2010 Cul Camp Review

St Brigids GAC annual Cul Camp 2010 ran this year from the 20th -25th August at Harlequins Rugby Club.
Early on Monday the 16th there was a hive of activity early at the new Deramore Park venue as Ruairi O’Neill and his band of coaches set about setting up the camp. So eager they were to get things right they had actually been up the night before to set up the goal posts.
The nets were positioned, the cones were in place and the bibs and whistles were given out all that was needed was the children.
By 10am around 160 children had arrived and were divided up into their groups. After the success of last year, the club ran their Saffron Og section again, this section is designed for our younger members and was highly popular with 50 children taking part. (Saint) Maurice Delaney was in charge of this section assisted by some members of the Ulster Council Coaches. The children developed their core football and hurling skills through a series of fun games and activities. To keep fifty under 7s interested for a week was indeed a challenge however Maurice and his crew managed it very well.
The older children were grouped out on the newly laid Gaelic pitch at Harlequins into their various age groups. The majority of the coaches this year came from the club itself, they were aided by a number outside coaches from neighbouring clubs.
The young St Brigid’s players spent the first four days developing their skills and techniques in both Football and Hurling, as the coaches passed on their knowledge to the younger generation during the day. Each child was issued with their special “You Can” Passport. This document was used to track their development during the week. Each child worked very hard to gain their “Gold” standard in each discipline in both codes.
Hurling/Camogie played a big part in the Cul Camp this year (Uncle) Frank McGurk was the lead coach during the week, and he was pleasently surprised by the standard of the Hurling, especially from the children who had never played the game before.
On Friday all across the playing fields, as the boys and girls were competing in their mini “All Irelands”, they had a visit from Antrim County Stars Paddy Cunningham and St Brigid’s own James Loughrey. Both lads were kept busy during thei time at the camp answering many questions, signing shirts and participating in some photographs. There were also a couple of photographs with Benny McArdle the Down star, who had spent part of the week coaching at the Camp. The children wished Benny all the best in his quest for the All Ireland title with the Down footballers.
The camp came to an end on the Friday afternoon, as the children all received their special Cul Camp kits, medals and rucksacks. The final whistle was blown on the Cul Camp on the Friday afternoon, it was agreed it had been a great success, in no small part to the contribution and effort of the club members especially Ruairhri O’Neill and the senior lads and ladies.