Burren Rangers Juvenile Club
Linda Kenny P.R.O - 087 6316137
Archives can be viewed here.
6/4/12
Burren Rangers Under 14 Girls Football team competed in the Carlow Féile Peil competition on Saturday last at Carlow Hurling Club. The winner of this competition will go ahead to represent Carlow in the All Ireland Féile Peil na nOg in Laois/Offaly in June. Five clubs entered this competition – Bennekerry / Tinryland, Burren Rangers, Mount Leinster Rangers, Old Leighlin and St. Mullins which meant each team had to play four matches of 20 minutes duration. After some outstanding football Burren Rangers, Bennekerry Tinryland and Old Leighlin finished level on the league table with three wins each from four games. This means these three clubs must do it all again to see who wins the right to represent Carlow at the National event. Burren Rangers defeated Bennekerry / Tinryland, St. Mullins and Mount Leinster Rangers and lost by one point to Old Leighlin. All in the club wishes Katie Brennan a speedy recovery following her injury at this blitz. Team: Karen Nolan, Orla Kenny, Aisha Mullins, Megan Dooley, Anna Tracey, Caithlin Doyle, Coco Doogue, Holly Barrett, Caithlin Maher, Rebecca Kelly, Rebecca McDonagh, Katie Brennan, Ysobel Castle, Aimee Kane, Grainne Mullins, Aine Kennedy, Veronica Flood, Ciara Buckley, Sarah Bermingham.
29/11/11
BURREN RANGERS JUVENILE PRESENTATION 2011
Close to 250 players, parents and invited guests attended the Burren Rangers Juvenile Club Presentation on Sunday evening last at Ballon Community Centre. The sense of pride and unity that prevailed in the hall speaks volumes for the work of so many from committee to coaches, to players and parents.
Invited guests included Very Rev Fr Brendan Howard, Very Rev Fr Edward Whelan, Rev Scott, Pat O’Brien (Carlow Camogie Board Chairman), Liam Foley (Coiste na nOg & Youth Officer Carlow County Board), Sean O’Brien (Ireland and Leinster Rugby Star), Eoin Nolan (Ireland Shinty Player and Leinster & Carlow Hurler, Local Carlow Senior Footballers Darragh Foley, Garry & Kieran Nolan, Ballon Footballers Alan Kelly and Frank Fanning, Kilbride Footballer and club coach James Foley & Fighting Cocks Footballer William O’Brien.
Club Chairman Michael Kinsella and Treasurer Micheal McGagh welcomed everyone to the event before MC Adrian Ryan proceeded with the presentations.
Each player from Under 6 to Under 16 were presented with certificates for their achievements and accomplishments with the club in 2011. Medals were presented to the victorious double winning Under 14 hurling and football teams by Eoin Nolan and Sean O’Brien. The Girls U12 football team winners of the U12 Carlow “C” Championship were presented with their medals by Darragh Foley. Special certificates were awarded to the victorious U10 and U12 Camogie teams – winners of their respective leagues. The club’s Under 14 girls football and camogie teams were also presented with runner up medals for their respective championships.
One the highlights of the evening was the presentation of Team Player of the Year Awards. Players were chosen by the team coaches in each age group. The winners were U14 Hurling – Joseph Holden, U14 Football (Boys) – Reece Denieffe, U16 Football (Boys) – Laurence O’Sullivan, U14 Football (Girls) Joint Winners – Katie Brennan & Karen Nolan, U14 Camogie – Ciara Hickey and club person of the year to Linda Kenny.
To end the evening Michael Kinsella represented flowers to the club secretary Aisling McGagh, hurling secretary Annette Holden, girls football secretary Angela Bermingham and camogie secretary Linda Kenny for their outstanding work all year in dealing with all club affairs.
The club would like to thank Conor Morahan for his PA system on the evening, to Kevin Doyle, Alister Castle, Paul Kenny and Michael McGagh for their work in providing a stage and decorating hall. Thanks also to Michael Martin & Padraig Holden for ensuring the evening was captured with photographs and to all the coaches and parents who helped in tidying hall afterwards.
A special word of thanks also to Michael McAssey – a great friend of the club for his donation of drinks and crisps for the kids at the end of the evening.
SPEECH BY MICHAEL KINSELLA – Chairman
SPEECH BY Michéal McGagh – Treasurer
20/11/11
Last night a special Mass supporting Burren Rangers Juvenile Club was held in Ballon Church
Representatives from the many teams donned their gear after Mass to pose for this picture.
28/10/11 - Report presented at meeting last night on the Progress and Future Development of Girls Juvenile Football in the Club
BURREN RANGERS JUVENILE LADIES FOOTBALL
“The Fastest Growing Sport in Ireland”
The club caters for girls from U-6 to U-14 at the moment. In total there are more that 100 girls playing ladies football for Burren Rangers. We are looking at having an U-16 team in 2012.
Structure
The club provides learning and development skills at the moment. All coaches are qualified with all have completed the GAA Foundation Coaching Course. Other coaches have completed Level One and others have the Fundamental Level Ladies Football course completed. With this in mind all girls at U-6, U-8, U10, U12 and U14 & U-16 level will have top class coaching available to them.
Currently we are fortunate to have a number of excellent coaches in place but there is still help needed. It would be ideal if some of the senior level Ballon ladies would get involved with coaching in the future. Perhaps we could look into maybe four or five of these ladies helping out on a rotation basis every week with the various teams. A special word of thanks to Angela Bermingham for all her great work through out the year – it wasn’t easy to arrange matches to suit everyone and also for looking after first aid. A big thank you to Selina and Linda for their help giving out jerseys in the dressing rooms.
The Season 2011
The U-6, U-8, U-10 teams trained every Thursday with James, David, Tom, Frances and Eilish. However, no games were provided for this age group by the Carlow Ladies Co. Board or Carlow GAA Development. In 2012 we would hope to get together with a number of other clubs inside and outside the county and organise blitz days every month for those age groups.
Our U-11 team completed in the U-11 blitz run by the Carlow Co Ladies Board. However there was not as many of these blitzes in 2011 as in 2010. When the girls competed in these blitzes they did very well and enjoyed their football. Many thanks to Angela and Frances for looking after this group.
Our U-12 team won the Carlow “C” Championship defeating Eire Og in the final on a score line of 6-7 to 0-1. This group of girls went from strength to strength as the year went on. It is our belief if this championship was to be played again this team would have given the “A” championship a right rattle. Thanks to Kevin as manager, Alister Mark and Paul for their help with this team.
The U-13 girls had an excellent year coming from winning the U-12 “A” Shield in 2010. They topped their group beating Rathvilly, Old Leighlin, Thomastown and Clonmore to qualify for the semi final against Bennekerry / Tinryland. After a tightly fought game Bennekerry / Tinryland won by eight points. If we had taken our chances the result of this game could have been different. Again thanks to Mark as manager, Paul, Kevin and Alister for their assistance.
For the first time ever we fielded a team at U-14 level. Taken into account that the girls were very young we reached the “B” championship final V Clonmore. On the day we lost to a very strong outfit. But we had some very good wins along the way notably against Eire Og and Rathvilly. To Paul as manager, Kevin, Mark and Alister a big thank you.
County
The club was well represented at county level also. At U-14 level Rebecca McDonagh, Grainne Mullins, Anna Molloy, Sarah Nolan and Karen Nolan represented the club. Eight girls represented Carlow at the first Leinster Blitz in May losing the Division 3 final to Kilkenny on free kicks. They were Holly Barrett, Sarah Bermingham, Caithlin Doyle, Nicole Keogh Dowling, Aine Holden, Rebecca Kelly, Orla Kenny, Ysobel Castle and Anna Tracey. In the last county blitz we had five girls representing the club. Carlow won the Division 3 title with wins over Laois, Kildare, Wexford and finally against a strong Meath team in the final. Representing the club were Caithlin Doyle, Nicole Kehoe Dowling, Aine Holden, Rebecca Kelly and Orla Kenny. A number of girls are now training with the Carlow U-13 Development Squad.
Conclusion
As you can see the progress is very good and the under age structure is in a good and healthy place. There is a big stream of girls coming through at the moment so it is vital for the club and the area that plans are put in place for continued and future development. If the right plan is put in place there is no reason why Burren Rangers can not win a Minor Ladies Championship by 2015. With everyone pulling together this can be achieved.
We feel it is very important for the young girls in Ballon / Rathoe to have a future in Ladies Football with what has been achieved over the last two years.
Many thanks to the officers of Burren Rangers – Michael Kinsella Chairman, Aisling McGagh Secretary and Michéal McGagh Treasurer for their support of girls football in the club this past year. A special word of thanks is also due to the camogie committee and coaches for their co-operation in all matters during the years especially in avoiding clashes between camogie and football games.
Thanks also to Ballon GFC, Fighting Cocks GFC and Kilbride GFC for their use of their grounds for games and training.
Finally a big thank you to all parents who supported the club in any way by bringing their daughters to all matches and training and supporting the club fund raisers.
Paul Kenny (Coach)
20/10/11
U 14 Footballers
U 12 Champions
9/10/11
Congratulations to the U-14 hurling team who were awarded the Carlow U-14 Div 2 hurling title on Sunday last at Tinryland GAA grounds. The cup was presented to captain Josh Meaney by Mrs. Marian Dunphy, Vice Chairperson of Coiste na nOg, Ceatharlach. The boys went on to play Naomh Brid afterwards in which they played some excellent hurling. This team should in the future form the nucleus of a minor team who can challenge for county honours. Huge credit must go to their coaches Maurice Buckley and Eddie Townsend for the amount of time and energy they gave all year with this group despite not have many competitive matches in the county. Anywhere a challenge could be found it was and just award was receiving the Div 2 cup on Sunday. Team: Evan Dunphy, Conor Cummins, Dan O’Connor, Jason Kelly, Joseph Holden, Seamus English Hayden, Josh Meaney, Colm Barry, Luke Brennan, Dylan Kirk, Danny O’Neill, Conor Quinn, Glen Pullen, Kyle Rooney Kane, Jim Nolan, Jordan McDonnell, Dylan Gladney, Jack Dunphy, Nathan Fitzgerald, Donal English Hayden, Luke Morahan, Darragh Quinn, Richard Butler, Sam Meaney.
6/10/11
Burren Rangers U10 Kinsella Cup Hurling 2011 (Jarlath Bolger) Burren Rangers pitch was a hive of activity on Sunday 2nd Oct. Burren Rangers Juvenile Club hosted the annual “Kinsella Tournament” which is now in its 3rd year. The local club rotate the event each year with U10 hurling and U10 football. 
This occasion has grown from strength to strength with no less than 6 clubs participating for the “Liam Mc Carthy Cup” (sorry Kinsella Cup). With 6 teams representing 4 counties this seemed more like a Leinster league than a local blitz. The 6 clubs were Carlow Burren Rangers St Patricks Tullow Carlow Town Hurling Club Wicklow Kiltegan Wexford Craanford Laois Ballypickas 
With the rain that fell all day Saturday, all we could do is pray and hope for a dry spell on Sunday afternoon, our prayers were answered. From 1.30pm when the crowds arrived there was a real buzz and a sense of anticipation around. Players waited anxiously, mentors looked about for divine inspiration until 2pm when the referees blew their whistles with a shrill blast. The preparation was over it was down to business – no place for the faint hearted. The piercing sound of the whistle the sweet sound of the clash of the ash the roaring shouting and cheering from parents and coaches all added to the momentous occasion. From the outset Craanford looked to be a step ahead of the posy, popping points over at their ease, off their left and right side. We had never seen so many young children take points from so close in, usually they look for their name in lights by rattling the net but the local adjudicator had the rules and regulations in place : a goal = 1 score and point = 2 scores . With the exception of Craanford, the rest were very evenly matched with all showing great moments of hurling. All 6 teams participated for the cup and depending on their points after the group stages the finals were decided. Kinsella Cup final Craanford V Carlow Town Hurling club (runner up) Kinsella A Shield final Kiltegan V Burren Rangers (runner up) Kinsella B Shield final Ballypickas V St Patricks (runner up) All young hurlers thoroughly enjoyed the day. Not only was there a feast of hurling but also a feast of other kinds –sandwiches, buns, biscuits, crisps and drinks, and for the parents sandwiches tea or coffee (whatever was left following the hungry boys). 
Medals were presented to all the budding U10 boys as a memento and as a token of our appreciation for making the day a huge success. Many thanks to all clubs, especially from outside Carlow for travelling on such a wet weekend, also to the referees who allowed free flowing hurling and at the same time kept things from boiling over. Thanks to Ballon GFC for use of the venue and Kilbride GFC for use of Juvenile goals and Fighting Cocks for support in organisation. Thanks to all the parents who catered for our visitors in any way, we appreciate it and to anybody in Burren rangers club who was involved in any way. The all star team of 2011 won’t be quaking in their boots but who knows in years to come some of these juveniles may very well form the backbone of intercounty teams; this is where it all starts “grass roots level”. COUNTY CHAMPIONS Burren Rangers U-12 Girls Football team were the toast of the parish of Ballon / Rathoe on Monday night last when they returned victorious after defeating Eire Og in the Carlow “C” Championship Final. This was an outstanding team performance by the Burren Rangers girls with even neutral supporters commenting on the many skills and team work involved in this fine victory. The final score in the final was Burren Rangers 6.7 Eire Og 0-1. Aine Kennedy was on fire scoring 3-3 but this victory has achieved by a huge panel effort. Nicole Kehoe Dowling, team captain collected the cup on behalf of the panel. Special thanks must go to coaches Kevin Doyle, Paul Kenny, Mark Dowling and Alister Castle, with a special mention for Angela Bermingham who has co-ordinated girls football in the club since its’ formation last year. Scorers: Aine Kennedy 3-3, Anna Tracey 1-1, Nicole Kehoe Dowling 1-1, Ysobel Castle 1-0, Rebecca Kelly 0-2. Panel was Aine Holden, Sarah Cummins, Orla Kenny, Holly Barrett, Caitlin Maher, Megan Brennan, Caithlin Doyle, Rebecca Kelly, Ysobel Castle, Aoife McGrath, Aine Kennedy, Nicole Keogh Dowling, Anna Tracey, Veronica Flood, Danielle Flood, Ciara Buckley, Megan Dooley, Sarah Bermingham, Aoife Lawler, Ladine Fisher.
18/8/11
Burren Rangers Juvenile Club wishes to sincerely thank Jimmy’s Takeaway, Main Street, Ballon for very kindly sponsoring a new set of jerseys for use by the club U-14 and U-16 football and hurling teams. The club are hugely indebted to Jimmy for this sponsorship. These new jerseys have arrived just in time for the county finals in both hurling and football and we hope with them comes the best of good luck for our young players. 
Chairman Michael Kinsella receives the jerseys from ‘Jimmy’s’
Please support the Burren Rangers U-14 hurling team in the Coiste na nOg Div 2 Hurling Final V St. Patrick’s, Tullow on Monday evening next, August 22nd in Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow at 7.15 p.m. Best of luck to all involved with this team. Congratulations to the U16 Football Team who have qualified for the final of the Coiste na nOg Div 2 final. They now play neighbours Fenagh in the final. Details of date and time next week.
3/7/11
Burren Rangers hosted Setanta from Carlow on Monday, June 13th for Go Games. The pitch at Ballon GFC was a hive of activity with boys from Under 6 to Under 12 enjoying some really great hurling games. 
Under 6 hurlers 
Under 8 hurlers 
Under 10 hurlers 
Under 12 hurlers
30/6/11
UNDER 16 FOOTBALL SECURE LEAGUE VICTORY Burren Rangers U-16 Footballers recorded a fine victory over neighbours Fenagh in the Carlow U-16 “B” championship at Ballon on Friday last. The final score was 2-7 to 2-5. The Burren Rangers side played a lovely brand of football right through the game with outstanding goals from Hugh Nolan and a classic from Aaron O’Byrne. Others good performers on the night were goal keeper Colm Barry, full back Dan O’Connor, wing back Sean Dunphy, Hugh Nolan at midfield with Reece Denieffe, Lar O’Sullivan, Hugh Nolan and Aaron O’Byrne in the forwards.
19/5/11
U-14 HURLERS WIN On a great night for Burren Rangers our U-14 hurlers won their first ever competitive match when they defeated St. Patrick’s of Tullow on Tuesday evening. In a great display all 18 players made important contributions. Scorers for Burren Rangers were Danny O’Neill 2-4, Luke Brennan1-4, Kyle Rooney Kane 1-0, Seamus English Hayden 1-0, Glen Pullen 0-2, Josh Meaney 0-1. This was a performance of skill and teamwork. Well done to the boys and their coaches. BOYS U-14 FOOTBALL Burren Rangers secured their first victory in the U-14 Div 2 football with a fine victory over Clonmore on Monday, May 9th. In an overall good team performance scorers were Reece Denniffe 3-6, Luke Brennan 2-2, Jim Nolan 2-1, Rory O’Connor 1-0, John Cummins 1-0, Evan Fitzsimons 1-0, Dylan Gladney -0-6, Aiden Deering 0-1, Thomas Smithers 0-1.
6/5/11
RACE NIGHT DATE CHANGE Due to unforeseen circumstances the Burren Rangers Race Night has been changed to Friday, May 27th in Leinster Hills Golf Club at 8.30 p.m. Parents of all juveniles are asked to return horses to committee members or coaches in the coming week at any training session. Horses cost €10. Please put Friday May 27th in your diary. Great night guaranteed. U-14 FOOTBALL TRAINING U-14 Football Training for boys will now take place each Friday evening in Ballon GFC pitch at 7 pm.
12/3/11 – Charity Bainisteoir
A training session for this event was held today at Ballon GFC. The Bainsteoir is Mairead Wilmot of The Nationalist. 
Shown are the players with the Bainisteoir and coaches training for the March 15th contest. Proceeds from this charity function will be divided between Carlow Down Syndrome, Carlow/Kilkenny Homecare and the Hospice.
