One of the positives that has come out of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the surge in community spirit. We have seen so many examples of people going out of their way to help, raise funds or simply check up on the people in their area.
Young people have been so badly affected by this pandemic, yet on so many occasions since March, they have led the way in showing examples of compassion and how to care for others.
With the GAA Minor Championships put on hold, young players across the country put their energy to incredibly good use to help others during lockdown. To honour this, a new awards programme has been set up to recognise the incredible work achieved by young players off the field efforts in 2020.
The Electric Ireland GAA Minor Special Recognition Awards looked to honour young players from each of the four provinces. Among the judging committee were All-Ireland winning Minor with Tyrone, Colm Cavanagh and former Minor Kilkenny forward, Aidan Fogarty.
This morning, Colm Cavanagh announced the winners from each province who are being honoured for their outstanding off-the-pitch contributions for their communities during 2020.
The Ulster winners come from Ruairí Óg Cushendall GAA club in Antrim. Michael Quinn, Josh Schnell, Shane McKenna, and Niall Óg McGuigan have been recognised for their brave efforts in saving the lives of a young family who had gotten into distress while swimming on the beach. In June 2020, the four teenagers from St. Killian's College had been enjoying a day at White Park Bay when they noticed the young family had gotten into difficulty while in the water. Thinking quickly and courageously, the boys rushed into the water and successfully prevented a certain tragedy.
The Connacht award has been awarded to Strokestown GAA's Jack Beirne and Andrew Jordan and St. Barry’s GFC member, Mark Rodgers for their outstanding efforts in raising over €60,000 for the Childhood Cancer Foundation. Jack himself is a childhood survivor of Leukaemia and had benefitted from the services of the Childhood Cancer Foundation. As part of a Transition Year project, Jack, Andrew and Mark purchased an old tractor in the hopes of restoring it and selling it, with the proceeds going to the charity. When word spread around the community of the project, people from Roscommon began donating parts to help support them with their efforts. The project went from strength to strength, and they began selling raffle tickets for the now fully restored tractor, which will be raffled off in early 2021.
Meath Minor and Trim GAA wing back, Ciarán Caulfield, is the Leinster winner, for organising a 500km socially-distanced run, which helped raise vital funds for the heart-warming 'Do it for Dan' campaign, which was set up to raise funds for one-year-old, Daniel Donoher so that he could receive life-saving treatment for a rare spinal disease. In March 2020, Ciarán’s school team, St. Patrick’s Classical School Navan, qualified for the final of the Paul McGirr Cup however, due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the final was ultimately cancelled. Ciarán, who was captain of the team, realised morale amongst his teammates was quite low and saw the fundraiser as a chance to lift the spirts of his teammates and friends, while also raising vital funds for ‘Do it for Dan’
Limerick Minor and Doon GAA goalkeeper, Tomás Lynch, has been honoured for his brilliant efforts with the school children of Doon C.B.S. The Transition Year student from Scoil na Tríonóide Naofa was unable to take part in his Work Experience programme in September 2020 due to Covid-19. Determined not to stay at home and miss one of his key learning experiences though, Tomás reached out to his former primary school, Doon C.B.S., for outdoor work experience opportunities. The school’s principal was delighted that Tomás was able to take the students every Tuesday for hurling sessions, and the students were extremely engaged in the sessions and Tomás also put together training programmes for the students to follow at home.
The bravery, commitment and ingenuity of these winners is certainly a bright note in what has been a very tough few months. The entire minor GAA class of 2020 have been an inspiration as we saw clubs all over the country helping deliver food to elderly neighbours, collect post, or even just call to a window for a chat. That is why former Tyrone footballer Colm Cavanagh had such a tough job picking the winners. "All of these young men have shown incredible initiative and bravery, as well as maturity beyond their years, and they should be very proud of themselves." Said Cavanagh.
While we are all looking forward to seeing the Minor Championships back in action, we can certainly be proud of the contribution that young GAA players have made in 2020.
The Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championships are proudly sponsored by Electric Ireland. Since 2012, Electric Ireland remain committed to showcasing the major impact these young men have on and off the pitch. Follow the conversation on the Electric Ireland social media channels using #GAAThisIsMajor
