PEOPLE of all ages involved with Tralee Imperials gathered at O’Donnell’s in Mounthawk for the club’s annual awards evening on Friday.

The club has about 500 members and is making huge strides over the past few years.

“It was a celebration of the year for the club, the successful teams and the not so successful teams,” said John Dowling of Tralee Imperials.

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“It recognises their efforts and how they’ve improved over the years. Every coach gave an MVP [Most Valuable Player] and MIP [Most Improved Player] award which has a positive effect and motivates the kids,” said John.

The senior club is making strides nationally with players being included on an All-Star team.

“We have three players this year – Loretta Maher, Emma Sherwood and Lynn Jones – who got on the All-Star All-Ireland team, which is the pick of all the teams in the national league. Loretta Maher and Emma Sherwood actually made the first five, with three other Americans, so they were the only two Irish, and Lynn Jones made the second five,” said John.

“That’s great going forward. We weren’t so successful this year at national league level, but we’re hoping this year to go stride for stride next year, because the underage structure seems to be working so well and it’s a huge club,” said John.

With 140 kids between the ages of five and nine training every week with the academy, the future certainly looks bright for Tralee Imperials.

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