Club Finishes for Christmas...

There will be no club night tonight Monday due to the hazardous driving conditions around the town so badminton has officially finished now until after Christmas.

We will recommence, weather permitting, on Thursday 6th January 2011 at 9pm.

We wish all of our members a very Happy Christmas and a healthy and safe New Year.

Deepest Sympathy - Tom O'Hart RIP

The club extends deepest sympathy to Ruth and Enda O'Hart and to Aisling Creighton following the death of their father Tom.

The arrangements are as follows:
Reposing at Rockmount from 3pm to 6pm this Thursday evening with removal to St. Michael's Church, Croghan, arriving at 7.30pm. Requiem Mass tomorrow, Friday, at 12 noon. Burial immediately afterwards in Eastersnow Cemetery.

As a mark of respect there will be no badminton on Thursday 16th December and the Christmas Get-Together planned for Friday 17th December is also cancelled.

Christmas Get-Together

Our clubs Christmas night out will be this Friday (weather permitting) in The Craoibhín, Boyle from 9pm (ish).

All members are very welcome, we hope to see as many as possible for a drink and some craic.

As a club we have a lot to raise a toast to so come along and enjoy the fun.

November Update ...

LEAGUE UPDATE
The Division 7 and Division 6 league both got off the ground this month. In Division 7 the Boyle team travelled to Ballygar and also to Four Roads where they enjoyed fantastic games & hospitality in both venues. With a 4-3 defeat in Ballygar and a 5-2 win in Four Roads they finish the month happy with their performance in the league so far.

Division 6 welcomed the Ballinaheglish team to our home venue and while there were some close encounters in all of the games the Ballinaheglish crew held the upper hand and left Boyle with a comprehensive victory.

OTHER NEWS
Some of our Division 1 team competed in the Leinster Junior Open in Terenure last week where they came up against some of the best players in the country. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and took a lot away from it and they were by no means out of their depth in such a high standard of competition.

The Sligo Doubles competition was held last Friday night in Sligo Tennis Club and there were nine players from Boyle taking part. It was a great night of badminton with back to back matches for everyone. In Grade B Ciaran Oates and Niall Daly emerged winners and in Grade A Boyle's Padraic O Dowd and Sligo's Jonathan Dolan were victorious.

Sligo Doubles Open Friday 26th November

Sligo Badminton Club are holding their annual mens and ladies doubles competition for all grades and divisions on Friday 26th November starting at 7.30pm.

Entries costs €10 payable on the night and must be submitted by email to Paul Dolan on paul.dolan5@yahoo.ie or if you'd prefer let me know if you're interested and I will send in details. Closing date for entries is Wednesday 24th November.

For any more information phone Paul on 087 6100108 or John Dolan on 087 6904563.

Thank you

Liz
Secretary & PRO
e: boylebadminton@gmail.com

Christmas is coming....

As Christmas is coming up fast and furious we are hoping to have a night out for the badminton club.

There is a sign up sheet in the complex for anyone who is interested and if possible when signing also indicate which of the three proposed dates might suit best, December 17th, 18th or 19th.

We've put a lot of effort in to keeping our club so active and vibrant and we deserve a night out on the back of it and this is the perfect time to do it!

Div 7 League Up and Running..

Division 7 travelled to Ballygar last week for their first match of the season. Ballygar are the newest club to join the Roscommon League and have taken to competition very well. They gave our Boyle team a fantastic night of badminton, some very close matches and ultimately took a 5-2 victory on their home courts.

The Division 5 and 6 leagues are both due to commence before Christmas so stay tuned for updates as they happen.

Club Update for October...

National Badminton Week happened from 16th - 24th October and we held two free open nights as part of the nationwide activities. Everyone who came in enjoyed some good badminton and light refreshments on both evenings.

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On Thursday 28th October we had our first visit to the club by Will O Neill, Irish #10 Mens Singles player, for some coaching. Will put us through our paces and gave us some great tips on badminton basics such as footwork, positioning and offensive/defensive play.

Will is to join us again this Thursday 4th November and his training is available to any member of the club who wishes to join it. It is not only valuable to those participating in league competition but to any member who might like to learn a little more about the game we all love.

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The Loughglynn Open was held on Sunday 31st October for Senior players and was a huge success for them with attendance from clubs in Roscommon, Mayo, Leitrim and Sligo. There were seven players attending from Boyle and we enjoyed a great evening of Doubles and Mixed competition. Well done to Jim, Paul and the gang in Loughglynn/Ballagadereen clubs for putting massive effort in to running the competition.

National Badminton Week - 16 - 24 October 2010

National Badminton Week is an incentive by Badminton Ireland to promote badminton in all areas of Ireland and to encourage as many people as possible to give badminton a try.

As part of National Badminton Week, Boyle Badminton Club will hold two free open nights at Boyle Sports Complex on Monday October 18th from 9.30pm to 11.30pm and Thursday October 21st from 9pm to 11pm.

For anyone who hasn't played before or for anyone who played years ago and would like to come in to give it a try we'd like to welcome you to the club to chat to our members and enjoy some light refreshments afterwards.

Loughglynn Open 2010

The new Roscommon County Badminton website has the flyer and entry form for this years Loughglynn Open available for download. The competition will run over Saturday 30th October for Juveniles and Sunday 31st October for Seniors.

In 2009 there were quite a few entries in Loughglynn from Boyle so hopefully this years competition will draw just as much interest.

New Website for Roscommon Badminton

Roscommon County Badminton Association have a new website up and running which looks great, it will be a fantastic resource for all the clubs in the county and it promises regular updates and news of events and competitions running throughout the year.

Congratulations to the new County Committee on getting this site off the ground.

Check out www.roscommoncountybadminton.com

National Badminton Week : 16 - 24 October 2010

National Badminton Week is happening a little earlier this year from October 16 to October 24 which doesn't give us a huge amount of time to organise something.

We had a really good Open Night last year to play our part in the activities that were happening nationwide and we would be hoping to match if not better that success this year.

So can everyone get their thinking caps on and come up with some ideas to pitch to the committee so we can start to get preparations underway.

All suggestions gratefully received to boylebadminton@gmail.com or in person at the club on Monday or Thursday night!

Thanks,
Liz

Condolences

The club extends deepest sympathy to Audrey and Corrina Delaney of Strokestown Badminton Club on the death of their father Liam last Saturday 11th September.

Audrey and Corrina both played alongside members of Boyle Badminton Club on the County Roscommon team last year.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

First Night of the Season

We started back last night in Boyle Sports Complex and had a fantastic turnout for the first session of the season. I think there were 22 players signed in and quite a few were new to the club. It was a very encouraging start to this new year.

For anyone who didn't get back last night, we will continue to play on Monday nights from 9.30-11.30pm and on Thursdays from 9pm-11pm, coaching is offered for anyone who'd like to avail of it.

It was lovely to hear some of those who hadn't been there before say how much they loved meeting everyone and that they had thoroughly enjoyed the coaching and the badminton.

For those of us more seasoned players we realise how important it is to encourage our new members and spend some time getting to know them each night, we wouldn't have the successful club Boyle has become without them.

Almost there...

Only four more days and then we're back to business in Boyle....

Club resumes at 9.30pm on Monday night, 6th September. Our nights will be the same as before, Mondays from 9.30 - 11.30pm and Thursdays from 9 - 11pm.

Having closed out last season with our biggest membership for many years, three County titles, a Connaught title and a silver in All-Ireland Div 2, we have a great base to build from and so much to look forward to as a club....

...so bring on 2010/11 - lets see what we can do with it!!

Deepest Sympathy

The club extends deepest sympathy to Ruth Hogg and family on the death in England of her brother Sean.

R.I.P.

We're back....

Badminton will resume in Boyle Sports Complex on Monday 6th September at 9.30pm.

Our club nights will remain as they have always been, Mondays from 9.30 to 11.30pm and Thursdays from 9pm to 11pm.

We hope to see all our members return for another season and hopefully a few new faces too.

Return to Play..

It looks like our new season may start up again on Monday 6th September in Boyle Sports Complex at 9.30pm. Once this date has been confirmed I will post notice here, it will also appear in local notes in the paper.

Having spoken with a few members already I know many, like myself, are looking forward to getting back to the courts again!

New Arrival...

Congratulations to Cian Duffy, his wife Lisa and little girl Ciara on the addition to their family of a beautiful baby boy, named Jim, last week.

C'mon The Rossies!!

Huge CONGRATULATIONS to our fellow Boyle Sportsman, Fergal O Donnell and his Roscommon Senior Football team which includes Boyle players David Casey & Sean Purcell, on bringing the Connaught Senior Championship back to Roscommon.

We are all massively proud of you all.

End of Season Get-together Cancelled

Unfortunately we have to cancel Friday night's end of season dinner and drinks which was to be held in Moving Stairs. We'll wait until we start our new season in September now to see if we can rearrange it.

Enjoy the Summer!

Update - End of Season Night Out

It looks like we may need to push our end of season get-together out to Friday 2nd July. It is to be held in Moving Stairs, meeting at 8.30pm for a meal and drinks. A text will be sent out and I will confirm these arrangements here once we have heard back from members that this date will suit.

Congratulations to Ken Moran, St Marys BC, Carrick

Ken Moran from our neighbouring club in Carrick on Shannon was awarded the Overall Club Volunteer of the year award at the recent Badminton Ireland Club and Volunteer awards ceremony 2010.

We want to send huge congratulations to Ken, he has done trojan work for the Carrick club down through the years and it is wonderful that this has been acknowledged at national level. Well done Ken.

AGM

The club's AGM took place last night and as Sean, our Chairman pointed out, we had a great turnout despite the fact that it was a beautiful sunny evening, there were fourteen members in attendance.

It was a very positive meeting reflecting on a brilliant year for the club and hopefully we can build on it and bring the club to another level next year, increase membership, bring in more coaching opportunities and maybe hold in-house competitions for everyone to take part in.

There were few changes last night but Elaine has opted to step down from the Secretary's role so I, Liz, will be taking over there for next year along with the PRO function. A huge thank you to Elaine for the work she has done in the past year, I hope I can fulfill the role as well as she did.

Finally, the end of season night out has been agreed for Friday June 25th probably at 9pm and I will confirm the venue here as soon as it has been completely finalised. It would be great to see as many members as possible out for the night, as a club we have a lot to celebrate.

AGM Notice

The club will hold it's AGM on Thursday 10th June at 8.30pm in Boyle Sports Complex. All members are asked to make a special effort to attend this meeting.

All-Ireland Silver for Division 2

What started out as a great day in Dublin ended up in bitter disappointment for our Division 2 team yesterday. They were well on the way to bringing home an All-Ireland Division 2 cup to Boyle when a cruel twist of fate snatched the victory from their grasp.

They had faced Johnswell of Kilkenny and had taken a comprehensive 6-1 win in that match and were quietly confident of another good result approaching their second match against Lady Lane from Waterford. However as Boyle took the court for Mens Singles and went 8-1 up in the first game Marcin suffered a very painful leg injury which meant both his Singles and the Mixed game he was to play with Bernie were in jeopardy. The Badminton Ireland tournament rules stated that no substitute could be used once the match was underway so the Boyle team were forced to continue as they were.

Even against the odds the team went all out to try to secure the desired outcome, there were great performances throughout but mention must be made of the mens doubles battle which was an epic encounter. John and Padraic narrowly lost the first set at 26-24 to the Waterford duo, they then won the second set 21-17 and in the final set neither pair wanted to let go, the Waterford players had five set points before our Boyle lads played the rally of the tournament to take back the set point at 26-25 and with a perfectly precise net shot by Padraic to follow John's serve the game went to Boyle. The end result however was 4-3 to Waterford as lady luck shone on Lady Lane who became All-Ireland Champions.

Boyle have again brought home an All-Ireland Silver, this year in Division 2, which is a massive achievement for our club. It's hard to believe that some of the Division 2 players were playing Division 4 league as little as two years ago! The whole team have put in sterling performances all year and deserve only the warmest congratulations. As a club we have a lot to be proud of in 2010, three County titles, one Connaught title and an All-Ireland Silver.

Division 2 - BI All Ireland Final

Our Division 2 team, having successfully come through the County competition, in both Roscommon and Galway, and with the Connaught title already in the bag, now face their final 2010 league hurdle on Sunday next May 16th in Baldoyle, Dublin when they compete in the Division 2 BI All Ireland Final.

In a Round Robin competition they will face Johnswell of Kilkenny representing Leinster and Lady Lane of Waterford representing Munster.

The whole club wishes the team the very best of luck and win or lose on Sunday extends Congratulations to Division 2 on their massive success through the year so far.

Good luck John, Mandy, Sean, Ruth, Marcin, Bernie and Padraic.

Who's that Guy???

Clue: He doesn't play volleyball anymore.... He has less hair now than he did in 1988.....He's a great guy to have around in an emergency!!!

Division 7 County Champions!

It took a while but I finally got a picture of our triumphant Division 7 team.......
(thanks Seamus for the photos!)

Back Row: Gabriel Regan, Louise Kennedy, Trevor McDermott, Sean McDermott

Front Row: Siobhan Ryan, Cormac Mullen, Emily Sachs Eldridge

Connaught Champions - Division 2

The Connaught League Finals took place in the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday 25th April, Boyle had two teams representing Roscommon in Division 2 and in Division 6.

The Division 6 team had first to meet Loughrea however play just didn't go in Boyle's favour on the day and they were eliminated at the semi-final stage. Congratulations to the whole team on getting through to represent in Connaught, putting in huge effort all year and emerging with a second County Title under their belt - not a bad season's work!

The Division 2 team played against Cortoon from Galway in what was a rerun of the Galway League Final. Coming in to the mixed doubles Boyle had taken two games, men's singles and men's doubles and with first mixed not going in Boyle's favour they had it all to do when taking to the court for the last two games. They were outstanding, a lesson in how to play mixed. Boyle took both games in two sets. As always Cortoon were worthy competitors but in the end Boyle took a fantastic 4-3 win to emerge Connaught Champions. They go forward to represent Connaught in the BI All Ireland League Finals, Division 2, in Baldoyle, Dublin on 16th May.

Congratulations to Padraic, Sean, John, Marcin, Ruth, Bernie & Mandy.

Division 2

Back: Padraic, John, Sean (missing Marcin) Front: Bernie, Mandy, Ruth

Another County Title.....Division 7

Not to be outdone by our Division 2 and Division 6 County success, our Division 7 team travelled to Glinsk last night to meet Ballinaheglish in the first ever County League Final in that division and they brought home another County title with a 4-2 win.

Congratulations to the whole team, not only on last nights fantastic victory but on all of the league matches played.

It was mentioned to me on Tuesday night before the Division 6 Final began that our Division 7 team were a great bunch of players, were very sporting and made every encounter very enjoyable. Great ambassadors for the Boyle Badminton Club.

Three County titles for the club in 2010 - what can I say!

Division 6 County Champions 2010

It was heart-stopping stuff last night in Four Roads but thankfully the result went Boyle's way at the finish.

From the outset there were upsets and surprises and it all came down to the final mixed game which itself could have gone either way. Glinsk were a formidable team to come up against and were never going to let the Boyle team have it all their own way but in the end the teams determination to not let all of their hard work throughout the year go to waste saw them emerge Division 6 Champions 2010.

A huge Thank You to Padraic who has trained and coached us all year, there is little doubt that without his input and expertise we could never have performed as well as we did throughout the league and again last night. Thanks Coach!

Division 6 go forward now to represent Roscommon in Galway , joining our Division 2 team who have already secured their place in the Connaught League Finals this Sunday 25th April.

Congratulations to the whole team, it was an amazing result after such a hard-fought battle.

Division 7 County Final

I only found out last night that the Division 7 County Final is to be held on Thursday 22nd April featuring our own Boyle team against Ballinaheglish and while I'm not absolutely certain I believe the venue will be Glinsk.

Congratulations to our newest league team on reaching their first County Final and the very best of luck, we'll be there to cheer ye on!

Division 2 County Win

Just a quick update on last nights Final between Boyle and Strokestown... Boyle came through with a comprehensive 6-1 win so they are now through to play in the Connaught Finals on Sunday 25th April.

Congratulations to Padraic, Ruth, Sean, Mandy, Bernie and John - we knew ye could do it!

Don't forget Division 6 will play their Final in Four Roads on Tuesday night at 8pm, lets hope we end up with two teams in Galway on 25th!

Thank you....

A word of thanks is long overdue to a couple of people who have donated their support to the club...

Firstly to our own Seamus Ryan who is always on hand with his camera and has provided us with a nice collection of photos and also DVD footage from both the Connaught Closed B competition held in January and last weekend from the Galway League Finals.

Thank you to Barry McLoughlin of McLoughlins RS in Dublin for a cheque we received recently which was very valuable in helping to replenish our stock of shuttles. Cormac Mullen, Area Manager for McLoughlins RS, plays on our Division 7 team.

Finally for all the support we've received from Nolan Health & Safety Services, thank you very much Derek.

Division 2 County Final

Boyle's Division 2 team play their County Final tomorrow, Thursday 15th April, against Strokestown in Boyle Sports Complex at 9pm. Should they come through with a win in this final they go forward to represent Roscommon in the Connaught League Finals Division 2 in the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday 25th April.

Best of luck lads, we'll all be shouting for ye tomorrow night!

Boyle Division 1 - Galway League Champions

The Boyle Division 1 team played in the Galway League Final on Saturday evening in the Lawn Tennis Club Galway. The match against Cortoon of Galway proved to be a nailbiter coming down to the third set of third mixed with Sean Carroll & Bernie Lavin just taking the edge over their Cortoon counterparts.

Congratulations to the whole team on a brilliant result!

Team (l to r): Mandy, Padraic, Audrey, Ruth, Bernie, Sean & Marcin

Division 6 County Final

The County Final for Division 6 has been confirmed for Tuesday 20th April at 8pm in Four Roads - Boyle will play Glinsk to determine who goes forward to represent Roscommon in the Connaught Final to take place in Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday 25th April.

Division 6 would greatly appreciate as much support as possible for the Final.

Roscommon County Team Photo

Back Row (l to r): John Kiernan (Boyle), Sean Carroll (Boyle), Marcin Paluch (Ballaghadereen), Padraic O Dowd (Boyle)

Front Row (l to r): Ruth O Hart (Boyle), Corrina Delaney (Strokestown), Mandy Toolan (Boyle), Bernie Lavin (Boyle), Audrey Delaney (Strokestown)

County Team's All Ireland Report

The Roscommon team which included Boyle's own, Padraic O Dowd, Bernie Lavin, Sean Carroll, John Kiernan, Ruth O Hart and Mandy Toolan, played in the Kingfisher Sports Centre of NUIG last Sunday in the Inter-County All-Ireland Finals. I'm attaching an extract of the report written by Cormac O Connor in Galway here...

Morning semi final vs Roscommon was a very tight affair with many games going to a Third set.

Damien Hehir got the team off to the ideal start in a high quality men's singles tie vs Roscommon's Polish native Marcin Paluch winning a thrilling 3 setter.

However Helen Sheehan was pipped in another tense affair in ladies singles going down narrowly 21-19 in the 3rd set.

Galways first men's pairing of Colm Franks and Ross Creaven never got going and suffered their first inter county loss of the season so Galway trailed 2-1 at this point in the best of 9 match.

Galway also lost 2nd men's doubles when Stephen Keane and Damien Hehir lost in a match that like almost every other in this semi final went all the way to a third set.

However the Galway 2nd ladies of Orla Bishop and Susan Gilmore manged to win their game in another 3 setter to leave the score at 3-2.

First ladies of Helen Sheehan and Joanne Gilmore were involved in a titantic struggle with the Roscommon sister pairing of Audrey and Corina Delaney. This was a game Galway could not afford to lose as they would have been 4-2 down with Roscommon only needing 1 of the remaining 3 mixed to knock Galway out. The Galway pair somehow fought back and edged a thriller 21-18 in 3rd set to level the tie overall at 3-3.

Momentum was now fully with the Galway team after that epic ladies doubles win and 3rd mixed pairing of Bryan Lalor and Susan Gilmore continued their unbeaten intercounty record this season won in the straight sets to suddenly have Galway ahead at 4-3 for the first time having trailed Roscommon all morning long.

Suddenly it was Galway who needed only 1 of the 2 remaining mixed to reach the final. The second mixed pairing of Ross Creaven and Claire Kenny won the first set and things were looking good. The first mixed pairing of Cormac O'Connor and Joanne Gilmore after a poor opening set loss stormed back to win the second set 21-10. However before they had a chance to start the 3rd set, Ross and Claire were on the verge of winning the second set and the match clinching point to reach the all Ireland. Despite some nervy moments Claire and Ross played brilliantly to squeeze the 2nd set 22-20 and Galway were through without having to play the 3rd set of 1st mixed.

Galway went on to beat Meath who had come through the second semi-final 5-1 and they took the All-Ireland title.

Congratulations to all of the Roscommon team on reaching the All-Ireland semi final which in such a close affair could have gone either way if luck had been with Rosommon on the day.

League Update 31/03/2010

Division 7 have now played all of their matches with a clean sheet throughout. Their last encounter was away in Four Roads on Thursday 25th March and they achieved an outstanding 7-0 victory there. They should now be going on to play the County Final, date and opponents to be confirmed.

Division 6 have also completed their league matches, the remaining game against Ballinaheglish will not now go ahead. They again have kept a clean sheet throughout the league and emerge with a huge 49 points at the finish. Their last game was also on Thursday 25th March in Dysart where they came away with a 4-3 win. Division 6 will also play in the County Final again date and opposition to be confirmed.

Division 5 have played Ballinaheglish at home and away in the last week but were unable to secure a victory in either match against a very strong team. They have one home game against Ballaghadereen/Loughglynn to play in their league fixtures, this will probably be set for next week.

Inter-County Finals - Sunday 28th March 2010

The County Roscommon Team made it through the qualifiers in Limerick on Sunday February 14th in Group 2 of the Inter-County League and are now playing in the finals this Sunday in Galway in the Kingfisher Sports Centre in NUI Galway.

The semi-final against Galway will start at 11am and should they come through successfully the final will be played at 2pm against winners of the other semi between Waterford & Meath.

It would be great to see as much support as possible for the team in Galway especially given the substantial contribution from our own club in the form of our players Padraic, Sean, John, Mandy, Ruth and Bernie.

Happy Saint Patricks Day

All-England Badminton Championships 2010

Myself, Padraic, Anthony and Derek were lucky enough to travel to the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham last weekend to the 100th All-England Badminton Championships. We were there for Friday's quarter finals, Saturday's semi's and Sunday's exciting finals.

There are few words to describe the unbelieveable experience it was to witness such outstanding badminton in Singles, Doubles and Mixed...we were simply blown away!

The icing on the cake for us was meeting Lee Chong Wei, the World's No. 1 Mens Singles Champion, at the airport on the way home and having an opportunity to speak to him and get a little insight into what it takes to make a World Champion Badminton player. He was a very nice down-to-earth guy and his coach was happy to share some tips with Padraic.

It will go down as one of the best badminton weekends ever and we all took a lot away from watching the pros in action at the Championships, we look forward to making this trip again someday!

This weeks League Update...

Division 7 have now played three of their four matches in the league and have beaten all of their opposition so far. They took 5 of 7 games against Four Roads on our home courts last week. It's a fantastic performance for a team of players, most of whom are, just starting out in competition..well done lads, keep it going!


Division 6 likewise are nearing the end of their 2010 league and remain unbeaten through all their matches to date. In the past week they took all 7 games in a match against Ballinaheglish at home and just last night 6 of the 7 games against Four Roads away. Their unbeaten campaign and comprehensive scores mean they are very likely to be heading to a County Final in April.

Division 5 had a game cancelled on them last week so still have only played one of their four matches but they are due out again in an away encounter against Ballinaheglish tomorrow night so best of luck to them with that.

A further update will follow in about a weeks time.....so stay tuned!

This weeks League update...

Division 7 had their second outing last night when they played away in Ballinaheglish and they again overcame their opponents with a 4-3 victory. Well done to everyone on the team, it's always a great result to get the win but an "away" win is even more impressive still!

Division 6 have now played 6 of their 10 matches and continue their winning streak. They had another comprehensive win at home last night against a very good Glinsk team. There will be two more matches to play next week so another update will follow then. Well done Division 6!

Division 7 starts...

Division 7 in Roscommon is a newly formed league and Boyle had their first match last night.

The Boyle team played at home against Ballinaheglish and on their first league outing secured a home win. There were some very good, closely fought encounters during the match and Boyle did very well to overcome the Ballinaheglish challenge.

Congratulations to all who played last night.

Congrats to Wendy & Mel

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Mel and Wendy on their recent participation in Today FMs Shave or Dye event with Ray D'arcy in Dublin in aid of the Irish Cancer Society.

I have a "before" shot of the girls here.....

and located an "after" shot of Wendy but not Mel....yet!!

I know some club members already sponsored the girls however for such a worthy cause there may be some more who would like to donate and I have no doubt they'll be happy to accept support at any time.

Well done ladies, we're very proud of ye!

Roscommon Success in Inter County

On Sunday 14th February, the Roscommon County team competed in Group 2 of the Inter-County Class 4 competition in the University of Limerick, the team included a number of our Boyle players.

They had a great outing and emerged second in their group, which comprised Cork, Waterford, Wexford and Sligo, to qualify for the Inter-County Finals in Galway Lawn Tennis Club at the end of March. The Roscommon team won all of their matches but were just pipped to first place by Waterford who had taken more sets from their opponents than Roscommon had.

Well done and congratulations to the whole team and particularly to our own club members, Padraic, John, Mandy, Ruth, Bernie and Sean.

League Update

Division 5 kicked off their league campaign in Ballaghadereen last week with a 4-3 victory over the home team. There were some very close games in the encounter so emerging with an away win was a great result.

Division 6 have played three matches at this stage and are holding their own in all, since the first successful game against Dysart they have overcome the Strokestown challenge in both the home and away legs.

Division 6 Roscommon League

The Division 6 finally opened their 2010 campaign with a home match against Dysart last night. After some very closely fought games they won this first match overall. Well done to Aisling and to Paul on their first outings in Singles, they both put in fantastic performances. The next match is Thursday 4th in Strokestown.

Connaught Junior Closed Grade A

The Connaught Junior Closed Grade A took place in Galway last Saturday 30th January. There were Boyle members competing in Mens Doubles, Ladies Doubles and in Mixed Doubles, namely Sean Carroll, John Kiernan, Padraic O Dowd, Berni Lavin and Ruth O Hart. While there were no medals for Boyle on this occasion, all players were happy with their performances and the competition as a whole.

Connaught Junior Closed B Championship

They came from far (Newport, Oranmore, Galway, Newtowngore, Claregalway), and near (Sligo, Ballaghadereen, Strokestown and Boyle) to compete in the Connaught Junior Closed B Championship in Boyle on Saturday 16th January. Overall there were just over 50 players taking part so it was destined to be a great day of competitive Connaught badminton.

Each competitor received a "welcome pack" on registration which included some fruit and a t-shirt, thank you to Sean and Derek for their sponsorship of the t-shirts. We also had medical assistance on standby all day which Derek had organised and which we are very grateful for.

The play started in the morning at 10am with both Mens and Ladies Singles. With a greater entry in the Mens competition it was played as a Round Robin whereas the smaller Ladies competition was played as a straight through knock-out. The turnaround on the courts was very efficient and swift which meant the Doubles competition could proceed ahead of the scheduled 1pm start. Both the Mens and Ladies Doubles were played as Round Robin, there were four groups in the Mens competition due to the large entry and two groups in the Ladies competition.

Again, thanks to the careful management of the committee and particularly Mandy and Padraic, the court turnaround was handled speedily & efficiently and the games were played through on schedule. The Mixed Doubles then started a little ahead of schedule at about 3.30pm however as there was such a huge entry in Mixed it wasn't at the Semi-Final stage until 7.30pm.

The Finals of each competition were played at 9pm, in Mens Singles Boyle's own Sean Carroll had a very tight match against Brian Caliendo of Sligo and after three exciting sets Brian emerged the winner. Jana Seredyczoya of Claregalway and Aine Lenehan of Newport played another very close and exciting Ladies Singles Final in three sets and here Aine took the plaudits.

The Mens Doubles Final was between Brian Caliendo and Paul Dolan of Sligo Tennis Club and Gearoid & Fergal Hughes of Newport, and proved to be another closely fought encounter through three tight sets with the Sligo duo eventual winners.

The Ladies Doubles Final was played between Jana Seredyczoya and Aine Lenehan (who had joined up in Doubles for the day!) and Marie McTiernan and Francie Mahon from Sligo, Jana & Aine made a formidable pairing and played a great game against the Sligo ladies to emerge victorious after three very close sets.

The Mixed Doubles Final featured Boyle duo Mandy Toolan and Sean Carroll who came up against John Dolan and Francie Mahon of Sligo. Sean and Mandy who had played terrific badminton all day never let it get away from them and won the match in two sets.

A huge thank you must go to all of our members who came in to help out yesterday, Saturday and on Friday night, Ruth, Aisling, Louise, Emily, Joanne, Catriona, Elaine, Sean Diffley, Trevor and Cormac, if I've left anyone out I apologise but without your help the day couldn't have gone as smoothly as it did. A huge thank you to Carmel Carroll who provided us with the wonderful homemade soup and sandwiches which were greatly appreciated by all. To be honest, there were more players raving about the soup than the badminton! Kennedy's Londis also sponsored some of the food yesterday so thank you very much to them.

I think everyone will agree that the Complex was looking at its very best yesterday and this was due to the huge effort put in by our Committee members, Anthony, Derek, Padraic, Elaine, Sean, Mandy & Ruth, ably assisted by Cormac and Trevor, who were there very late on Friday night/Saturday morning looking after all of the preparations.

Several competitors yesterday commented on the smooth running of the competition and the efficiency with which it was managed and this must be credited to two people in particular, Mandy Toolan who kept a tight rein on the draw, the schedule and the scoring and to Padraic O Dowd who stayed on the floor all day and kept the courts moving.

All in all I think Boyle Badminton Club rose to the challenge of hosting this major provincial competition and with such positive feedback received from players who travelled to Boyle from all over Connaught we hope we will now be considered as a venue on equal footing to Galway and Sligo for such events in the future.

Well Done Everyone!



Thank you to Sean O Dowd of Realboyle.com for coming up to see us on Saturday and allowing us use of the photographs he took.

Volunteers for Saturday 16th January

Ahead of the Connaught Closed Junior B Championships on Saturday we are asking any members who may be able to offer some of their time to help out on the day.

There are lots of small but important tasks to be taken care of from helping in the tuck shop to assisting Mandy in keeping games moving on the courts. So if you think you can give even an hour on Saturday please let me know at boylebadminton@gmail.com or give your name to Mandy or any of the committee.

A Connaught competition hasn't been held in Boyle for many years so we want to do our very best as host club so they may consider bringing it back again next year!


Thank you!

Liz

Sympathy Extended

Boyle Badminton Club wishes to extend its deepest sympathy to Sean and Mary Staunton of Ballinaheglish Badminton Club and to the Staunton family on the recent sudden passing of their brother Michael, RIP.

Connaught Junior Closed B Championship

The Connaught Junior Closed B Championship is taking place in Boyle on Saturday 16th January 2010. This competition is for players from Division 3 & 4 and is also open to players from Division 5 & 6.

Events are mens singles, ladies singles, mens doubles, ladies doubles and mixed doubles.

Entry fees are: €8 per player per event; €20 for all three events.

The singles competition will start on court at 10am, players should be at the sports complex at 9.30am to warm up. The doubles competition will start on court at 1pm, players should be there at 12.30pm and the mixed competition will be on court at 4pm, players should be there at 3.30pm.

Closing date for entries is Thursday 14th January 2010, email boylebadminton@gmail.com for a copy of the entry form.

We're back!

We started back last night in the complex and between a combination of 'cabin fever' and needing an antidote to Christmas excesses, quite a few members came back to the courts for the first club night of the new year.

Badminton continues in 2010 on Monday nights from 9.30 til 11.30 and Thursday nights from 9pm til 11pm. Junior badminton will restart next Sunday 10th January from 6 to 7pm.