Six Clonduff girls played at half time in the All Ireland Qualifiers Down v Mayo on Saturday 4th August! Croke Park had asked the County to nominate a team of 11 boys and 11 girls to play in the half time games. Down Games Development Officer, Conor O’Toole asked Clubs on Tuesday to nominate six boys and/or six girls as they were giving four clubs the chance of being represented (two would have six girls/boys and two would have five boys/girls). Clonduff took the opportunity of nominating both boys and girls knowing that if one was drawn out the other would automatically miss out. Those who came out of the draw are as follows:
Ballyholland: 6 Boys, Atticall: 5 Boys; Clonduff: 6 Girls, Warrenpoint: 5 Girls
Each player was allocated 3 tickets for the match – 1 for the player themselves and 2 for their parents/guardians etc. In addition to this each club received 2 tickets to permit a coach/mentor into the stadium. Players were provided with a full playing kit on the day by Croke Park.
This was a remarkable opportunity for all those involved. The six lucky Clonduff girls whose names came out of the hat were: Amy Johnston, Niamh Fearon, Clara Cowan, Erin Rafferty, Summer Brannigan and Shannon O’Reilly – what an honour! Our girls were accompanied on the day by John Anthony Gribben and Joeleen Branagan, two of the U12 Ladies coaches. Our girls are pictured above with the Warrenpoint girls (thanks to Liam Howlett, Warrenpoint for the Photo). Sean Cowan identified the girls as: Back row from left: Summer Brannigan, (WP),(WP),(WP), Erin Rafferty, Amy Johnston; Front row from left: Clara Cowan, (WP),(WP), Shannon O’Reilly, Niamh Fearon.
