Nenagh athletics coach sean naughton honoured

 

Nenagh's Sean Naughton has been honoured with a National Volunteers in Sport Award  by the Minister of State for Sport, Michael Ring.

Sean, who has dedicated over sixty years to promoting and fostering Irish athletics at local, national and international level, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The awards are presented by the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, the Irish Sports Council the Federation of Irish Sport and the Community Foundation of Ireland.

This is the Nenaghman's second time achieving such an award. He received a similar award in 2009.

Sean involvement in athletics goes back to the 1940s and 1950s when he himself was a sprinter of great promise, running a blazing personal best of 9.8 seconds for the100 yards race.

He was one of the founder members of Nenagh Olympic Athletic Club in 1955, its formation inspired by the fact that  three Olympic Champions, Johnny Hayes, Matt McGrath and Bob Tisdall, all  had Nenagh roots.

With a small band of other dedicated club coaches and officials, Sean started  Community Games athletics in Nenagh in 1972, nurturing the talents of young boys and girls, many of whom went on to represent Ireland with distinction at international level, while  Nenagh Olympic grew into an all-conquering club that won eight national team titles in a decade.

Sean promoted athletics at every opportunity and was the driving force behind the construction in Nenagh of Ireland's first indoor track in the early 1980s

* full report in The Guardian

* Photo shows Sean being presented with his award by Sports Minister, Michael Ring, with Ronnie Delany.