.Santa Claus joins the organisers of the Tralee 5km Santa Fun Run and representatives from Down Syndrome Kerry for the launch of the event at Tralee Bay Wetlands. Photo by Dermot Crean
AFTER a two year absence, one of the most popular family festive events, the Tralee 5km Santa Fun Run, will return next month.
The Tralee Bay Wetlands will turn red and white on Sunday, December 11, as everyone is encouraged to dress up in festive regalia to run, walk or cycle the 5k.
The event was founded by Martin and Deirdre Moore in 2013 in memory of their daughter Fiona, who was just 16 when she passed away in May of that year from Pulmonary Hypertension, while waiting on a lung transplant.
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Since it started, around €60,000 has been raised for various charities and the event has grown into a festive tradition for families. This year’s beneficiary will be Down Syndrome Kerry.
The run starts at 11am but participants are encouraged to start arriving from 10.30am to sample the great atmosphere. To register for the event click here to go to the eventbrite page.
A Successful First Weekend of the Season for Kerry Badminton
This past weekend Kerry had many different representatives in all three competitions which took place in UL over the weekend. The masters competition that took place on Sunday that allowed 2 Kerry teams compete. Along with this the Muster Grade F Open and the Munster Premier Open both took place on the Saturday.
The Munster Intercounty Masters.
We had 2 teams entered into the Masters competition. 1 in the over 50s category and one in the over 40s category. Both teams played very well on the day, with our over 50s masters team winning their competition after beating Waterford (6-0 on games) and Tipperary (6.0 on games).
The over 40s competition was a much closer affair with Kerry winning their first and second games comfortably over Waterford and Cork (6-0 and 5-1 respectively) and unfortunately fell to Tipperary in the final 5 games to 1.
All games being very close 4 going to 3 sets and the winning margins being just the bare minimum. All players played very well on the day and we were delighted to come away with a gold and a silver medal for the 2 teams.
Kerry o40s= Gio Gaudino, Eric Nelligan, Alan Nelligan & Tom Bourke (all Castleisland) Helen Browne (Moyvane), Samira Hayes, Sinead Galvin & Jennifer Keane(all Killarney) Kerry o50’s= Arthur Chute (Listowel), John O’Brien, Kieran Crehan, Suzanne Smith(all Killarney), Jill Redmond(Tralee), and Carmel Hudson and Jeanelle Griffin(both Moyvane)
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The Munster Grade F Open.
On Saturday, the Munster F open took place along side the Munster Premier Open. Kerry clubs were well represented in this competition with many Kerry players taking part. All players played very well in their games with some games going down to the tightest of margins.
There was an all Kerry affair in the mens doubles when Alvin Rahman Fahad and Rahad Rahan (both Killarney) came up against Arthur Chute and Cian Liston of Listowel. Cian and Arthur came out the eventual winners here after a very close game, the third set going all the way to 21-19.
Unfortunately, they were then beaten in the semifinals by the eventual winners from Limerick. Kerry were also very well represented in the womens doubles with Aoife Bowler of Moyvane playing very well with her partner from Limerick and Rita McCarthy and Madisson Carter of Listowel losing out in a close 3 set game.
Adele O’Brien of Killarney also played well on the day, beaten in the quarterfinals of the doubles in a very close 3set game and coming out the winner of the mixed with her partner Brendan Lowry of Limerick.
The Munster Premier Open
In the 3rd and final competition of the weekend, once again Kerry were well represented. Kelvin McNally (Listowel) played very well winning his opening round in the singles but unfortunately losing out to a very well playing Jack O’Brien in the 2nd round. He then played with Paul Hayes also of Listowel in the F open doubles losing out in the 2nd round in a close 3 set game.
Listowel also had Fergal Hannon, Deina Vesko, Ethan Tritschler and Michael Belov Flanagan all playing well on the day. Deina and Ethan losing out in the quarter-finals of the mixed to the to the number one seeds of the competition. Finally Killarney were also represented in the open, with Maeve Twomey playing with Paul Kingston of Cork in the mixed.
Next competition
Next up is the November Handicap taking place next Sunday in Killarney sports and Leisure club. Good luck to all those who are playing on the day. The Yonex badminton shop will be there on the day. Good luck to all playing on the day, all support is welcome!
A KERRY player was one of 10 winners to scoop €50,000 in the first draw of National Lottery’s ‘12 Draws of Christmas’ .
The National Lottery has revealed the counties where ten players won a whopping €50,000 in Tuesday’s EuroMillions ‘Ireland Only Raffle’ draw.
Seven players in Dublin and one player in Kerry ( who bought their ticket in the Post Office in Edward Street, Tralee), Meath and Clare all scooped the special raffle prize which was the first of twelve draws in the National Lottery’s ’12 Draws of Christmas’ promotion.
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Commenting on the first draw of ‘12 Draws of Christmas’, a spokesperson for the National Lottery said: “In Tuesday’s EuroMillions draw we saw our first ten players scoop an amazing €50,000 instead of €5,000 in the Ireland Only Raffle.
The second draw will take place this Friday (18th of November) where ten more players are guaranteed to scoop the amazing prize.
Not only will the special promotion see 120 players in Ireland win €50,000 over the six weeks, but all EuroMillions players in Ireland will also be in with a chance of becoming Ireland’s second EuroMillions jackpot winner of 2022,” the spokesperson continued.
.The presentation of a cheque from proceeds raised from the 54321 Challenge was presented to 10 charities last Friday in Killorglin.
OVER €100,000 was raised for ten charities with the 54321 Challenge, this year celebrating its 10th running.
Fifty participants undertook the 4-day challenge, which took place from Thursday August 18 to Sunday, August 21. The 54321 Challenge Committee and participants came back together again on Friday, November 11 at Francie Sheahans in Killorglin to present the cheque to the 10 charities.
The challenge included cycling the Ring of Kerry, climbing Carrantuohill, a cycle from Killorglin via the Ballaghasheen Pass to Cahirciveen and climbing Cnoc Na Tobair with the final day consisting of a 70km cycle starting on the Skellig Ring and finishing in Killorglin.
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Over 80% of this year’s participants had completed the challenge previously over the first nine years some who have not missed a year since its commencement in 2013.
The Aim of the 54321 Challenge 2022 was to raise €100,000 and this was exceeded by €270.
This is greatly appreciated by the 10 Kerry Charities who benefited The Irish Pilgrimage Trust, Kerry Hospice, Comfort for Chemo Kerry, Adapt Kerry, Skellig Stars, Cystic Fibrosis Kerry, Sera Huskey, Heartbeat Killarney, Alannah and Polly’s Fight for Sight and Scoil Iognaid Ris Dingle.
Jamie O’Shea from Dromid, who had previously completed the challenge over four days, decided to attempt it in just 24 hours which he duly did, completing it in just 22.5 hours.
Jamie decided to fundraise specifically for Skellig Stars Athletics Club which is very close to his heart.
A major contributor to this year’s fundraising efforts were a number of Spinathon Days where this year’s participants, volunteers from all the charities, family and friends took the streets in different locations around the county on spinning bikes.
The total raised to date by the Challenge over the years stands at €400,250 supporting a number of very deserving Kerry charities over the years.
One of the organisers, TJ O Connor, said: “If the last few years has thought us anything, it is too be thankful for what we have, our health is our wealth, and the power of people working together can get us through some of the most difficult situations.”
He also added that spending 4 days with such positive and enthusiastic people should be prescribed by doctors, as their positive energy was infectious and great for the heart and soul.
.Kerry FC General Manager Sean O’Keeffe with Geraldine Nagle Vice Chairperson of KDL, Sporting Director of Kerry FC Billy Dennehy, Chief Operations Officer Steven Conway and CEO Brian Ainsclough. Photo by Dermot Crean
NOW that Kerry FC’s entry into the Airtricity First Division has been confirmed, it’s now time for fans to look forward to the Friday night football experience in Mounthawk Park, Tralee.
Over the course of the season, there will be 18 home league games to look forward to, as well as friendlies and cup games, so it’s going to create a fantastic buzz and create revenue for local businesses.
While it’s important that the players on the field perform, sustaining the club will also depend on the buy-in from the Kerry public and, of course, sponsorship money.
At a press conference on Friday morning, General Manager of Kerry FC, Sean O’Keeffe, said now that the license has been granted, things are moving fast on all fronts.
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“We expect to have season tickets on sale in time for the Christmas market. We’ll also have merchandise on sale. We are looking at maybe a pop-up shop — going into some retailers in town with a ‘Kerry FC store’ selling scraves, hats, beanies, zip-ups, but maybe not jerseys yet. Plans are advancing rapidly now.”
The prices of the season tickets have not been finalised yet, but they will come in two types — one where ticket holders can sit anywhere and one where you can reserve a particular seat in the ground.
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New seating will be arriving from Spain soon and the capacity of the ground will be 1,150, but they aim to increase this as time goes on. There will also be an area for people with disabilities.
There be food facilities and a Kerry FC shop open for match days. The website is currently being built and this will have a shop facility.
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From a sponsorship point of view, Sean said the club has had many enquiries regarding this type of investment.
“From today we start engaging with people on that. There’s a feelgood factor about the project and a lot of companies want to come in behind us,” he said.
Sean believes League Of Ireland football is going to massively benefit the town of Tralee, with away fans coming into town for Friday nights, many of whom will stay overnight and spend money.
“The goodwill we saw yesterday has been amazing. When you bring a lot of people to an area they bring money — they stay overnight, they spend in shops.
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“It’s good for everybody. We’re getting a huge reaction from clubs like Finn Harps and Waterford looking forward to coming to Kerry, staying overnight and that’s all money going into the local economy.”
Chief Operating Officer, Steven Conway, said Friday nights offer a great opportunity to attract crowds to the games, as they won’t clash with any other local sporting fixtures in GAA or basketball.
Mounthawk Park… new seating is due to be installed in the stand soon.
“The support that we’ve received since yesterday and bumping into people in town suggests people can’t wait for Friday nights. It’s so positive and we want to make sure we’re run in the correct manner with the right people. We want people to come down here and be blown away by the product we have here in Kerry,” he said.
.Launching the ‘Backing The Blues’ campaign were, in front; Ross O’Callaghan, Barry John Keane, Ben Hanafin and Evan O’Connor. At back; Chairman Haulie Kerins, PRO Ger O’Brien, Paul Ryan and John O’Connor. Photo by Dermot Crean
KERINS O’Rahillys has launched their GoFundMe fundraiser campaign,’Backing The Blues’ to help defray costs associated with their upcoming Munster senior journey.
The senior team will play the Munster SFC semi-final against Éire Óg of Ennis on Saturday, November 27 with a 1pm throw-in at Austin Stack Park, Tralee.
Launching the campaign, chairman Haulie Kerins outlined how winning the senior club championship has been a major boost to the club who have been knocking on the door of the senior championship for past few years without much luck.
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He said; “The senior club championship in Kerry is one of the most difficult to win with eight senior clubs vying for supremacy – its merciless in its intensity and provides some of the best games in the club scene. Seven of the games were won by one point, we beat Spa after extra time in the semi-final and won the final by one point – big battles, small margins.”
“The team and management have embraced the challenge ahead and are proud to represent Kerry at this elite level particularly in a year where Kerry are All Ireland champions,” he continued.
Winning comes at a cost however and with a number of lads abroad, others back in college and other costs, they are appealing to all Kerry Gaels, irrespective of club allegiance to support the ‘Backing The Blues’ initiative to help them on our much anticipated journey. All donations will be greatly appreciated on their gofundme page which can be accessed by clicking here.
