Tipperary GAA Scene
By Jonathan Cullen PRO
FBD INSURANCE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
The County Under 19 ‘A’ Football final between Clonmel Commercials and Durlas Na Sairsealaigh Óg was played in Golden last Saturday with Clonmel emerging 2-9 to 1-11 winners.
With both teams having reached the final on merit, this was expected to be a close encounter and so it turned out to be. While the Clonmel side did emerge victorious by the narrowest of margins, the result could just as easily have gone the other way. Congratulations to Clonmel Commercials on adding another title to an already glistening trophy cabinet.
The County Under 19 ‘B’ Hurling saw Borris-Ileigh and Cappawhite Gaels meet in Templederry on Sunday and in the end it was Borris-Ileigh who claimed the title on a full time score of 2-17 to 1-12. See match report.
This weekend will see one game taking place in the County Championships when Cappawhite and Kilruane MacDonaghs meet in the Junior ‘B’ Football semi-final in Newport on Sunday at 1.00pm. Tickets cost €10 for adults with student tickets available at a cost of €5. Under 16's are free into all games and do not require a ticket.
Tipperary County Board will also be offering a tap and go service, so if you are not able to pre-purchase your tickets online you can now pay on entry to the venue with your credit or debit card but please be aware there may be queues if too many take this option.
Please note that Tipperary GAA will continue to comply with Croke Park guidelines which means cash will not be taken at any venue. Tickets for this Sunday game are now available to purchase online via the ticket section of the Tipperary GAA website: https://embed.futureticketing.ie/c/tipperary-gaa/
MUNSTER CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
County Premier Intermediate champions Roscrea continued their Munster journey last weekend when they welcomed Cork side Inniscarra to FBD Semple Stadium for their Intermediate hurling championship semi-final clash and won 1-17 to 3-9. A Munster final against Monaleen now awaits the Tipperary champions.
This weekend will be a busy weekend for Tipperary clubs in the Munster club football championships with no less than three clubs in action.
On Saturday at 1.00pm in Templetuohy, Thurles Sarsfields will welcome Cork’s Kilmurry for their Junior Football championship semi-final.
Then on Sunday, Ballina will travel to Kilmallock where they will play Na Piarsaigh of Limerick in the Intermediate Football semi-final at 1.00pm, while at the same time in FBD Semple Stadium, Tipperary senior football champions Clonmel Commercials will be hoping to reach yet another Munster final when they play Limerick’s Newcastle West in the semi-final.
Tickets for all the above games can now be purchased via the Munster GAA website where you will also be able to purchase your streaming pass should you not be able to attend the game. We wish all three Tipperary teams the very best of good luck in their endeavours to reach Munster finals in their respective competitions.
2020 MUNSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL MEDAL PRESENTATION
With Covid 19 having scuppered previous arrangements, the 2020 Munster Senior Football championship winning Tipperary players will be honoured at a gala banquet and medal presentation which will take place in Hotel Minella, Clonmel on Friday, December 23rd.
With many people not able to attend the 2020 Munster Final game or the very scaled down celebrations due to Covid restrictions, it is anticipated that there will be a high demand for tickets for this event which is sure to be a fantastic occasion. Tickets, €60, are available to purchase from Lar na bPairce, so if you would like to be part of this very special occasion contact the GAA office on 050422702.
TUS HARTY CUP
Three Tipperary schools have qualified for the quarter finals of the 2022 TUS Corn an Artaigh, Our Lady’s Templemore, Thurles CBS and Cashel Community School will join Árdscoil Rís, Coláiste Cholmáin Fermoy, CBS Midleton, CBC Cork and De La Salle Waterford in the last eight in January. All three Tipperary schools will now fancy their chances of progressing in the competition and we wish them well in their endeavours.
IRELAND LIGHTS UP 2023
Ireland Lights Up, the country’s biggest community walking initiative – returns to GAA clubs in January 2023 in partnership with RTE’s Operation Transformation and the support of Get Ireland Walking.
The initiative encourages GAA clubs across the 32 counties to light up their walking tracks and bring communities together to walk and talk in a safe environment during the dark winter evenings. As ever, a club participating in Ireland Lights Up will be showcased each week on RTE’s Operation Transformation.
In 2022, a record 700 GAA clubs signed up for Ireland Lights Up helping tens of thousands of participants to get more physically active. Clubs also recruited over 28,000 walkers to participate in the ‘Every Steps Counts Challenge’ delivered through the ‘MyLife’ app, in partnership with the Irish Life GAA Healthy Clubs programme. Participants walked over 5,000,000 kms during the five-week challenge. Once again, three clubs from each province will win gear vouchers worth a total of €5,000, kindly provided by Irish Life (T&Cs apply).
Registrations for the 2023 ‘Ireland Lights Up’ and ‘Every Step Counts’ MyLife Challenge are now open. Both activities will commence on Wednesday, January 11th, to coincide with the broadcast of the second episode of Operation Transformation on RTE and will run for seven weeks. Participating clubs are asked to host a community walk at least once per week, and more often should demand and capacity allow. Clubs that complete the registration process for Ireland Lights Up and adhere to the necessary criteria will be covered by Get Ireland Walking's insurance for all walk leaders. Irrespective of GAA membership status, leaders and participants are not covered by the GAA Injury Benefit Fund for this initiative. Review the full Terms & Conditions of participation: www.getirelandwalking.ie/irelandlightsup
To put an accurate figure on the number of walkers that participate in Ireland Lights Up in 2023, clubs will be incentivised to report their participant numbers weekly. Those that do so will access a small grant to offset their lighting costs (thanks to support from Healthy Ireland and Sport Ireland). They will also be considered as host club for the launch of Ireland Lights Up 2024 (which involves a visit from RTE’s Operation Transformation cameras to capture footage for the 2024 show). Further details on the grant and how to register participant numbers will be forwarded to all clubs that register.
‘Every Step Counts Challenge’ Additional Info for Clubs: ·The challenge will commence on the MyLife App on January 11th and run for five weeks until midnight on the 15th of February. Participating clubs will be encouraged to register as many interested club and community members on the App in advance of this. (If already on the MyLife App from previous Steps Challenges, they will have to register for the new challenge on the App.) MyLife allows participants and clubs to track their participation in the challenge through regional and national league tables while also measuring the positive impact on their health and wellbeing. Clubs whose registered participants walk a collective 4,000 kilometers will be entered into a draw for prizes worth €5,000 across each province. Full details on the ‘Every Step Counts Challenges’ and prizes can be found here.
All GAA clubs can get involved in the Steps Challenge (irrespective of having a walking track facility) and are automatically registered when they register for ‘Ireland Lights Up’. Participation in the challenge is, of course, at a club’s discretion. Please direct any club queries to stephen.quinn@gaa.ie
SPORTS ENERGY SUPPORT SCHEME
The GAA last week welcomed the announcement of the €35m allocated by the Government through Sport Ireland to assist the sporting sector with its rising energy costs across the current and upcoming winter months through to March 2023.
This “Sports Energy Support Scheme” is initially only open to the National Governing Body in each sport and the GAA have confirmed it will be applying to Sport Ireland under the scheme on behalf of its Clubs and Counties. Club and County application details, along with a request for initial information to assist with the GAA’s application process, have been circulated to all units. If the GAA is successful in securing funding support under this scheme, it will then administer an onward grant payment scheme to its units. For clarification purposes it is anticipated that all energy grant payments will be retrospective and will be made in April / May 2023 on the submission of actual energy bills for the six-month period.