a team in the North Kerry Ladies U10 Blitz in Abbeydorney we played John Mitchels , Abbeydorney and Corcha Duibhne . On each game the girls showed great teamwork and no little skill to prevail on each occasion. Roisin Rahilly , Ciara Palmer provided the leadership and drive and others followed . Aoibhinn Broderick,Sarah West, Labhoise Mansfield , Laura Kelly and Isuelt O Brien made good contributions on the day.
We hosted Austin Stacks a week later and again the Ballymac girls prevailed over the town team . Orla O Connor was great in the full back position, Kerry Hennesy showed well in goals and in defense. Midfield players of Ciara Palmer, Kate Collins and Geraldine Cassidy were outstanding and getting a few scores as well. Laura Sugrue got a goal and 3 points, Rachel Creedon bagged a goal and a point. Abbey Leahy, Roisin Raggett, Ella Quirke, Aoibhinn Broderick and Rachel Griffen had good moments in both attack and defense. Niamh Lynch had a great last 15mins playing midfield and the younger girls Alice Brosnan, Maggie Scanlon, Labhaoise Mansfield & Sara West tried hard. Laura Kelly who gave a very assured and improved performance on the morning.
We played Firies then but proved far too strong for them on the day , a few weeks later in August we’d a busy weekend taking part in the Duagh North Kerry Blitz on Sat and on Sunday traveled to Miltown on Sunday to play their girls in a challenge game. They put in great performances on Sat in Duagh playing 5 games against Duagh , Abbeydorney 1 , Abbeydorney 2 , Listowel & Desmonds. The improvement and skill level shown by this group of players was fantastic . Geraldine Cassidy was very impressive during this blitz as was Laura Sugrue.
On the Sunday they played Miltown despite they having played Saturday also they did very well again and had tough competitive game there.
We finished off the year hosting Miltown and travelling into Austin Stacks , ( where Aoife Sweeney returned with aplomb) and again performed very well in both games . It was great to see the improvement in all the girls as the year progressed .
The improvement in these girls throughout the year was mainly due to the mentors Donal Rahilly, Mike Quirke, Senan Ragget, John Creedon and Roy Geary who hours of dedication to this group is reaping rich dividends.
U10 panel …. Abbey Leahy ,Alexia Weiss , Aoibhinn Brodrick, Aoife Sweeney , Ciara Palmer ,Charlotte Geary, Rose Brosnan , Geraldine Cassidy ,Iseult O Brien , Kate Collins , Kerry Hennesy , Labhaoise Mansfield , Laura Sugrue ,Laura Kelly ,Maggie Scanlon , Ella Quirke , Rachel Griffen , Rachel O Shea , Sara West ,Roisin Rahilly , Roisin Raggett , Rachel Creedon ,Niamh Lynch