Thank You and Goodnight.

Hi Everyone,

Sadly this will be my last blog on EYUC 2011. I got back to Cork today having stayed with a friend in Shannon over night. The girls made a vociferous entrance into Shannon airport at about 10pm last night. It was great to see them all in such good spirits, reunited with friends and family. The rest of the team are flying to Dublin either today or at a later stage in the week. I think everyone really enjoyed the week in Poland, I certainly did. I'm really proud of how we performed over there, I think the girls took on board what we said about not letting their heads drop no matter what the scoreboard said, because throughout the entire week they all had smiles on their faces and gave it absolutely everything while they were on the pitch. They were a pleasure to coach and a credit to their schools and colleges, their families and their country. I'm really looking forward to either playing with them in the future or watching them develop into senior internationals which I have no doubt but some of them will. The majority of them are likely to become key members of the Cork ultimate community, of which I plan to be a part of for a very long time to come, so hopefully our paths will cross again in future.

I want to end the blog with a couple of thank yous. Firstly and most importantly thanks to the 18 girls who made up the squad, your enthusiasm throughout not only last week but the entire summer was infectious and made my life as a coach all the easier. It's always nice to work with people who are so eager to learn. Thanks also to Caoimhe and Meabh for all their work in admin, accounting and coaching capacities. Thanks to UCC ultimate for having such a well run schools initiative during the past year, without which this team would not have come about and lastly thanks to the parents of every girl on the team. I hope you continue to support and encourage your daughter(s) to play the sport. Experiences like the one they've had over the last week will stand to them for the rest of their lives. They've made new friendships, visited a new country and represented their country at international level and really enjoyed themselves while doing it. I think it's been a hugely positive week for all concerned and now that the first Irish Junior Women's team has been set up I can't wait to see it develop from here on.


Finally, I'd encourage all Irish ultimate players to become involved in developing the sport at an under age level. Get involved in coaching in a school, all it takes is a couple of hours of your week. If you can spare the time I guarantee that you will find it to be a rewarding experience. In my view, as it stands the sport is far too upper class as you have to go to university to be involved in the highest level of the game in this country. Clubs, colleges and individuals should all seek to get involved in schools of varying socio-economic and gender divides. If youth development is approached in a more arbitrary fashion I think the international teams will begin to reap the benefits within a very short period of time. I'm really excited about what Ireland can achieve at the next World Junior Ultimate Championships.

I look back at the U23 Mixed team that I played on this time last year. The women on that team had been playing for less than 12 months at that stage. A year later, Mary McKee (one of said women) won A-Game on the Irish senior women's team! That's what can be achieved with hard work and dedication on the part of players and coaches. If we all keep striving to improve the sport in this country then I have no doubt but Ireland can bring home a medal from a major championships some day.

The future is bright.

Come on you Girls in Green!

Hobs.