Parnells Facebook:

Some nice recent photos on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TraleeParnellsHurlingClub/ including Kerry hurler Tweek Griffin showing the locals how to hurl on the All Star tour in Texas.

Scór na bPáistí:

Parnells are hoping to enter Scór na bPáistí for the first time ever in 2016.  We have a volunteer who is willing to help us take this step, but help will be needed.  Anyone who would be willing to assist in any way, please contact a Parnells club officer and make yourself known to us.

Camogie County Board:

Parnells submitted a comprehensive report to the 2015 AGM of The Kerry Camogie County Board.  Some of the encouraging areas covered included sections on our under 10, 12 and 14 teams and a general section.

Under 10 team:- Managed and coached by Séamus Cadogan, Richard McCluskey and Ann O’Loughlin.  Competed v. Killarney, Causeway and CillArd in various blitzes throughout the season, including Parnells-hosted events on April 4 (28 players) and June 13 (48 players).

Participated in a blitz in Ballyheigue on April 11 in which Parnells were very competitive against 6 Cork teams, including Ballincollig, Sarsfields, St. Finbarr’s and Ballygarvan.  Played Parnells U10 boys in 2nd Annual All-Ireland Hurling Final Weekend friendly, complete with pre-match march behind the flag, bagpiper and Amhrán na BhFian! u10s were invited to compete in all U12 fixtures.

Parnells U12 team:- Managed by Mike Roger O’Sullivan and trained by guest coach, Richard Keane.  Competed v. Killarney, Causeway and CillArd in U12 County League and the Annual Causeway U12 tournament (Sep 5).  Participated in the Camogie Association’s Munster blitz, Camán To Thurles, at Semple Stadium on April 25 v. teams from Tipp, Clare and Cork.

Filmed and interviewed by IrishTV during their participation in the Camogie Association’s All-Ireland blitz, Camán To Croker, on July 7  v. teams from Galway, Tyrone and Tipp.

Competed on a mixed team with Parnells boys v. Causeway in the U12 County Hurling League on Aug 28.  Under 12’s were invited to compete in all U14 fixtures.  Our Under 14 team:- Managed by Aisling Sharkey and Gerry Creechan and trained by guest coach, Richard Keane.

Competed v. Killarney in Féile B competition.  Competed v. Killarney, Causeway and CillArd in U14 County League.

U14 Kerry Development Squad included 7 Parnells players: Clódagh Begley, Katie Dwyer, Lia O’Connell, Ruth O’Connell, Saoirse Maloney, Hannah Sharkey, Yasmine Sultan.  All 7 Parnells players were picked for the panels that played in the Munster U14 Camogie Blitz in Tipp (Aug 23) and the Cooper All-Ireland U14 Camogie Blitz in Dublin (Sep 12) when KY made it to the semi-final of Division 4.

For 2016:

Tralee Parnells wish all our members and supporters a very Happy New Year.

Kerry 1B fixtures 2016:

If there is sufficient interest, Parnells hope to attend some of the upcoming National Hurling league 1B fixtures together, to support the Kingdom as a group, proudly wearing our Parnells colours.

The list is; Sun 14-Feb Portlaoise 14:00 Laois v Ciarraí; Sun 21-Feb Tralee (TBC) 14:00 Ciarraí v Luimneach; Sun 06-Mar Tralee (TBC) 12:45 Ciarraí v Loch Garman; Sun 13-Mar Cusack Park, Ennis 14:00 An Clár v Ciarraí; Sun 20-Mar St Brendan’s Park, Birr 14:00 Uíbh Fhailí v Ciarraí.

AGM 2015 reports:

Continuing our series of excerpts from the reports to the Parnells 2015 AGM, this week we bring our readers some updates from our youngest group, the club nursery for future talent, our under 6s.

Again we had a very good season, though it was a slow start. In March at the Mitchells Complex we had well over 20 players. However, the loudness of the gym was extremely distracting to the young boys and girls, so training was nearly impossible for the weeks we were there.

We definitely lost some potential players while there. Once we were in Caherslee we were able to have great training sessions with a lot more focus. In May we were able to field three teams of 7 to play Abbeydorney and they proved themselves to be very confident and competitive.

They played similarly later in Ardfert. Numbers fell off a good bit in July and August, but they picked up again when school started. At the Parnells Blitz in the Mitchells in September, three clubs accepted our invitation to play.

Again, our own 3 teams were very competitive against all the clubs. It was a great day for all of them. A good number of strong and enthusiastic players will be going up to the under 8s next year.

We were blessed with great mentors and parental participation this year, which made training and organizing much easier. The new storage container was a great help to keep track of the gear, also.

Suggestions for 2016; -Limit U6s to only those kids who are in Junior Infants or above. There is a huge physical and mental gap between three year olds and six year olds.

If those who are younger than school age want to play, maybe another age group can be organized. -U6s should avoid training in the gym at Mitchells. They can have training outside on the astro or start later in the year instead.

Again, a big thanks is due to the main mentors – Brian Sargent, Fiona Reidy, Brendan O’Flaherty, Graham Spring and Cathal Foley. Their commitment was great and all worked well together.

To Our Readers:

To all our players, volunteers and supporters, Parnells wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas.

Bag packing day Sat Nov 28:
There will be a bag packing day in Garvey’s on Sat Nov 28th. The purchase of two (2) sets of Camogie jerseys has been approved; all funds raised will go towards those jerseys. Please contact any Camogie mentor if you can help us fill out this rota.

Weekly parkrun:
Parnells have been invited as a club, to join the weekly parkrun at 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays. Contact any Parnells mentor for details.

AGM Camogie Report:
The following are some highlights and extracts, from the very comprehensive Camogie report, as presented to the 2015 Parnells AGM. Girls now make up almost one-third (1/3) of the players at the club; numbers increased by 70% from 2014 to 2015.

Under 10’s competed v. Killarney, Causeway and CillArd in various blitzes throughout the season, including Parnells-hosted events on April 4 (28 players) and June (45 players); U10’s participated in a blitz in Ballyheigue on April 11 in which Parnells were very competitive against 6 Cork teams, including Ballincollig, Sarsfields, St. Finbarr’s and Ballygarvan.

Our under 12’s competed v. Killarney, Causeway and CillArd in U12 County League and the Annual Causeway U12 tournament (Sep 5); U12’s participated in the Camogie Association’s Munster blitz, Camán To Thurles, at Semple Stadium on April 25 v. teams from Tipp, Clare and Cork; U12’s were filmed and interviewed by IrishTV during their participation in the Camogie Association’s All-Ireland blitz, Camán To Croker, on July 7 v. teams from Galway, Tyrone and Tipp. The Under 14’s competed v. Killarney in Féile B competition; U14’s competed v. Killarney, Causeway and CillArd in U14 County League; U14 Kerry Development Squad included 7 Parnells players, all 7 Parnells players were picked for the panels that played in the Munster U14 Camogie Blitz in Tipp (Aug 23) and the Cooper All-Ireland U14 Camogie Blitz in Dublin (Sep 12) when KY made it to the semi-final of Division 4. The club trip to the All-Ireland Camogie Finals on Sep 13 was a huge success.

For the first time, players saw the bigger picture: 16,500 camogie fans turned out to see the best adult players in the country. It was an added bonus to see a photo of themselves in the All-Ireland match programme (from the trip to Tipp in April)! The Camogie report concluded with an ambitious program of initiatives planned for 2016, details to follow in upcoming bulletins.

Parnells Mystery Bus Tour:

Mystery tour organisers pulled off another surprise last night and had the bus tourists guessing all the way.

When we headed for the bypass, the bookies favourite was a North Kerry destination, with Kilflynn, Lixnaw and Causeway all mentioned as likely runners. This gave way to confusion as the bus circled back to the south of Tralee and on through Blennerville.

Thirsts were building and it was a relieved crew that finally dismounted at the secret location, none other than the Railway Bar in Camp.

John, Dermot and Seamus had a few other surprises up their sleeves and no sooner had we settled in to enjoy the excellent live music, than we found ourselves unsuspecting participants in a pub quiz, complete with dingbats and movie picture round.

With plenty of banter between the competing teams, this turned out to be an excellent way to kick off the night and the great variety of spot prizes, for the likes of lowest quiz score, went down very well with the audience.

Plenty of positive comments on Facebook next day confirming that all the parents of Parnells players, enjoyed another good night out together. Now the only question is, will the dedicated organising committee be able to top this next year.

Tralee Parnells Monster Blitz Acknowledgement:

Following the very successful Tralee Parnells Monster Blitz in September, the club received a very warm and complimentary email from all Ireland hurling medal winner Mike O’Halloran of the visiting Sixmilebridge club in Clare.

O’Halloran won two All-Ireland titles and two Munster titles with Clare in 1995 and 1997. In his email on behalf of Sixmilebridge, Mike thanked our under 12 manager Ger and all his Clubmates for a fantastic day’s Hurling in Tralee.

He says from the moment they turned into John Mitchel’s complex and saw the amount of cars plus the very helpful stewards they knew they were part of a special event.

Sixmilebridge hadn’t realised that we were running such a huge event involving all age groups from u6 right up to u16.

Mike went on to say, “As someone who has been involved in organising blitzes for just one age group- and knowing the work that goes into that – I have to take my hat off to ye for pulling off such a feat of logistics and co-operation. I’m sure yourselves are tired but delighted today, to have ran an event like this with such aplomb. While I know it’s a lot of work, it probably also helps to build a bond around a new Club like Parnells and helps build a profile for yourselves … Our lads were delighted with their day out and the chance to play Hurling in a place like John Mitchel’s state of the art complex.  We look forward to being able to invite Tralee Parnells up to our own u12 blitz next year.”

Note of thanks:

The organising committee of the Tralee Parnells Hurling Club 2nd annual Pilgrimage to Camp, would like to say a very warm thank you, to our welcoming hosts Mike and Anne O’Neill of The Railway Tavern Bar in Camp, our caterers Siobhan and Alyssa and of course Tralee Parnells answer to Magnus Magnusson, compere extraordinaire of the very enjoyable pub quiz.

Parnells Mystery Bus Tour:
The 2015 Mystery Bus will depart from Na Gaeil GAA car park, Killeen Road at 845pm Friday night the 13th. For details on bookings call John on 087 225 8894.

Tralee Parnells AGM 2015:
A very successful AGM was held on Friday 6th of November in Kerins O Rahillys 8.30pm. The attendees numbers and spirits were boosted by the arrival of mentors who were delayed due to their attendance at the Tom Healy memorial under 15 tournament the same evening at Abbeydorney. At the end of the meeting there were no major changes in the make up of much of the club officeship from the 2014 appointments.

The club is delighted that we have a great many volunteering to take up responsibilities again for 2016, along with some welcome additions to the coaching ranks. Among those appointed we had Dermot Reen – Chairman, Camogie Chairperson – Carmel Maloney, Secretary – David Brick, Treasurers- Stephen Buttimer/Chris Maloney, PRO – Mike Roger O Sullivan. We hope to be able to bring readers some interesting extracts from the officers annual reports, in upcoming weekly notes.

Tom Healy memorial u15 tournament:
Well done to our Parnells Under 15 team who won the shield final in the Tom Healy memorial tournament Friday evening beating Causeway in the final. Well done to Abbeydorney hurling club for running another fantastic tournament.

Parnells had qualified to start against Abbeydorney and in a good close game, came up just 2 points short. This put us up next in a playoff where we overcame Ballyheigue, to meet Causeway in the shield final where Parnells emerged victorious. See our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TraleeParnellsHurlingClub/ for photos of the winning Parnells panel.

Scór na bPáistí:
Parnells are hoping to enter Scór na bPáistí for the first time ever in 2016. We have a volunteer who is willing to help us take this step, but help will be needed. Anyone who would be willing to assist in any way, please contact a Parnells club officer and make yourself known to us.

Monster Blitzes Day on the 26th

The extreme rain on the 11th caused us to reschedule.  So now we will hold our Monster series of Parnells invitational blitzes next Saturday the 26th in John Mitchels GAA.

Times and schedules from team managers at Friday training.  Parents needed to help on the day with a few jobs, please contact any mentor to volunteer.

All-Ireland U14 camogie blitz

Over 1,200 girls participated in the national under 14 Blitz competition in Dublin on Saturday the 12th of September.
The Kerry girls defeated all of the other 3 counties in their group matches to advance to the division 4 playoffs.  At that point the 5am start from North Kerry was taking it’s toll by their 4th game, but overall what a great performance by these Kingdom girls.

Well done all.  We are extremely proud of the 7 Tralee Parnells players on the panel: Clodagh Begley, Katie Dwyer, Saoirse Maloney, Lia O’Connell, Ruth O’Connell, Hannah Sharkey and Yasmine Sultan.

Mark Doe Cookery night

Before the year draws to a close (for the outdoor hurling anyway) Parnells have organised another fundraiser for the Friday 9th October in the Meadowlands Hotel with a cookery demonstration from Mark Doe and a guest speaker on sports injuries in the young hurler.

This night proved to be very successful last year. We hope parents will be able to support this fundraiser as it will prove to be a good night with tea/coffee or something stronger available to enjoy during the demo. It is also a chance to treat your significant other to a night out with a friend in a relaxed atmosphere which will make you very popular!

There will once again be great spot prizes, including cases of wine (very nice ones might we add), Nadur voucher and so on.  We will have the tickets at the next few training sessions for sale. They will also available to buy online, details to follow on Parnells facebook.

Under 12 Camogie B final

Well done to the Parnells under 12 girls in a fantastic determined performance in the under 12 B Camogie final in Causeway.  Killarney have been showing great form against Tralee this season and it was a daunting prospect to face them in this final.

The Parnells girls however, played out of their skins in both halves and when presenting Killarney with the trophy, David took time to congratulate Parnells in the huge improvement they have achieved this season.

From Daniell in goal, through Anna, Saoirse and Clodagh in defence, on to Jessica and Caoimhe Donnelly in the middle and up to Emma, Caoimhe Lyons and Ciara in the forwards, there was super commitment on display.

These girls battled for each other and for every ball.  With Killarney two points up with under 5 minutes to go, Parnells were unlucky not to go into the lead.  Unfazed by the intensity of the play, they continued to press right to the end.

Carmel told them all they should be proud that so many of them put in individual best ever performances, in a thrilling match with end to end drama.  Keep training together girls and the future looks bright for you all.

South Kerry under 14 game

Parnells under 14s played Rathmore away in a full on away encounter on Friday the 18th.  The home side had a dream start with 2 very early goals and 2 more in a first half that they dominated.

After the initial shock, Parnells settled a bit but were still well behind at half time on a scoreline of 4-6 to 2-2.  With some regrouping and positional switches, Parnells started the second half much improved and were fairly evenly matched with the physically stronger  Rathmore as the half progressed.  Growing in confidence, the visitors began to have some dominance and took some well worked scores.

Devon, Ruarí and Darragh all scored from distance, while Luke Chester was in great finishing form, with a tally of 3-1.  The cushion Rathmore had earned in the early stages stood to them and they ran out winners 5-9 to 4-7.  However, more important than the score, Parnells work rate and commitment of the second half, is the kind of display we hope to see replicated in the future for the full two halves.

Mark Doe Cookery night:

Parnells will host a Mark Doe Cookery night at Meadowlands Hotel, 7pm on Friday the 9th of October.  See Parnells Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/TraleeParnellsHurlingClub or  https://www.facebook.com/Tralee.Camogie for ticket details.

All-Ireland U14 camogie blitz:

Best of luck to the Kerry contingent in the All-Ireland U14 camogie blitz at the weekend! We are very proud of the 7 Tralee Parnells players on the panel: Clodagh Begley, Katie Dwyer, Saoirse Maloney, Lia O’Connell, Ruth O’Connell, Hannah Sharkey and Yasmine Sultan. Their dedication to the sport has brought them a long way in 2 camogie seasons at Tralee Parnells Hurling Club. Ciarrai Abu .. this weekend and next!!!

Autumn Hurling academy:

Details of Parnell’s Autumn Hurling academy for Under 8’s and 10’s will be released in the next few days.

Kerry minor hurlers:
Congratulations to Parnells player Ciaran Breen and all the Kerry minor hurlers on their great victory in the All Ireland minor B hurling final.