Come On You Boys and Girls In Blue!

A big weekend ahead for the county, with Mark Lavin and Alan Murphy gearing up with the U20 Footballers against Galway on Saturday afternoon, Emmet O’Conghaile and Darren Gavin and the senior footballers against Mayo on Saturday evening, and Abby Shiels and the senior ladies footballers against Cork on Sunday afternoon. We wish all of them the very best of luck and hopefully the Clarke, Sam Maguire and Brendan Martin Cups will be visiting the club during 2021. We also urge all members and supporters, to follow the health guidelines, practice social distancing and at all times stay safe during and after the games.

In this instalment of our county players profiles, we questioned Lucan and Dublin midfielder, Darren Gavin, about his playing career so far. Darren began his sporting career at the Lucan Sarsfields academy as a five year old, and kept playing through the underage grades to minor while at the same time was playing basketball, soccer, and any other available sport with his schools, St Thomas', School Aine and Lucan Community College. He got to play at Croke Park, winning a schools final while he was in 6^th Class and Darren also won a Leinster Schools medal with LCC.

Picture ©INPHO

Meanwhile at the club, Darren was on the U16 Division 2 winning team, and when he progressed to minor football, he also stepped up to play with the Juniors. In his second year with the minors, he was asked to play a few games with the intermediates, making it an easier transition to the senior football squad when the left the underage teams, and he was on the team that earned promotion to division 1.

His arrival at UCD where he played fresher and Sigerson Cup football, also coincided with a call up to the Dublin U21’s, when he was part of the Leinster and All Ireland Championship winning team. Since then, Darren has been on the senior panel, and like his Galwegian dad, Fergal, now has a senior All Ireland Football Championship medal, and is looking forward to having a second this Sunday!!  To help pass the time during the lockdowns, Darren, and brother Cian, were gamers, listing FIFA and Call of Duty among their favourites.

Lucan Sarsfields Healthy Clubs

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Winter Appeal for ICHH. Again our members have shown great generosity to those in need in our wider community. 4 cars were loaded with bags of warm clothes, coats, thermals and goodies donated during December and delivered to the ICHH warehouse in Glasnevin.

The clothes will be distributed as necessary by the teams working on the ICHH outreach programme. They told us that their outreach teams had helped 89 people in Dublin last Wednesday night and how vital it is to have access to warm coats and clothes for those people sleeping on the streets in our city. For more information about the work they do go to www.ichh.ie.

We are delighted to announce that Lucan Sarsfields has been selected as one of 45 clubs nationwide to participate in Phase 1 of the new GAA Green Club Programme. This programme will explore a range of sustainability projects designed to enrich the physical and social environment of our club. Our club has been selected for the Green Clubs Waste Theme, along with 4 other clubs.  The expert partner for this group is the Regional Waste Management Authorities.

The Green Club Programme (GCP) is being initiated as part of the GAA’s work as an Irish champion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (the Association was selected by the Department of Communication, Climate Action, and Environment in September 2019).   The GAA Green Club Programme, supported by the County & City Management Association and the local authority Climate Action Regional Offices, is delivered in partnership with the LGFA and Camogie Association, with additional support from expert agencies across the five thematic focus areas of the programme, namely: Energy, Waste, Biodiversity, Water, Travel & Transport.

We hope that the networks created, including the access to the expertise involved in the Green Clubs programme, will support our club in achieving meaningful Green Goals during Phase 1 and will in turn position our club as a sustainable leader in your community.  We also hope that the journey will help future-proof our club while assisting us in accessing funding avenues available locally or nationally for work of this nature.

For more information about this programme go to https://www.gaa.ie/news/45-clubs-to-take-part-in-phase-1-of-gaa-green-club-programme/

Psychological First Aid: Please see attached and linked below a number of resources that may be of benefit to you or your family as we continue to look out for those around us.

    WHO ‘Psychological First Aid Guide’: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241548205

    Free John Hopkins University online PFA Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/psychological-first-aid#`

Christmas Draw tickets must be returned to the collection point before the deadline of 9pm on Thursday 17 December. You can also enter the draw online via the website or using the ClubForce App

Our sympathies to the Egan family on the death of Maureen, mother of John (Minor and Junior Hurling management) and grandmother to Sean (Minor and Junior Hurling). May she rest In peace.

“Come and meet your new best friends”

The Lucan District Credit Union Academy for girls and boys has closed for the Christmas break, with a planned return on 16^th January. More details closer to that date.   

The 12th Lock Café opening hours 6-9pm Monday to Friday and 9:30am to 1:30pm on Saturday. These times may change in line with Covid-19 guidelines. Visit the Café’s FaceBook page, https://fb.me/12thLockCafe, to see our special offers and Christmas opening hours..

Club Shop December opening hours: O’Neills club shop will open at the following times: Thursday 17th 7.00pm – 9.00pm, Saturday 19th 9.00am – 5.00pm

There was no winner of the €4200 jackpot of the draw held on Thursday 10th December sponsored by Clandillon Motors

The numbers drawn were 17, 21, 22, 26. 

Lucky Dip winners of €30 each

Barry Aird, Astrid Fitzpatrick, Gerry McAndrew, Deirdre McCormack, Helga Myler

The Jackpot for next weeks draw is €4600, 

Next weeks sponsor Lucan Village Pharmacy managed by Edel Mooney

The draw will be held behind closed doors and live streamed on our Facebook page. 

Make sure your entry is submitted before 6pm to be included in the draw, 

tickets can be purchased online at the following link: http://bit.ly/LucanSarsfieldsClubLotto.

Thank You for supporting Lucan Sarsfields GAA Club