Hi Everyone,

 

As we move into late Spring and warmer weather it is great seeing all the preparations for the clubs summer sports kicking off.

Our development committee has been hard at work as always.

Works have begun around the club to revive and refresh our grass playing surfaces including the main cricket pitch and Rugby pitch 1, 2 and 3. This work will coincide with the realignment of some of rugby playing surfaces(Pitches 2 and 3).

A new survey will take place soon to assess the viability of connecting the club to mains waste and therefore move away from the difficulties the club has had in the past with regards to waste and an undersized septic tank for the current population of the club.

The planning application to further illuminate the Rugby playing surfaces was submitted before Christmas and has been returned for further information, process is ongoing.

The results of the car park survey have been returned and the options are to be discussed by the committee with special attention given to the safety concerns raised regarding the car park during drop off of junior members at the Club AGM.

 

Our Treasurer Ciara has been working diligently to get our finance sub committee up and running to achieve greater control over the club finances, their first meeting will be in the coming weeks.

 

Tribfest ticket sales are going well, I would once again ask all to volunteer to help in whatever manner you can with this as it is the clubs main fundraiser for the year

Archery have begun their outdoor season and have scheduled equipment repair and maintenance sessions for members.

Bowls are near the end of the winter leagues and are pleased to report that their Saturday 1st team is in the top position of their section and 2nd team is in second position in their league. They also have two teams in the VETS League currently positioned in first and second place. All four teams look like they will have further matches in the playoffs in March.

With Springs' arrival they are about to start the first of their internal competitions. Having chosen Pieta House as their charity for the year they helf the first leg of the Lily Moore Challenge Trophy match against Westmanstown on Sunday 29th March. All proceeds going to the charity fund.

Preparation for the Cricket season is in full swing with full outdoor training resuming since the 31st of March. The first league games began on the weekend of the 18th April, with friendlies to get everyone going the weekend of the 11/12th.

Poor weather has slowed ground work but hoping for drier warmer weather to help catch up. keep an eye out for some new coaching announcements also. 

The Hockey season, finished for all except some junior finals this weekend and next week.

Our ladies 1sts played in the Challenge Shield Final vs Skerries on 11th April in Three Rock Rovers but unfortunately lost despite an excellent performance.

The Junior Section finished the season with 224 members from senior infants to 16 year olds. Their season finished on March 28th with a fun day and cake sale. Thanks to Ashling O'Malley and her 30+ volunteers for their efforts from Sept to April.  Proof of all their efforts was shown in 10 female U16 and 4 U18 North Kildare players being selected to attend the Leinster south east training panel and 2 on the U16 on the male panel.

Off pitch the Hockey section held their end of season on sat 21st March in the club with 100 people in attendance which i was delighted to be invited to. Thanks to all who helped organise.

Summer hockey will resume towards the middle of May and a walking hockey festival is planned on May 9th.

Rugby Senior league games have been completed following a great cup run in the towns cup shield finishing with a loss to Enniscorthy in the semi-final.

The youths and minis continue into early May, special note to the successful resumption of the Women's u12 and u14  teams this year. Anyone at the Leinster Vs Sale Sharks Champions cup match on Saturday 11th should keep and eye out for the North Kildare U12s in action.

The club wishes to extend its thanks to Ger Horn and Aisling Charles who will be stepping down as Director of Rugby and Hon Secretary respectively, replacements for both to be announced in due course.

Tennis had another busy and successful month despite some very challenging weather in March

February saw the continuation of the Dublin Winter League competition with 3 of 6 teams earning a place in their respective playoff competitions. Both the Men’s NK1 and Ladies’ NK2 teams finished top of their table and earned promotion with wins in the 1 st round against Sandycove and Portmarnock. All in all, it was a very successful Winter league competition with 33 ladies and 19 men representing North Kildare across 6 teams. The section's competitive focus turns their attention now to the upcoming Summer League competition which kicks off May 8th and runs until late June. Their Junior program continues to go from strength to strength.The Easter camp is fully booked with 22 children signed up. We are thrilled to see that 50% of participants are non-members so we are looking forward to showing them how great it is to be a member of North Kildare Tennis just in time for our 2025/2026 membership to open. 

For existing members, they continue to run a social tennis event every 3 weeks and on April 11th we will be hosting a friendly tennis competition against Leixlip giving our more advanced juniors a chance to practice all they have learnt during their weekly lessons.
 April will also see the running of our annual “Try Tennis” program. Open to both Adults and Juniors these organized sessions allow prospective members to come down and see firsthand how great it is to be a member of North Kildare Tennis. 

They would encourage all members to come and try as they love to have more existing members of North Kildare come join them. 

Great to see everything happening around the club and good luck to all our teams in their cup competitions this weekend. I'm sure they would welcome your support very gratefully.

Finally I would once again like to put the call out for anyone with interest in the role of Club PRO to get in contact.

Yours in Sport 

Mark Seery