Schools and routines are back on track and so for many of our teams at this time of the year you are hoping all the hard work pays off. We have had a busy few weeks here in Ballincollig Ladies Football Club. Towards the end of the summer and before the children went back to school Ballincollig Ladies Football Club and Ballincollig Camogie Club combined together to run the first ever joint ladies football and camogie summer camp. This summer camp was for all our members age 5 to 12 years and it was a fantastic opportunity for our young members to be coached by our older girls many of whom play on County and Club teams. Thankfully we had good weather for the three day camp and the girls got to practice their skills and spend time with their friends before they went back to school. We were very lucky to have two cups visit the camp. First up we had the Under 11 ladies football group who won the Mid Cork League and they visited the club with the cup on the Tuesday. One of our coaches Miriam Healy played on the Cork Under 16 Camogie All-Ireland winning team and she along with her coach Mossie brought the All-Ireland cup to the camp on Wednesday. The girls were in their red and white colours and with flags and face paint showed their support and delight for Miriam and her teammates. Thank you to all the coaches and organisers for a very successful camp .
Our 8’s hosted a Blitz at home in early September on pitch 2. Visiting teams from St. Val’s Donoughmore and Carrigaline provided a great evening of football for everyone. Well done to all the coaches and girls. Our under 8’s also travelled to Eire Og with 5 small sided teams of girls so it was a great opportunity for the girls to practice their skills.
Towards the end of August our under 10’s travelled to Aghada GAA club to take part in the Munster Ladies Football Monster Blitz. With over 40 teams from Munster taking part Ballincollig entered two teams. We had games against Mayfield Bride Rovers Cloyne and Nemo. There was some great teamwork on show and the girls really enjoyed their morning. Thank you to Aghada for hosting such a great event. This group also took part in the Danielle Ford tournament which is held annually in Donoughmore GAA club. Again Ballincollig entered two teams, with both teams making it to the semi-final stage of the tournament. Thank you to Donoughmore for organising such a great morning and it was lovely to meet Danielle’s dad after our games. Thanks as always to our fantastic supporters who cheered on the girls with gusto.
Our under 11 team had been playing their league games during August and this culminated in a Mid Cork League Final against Nemo Rangers. This game was played on a Monday evening and pitch 3 in Ballincollig GAA Club. Ballincollig went into the game on the back of a good win over Bishopstown the previous week but knew that it was going to take a lot of determination and focus to beat this Nemo team. Nemo stormed ahead by 2 points and it took our girls a while to settle into the game but that they certainly did and they managed to draw back the lead to draw level. There wasn’t much between the teams at half time and the coaches were keen to keep the girls focused on playing a good second half. Ballincollig got on top down through the centre and they were able to get some vital scores on the board and move ahead of Nemo for a fantastic and well deserved win. Great celebrations on the final whistle for all the girls, coaches and huge crowd of supporters. Well done to Nemo on a fantastic game and thank you to everyone who helped out.
Our under 16 group were quiet over the summer months but they have made up for that over the last few weeks. The opened their County Championship campaign with a comprehensive win over St. Mary’s at home. St Marys settled quicker into the game but once Ballincollig came more on top at midfield and played some with some great teamwork they ran out strong winners in the end. Full time score Ballincollig 7-13 St Mary’s 0-06. Next up was a semi-final against Castlehaven which was played in Enniskeane on a lovely sunny Friday evening. A low evening sun was a factor on the evening and Castlehaven were a strong physical side. Ballincollig held their nerve and began to put up scores and lead throughout the game wining out by 6 points in the end. Kinsale were the opponent’s for the County final and weather conditions played a huge part in this match. Ballincollig played with the wind in the first half and went in at the short whistle 2-06 – 1-02 ahead. Knowing they would have to defend this lead in the second half Ballincollig had to dig deep as Kinsale piled on the pressure and managed to draw level at 3-06 a piece minutes from the end of the game, but due to the ferocious wind and rain neither side were able to get ahead so our county final ended in a draw leaving us all to head home to warm up and dry out and prepare for the replay.
This year Ballincollig Ladies Football Club are running the Gaelic for Girls Academy for 5 weeks during September and October. This is an academy for girls aged 5 to 8 years to introduce them to the basic skills of football and have some fun. We are now at week 3 of the Academy and it is great to see the girls enjoying their time on Pitch 3 every Monday evening. Thankfully the weather has worked in our favour every Monday night so far and we are looking forward to seeing these new girls joining our different age groups and becoming members of our fantastic club here in Ballincollig.