One Club…. Our Club…. My Club…. Shamrocks by Paul Aherne

Springfield, our field of dreams….risen from the clubhouse ashes in the 80’s, once alive with the buzz of SeamrÓigí Saturday mornings now silenced and forlorn..we miss it for sure

But if you think hard and remember you can see the grainy images from the past, the muck and slog of the top pitch on dark dreary winter nights transformed in summer into lush lined grass with Davy’s latest cut. The ongoing battle to keep grass growing in the square.

Seamrogi’s, training, blitzes, games, bingo and walkers, the street leagues, the towns cup?

Our characters past and present, Sean Dempsey, Mick Burke, the two Tommie’s Lennon and Gilhooley, Mick Gaye, Noreen Garry and Seán Mulderry…..Terry, Pat, Tom, Gerry, Mick, Ritchie and Detty.
Our players from years bygone…, the generations of families….Corroons, Moores, O’Dowds, Conlons, Fagans, Hyness and Coles.

The nicknames, spike, lofty, chubby, puggy, herny, ching, reno, scutcher, greener, hatch, chuck, fish, barney, toffo, lamber, shaper, mossy, reubens, cash and sexy bill.

The skills each a thing of beauty….Mickey’s dummy, Bernie’s sidestep, Spikes punt-pass on the run, Denis leaping like a salmon, Chubby's curling frees, Joe O’Hehir's jinking solo runs they made us ooh and aah.

The forgotten moments….Senior County finals in Castletown, 4 in a row, Leinster runs cruelly ended by Baltinglass, Intermediate final with last minute winning goals from nowhere, Senior/Minor doubles in 87 and 94, that u16 final where shamrocks played shamrocks, the first ever title in 1962 and endless trips on the sunshine tours bus with Mick Price.

The Stars in our eyes, the Scors, the strictly’s, the musicals all remind us of the variety of talents we have. The Ladies making Senior and Senior finals. The Shammies. Our All-Ireland Winners..ladies, u21’s, minors and Scors. The 85 county titles, since 1953.

We miss the sound of leather striking leather, the smell of the cut grass, the shrill blast of the whistle, the laboured breathing of training runs, the steam rising from the huddle, the chat in the car park, even just an open gate right now we would take.

But Our Club will come back, it's never been gone, this will be part of our history, we will look back and smile…

Some-one will say “do you remember when….” on a beautiful sunny football day in Shamrocks.

My Great Day 🦄🦄 😊 by Ada Kulej Aged 7.5 years

I went on the football pitch and trained to our big match. First we split into groups. The 7-year-old girls went to practice kicking. That group kicks as far as they can. Next we split into the 8 and 9-year-old (at that group you pass and solo.) At the 10-year-old you jump as high as you can (that helps you to catch the ball). I went to the 8 and 9-year-old even though I'm only 7. Now after 20 minutes of training we were ready. We are going to play against Saint Loman's. I was the goal keeper and I had never been a goal keeper before, but I always wanted to! So I kicked very hard up to the air but unfortunately someone who's name was Zoe caught the ball. She probably trained really really hard with her teammates. Zoe ran pretty fast and nearly scored a goal, but I took away the ball. Lucky me! Then again I kicked the ball. No one caught it! I was so happy that I jumped, but then Erica kicked the ball and scored!! Finally my team got 1 point so it was 1 Vs 1. This round was a draw. I was sad I had to leave the goals, but I always have to listen to my G.A.A teacher. Luckily, we won the second match with the other team. As a prize we won 2 packs of gummy bears,a packet of crisps and juice. While I was opening my favourite bacon snacks, I woke up. "I wish this really happened" I said". I really miss all of my Shamrock friends and all of the matches. We had just one training this year, and on that day it was Sophie's (our trainer) birthday. I really miss all of my normal life.

The End

My Shamrocks by Una Kulej, Almost 10 Years of Age ...

Shamrocks "I trained so hard today," I thought while walking home from Shamrocks with my Dad and sister. I can't wait for the match next week. 6 days later…It was after big break at school, we went into the classroom. We washed our hands. The teacher told us that we are not going to go to school because of the virus. I thought at least I can go to Shamrocks. Someone asked "Are the clubs closed?" "The are," the teacher nodded. My heart froze. No Shamrocks, no school. I thought I would cry. This must be a nightmare. I closed my eyes and opened them. It is not a dream. I was so sad. I asked when will they open again. The teacher said she doesn't know. I thought what will we do? The teacher told us not to be scared and explained what the home pack is. It is like school at home or more homework. She told us to do the work and art that we have not finished. I had finished everything. So the teacher suggested to do some research. Then my mum's friend came to pick me up. Early… I had to wait to get the pack. I drove home. A few weeks later… I do my pack, exercise, play outside and keep healthy. I run. My Dad, Sister and Mum run with me 3 times a week now instead of Shamrocks (I used to run 2 times before ). I would prefer to do Shamrocks. I loved the club and still love it. I am sad that school and Shamrocks are closed. But I do my best.

The End.

Clodagh Doran LGF Under-10:

I never felt sad on Friday when I had to say goodbye to my friends at school because on Saturdays I would wake up excited knowing that I would be going to see my Shamrock friends. I miss all the coaches who were always delighted to see us. I really miss my friends and playing football and games with them.

I love the sound of birds singing in Spring and Summer but I miss the sound of the whistles, words of encouragement from the coaches and kids shouting with joy. I miss going around to different clubs meeting my friends and meeting the other teams and saying hi at the blitzes getting to wear my Shamrocks top! I am going to miss the Summer Shamrocks football camp.

And I especially miss The BEST Coaches Sophie and Karen.

I really enjoy seeing you every week with the weekly challenges.

Hopefully we will all be back shouting “Go Shamrocks” soon.

Why I Miss Shamrocks and GAA: Zara Corroon U14:

Missing Shamrocks so much especially our usual Saturday morning trip to training. Seeing everyone and us all turning up in our Shamrocks gear ALL playing for the same team. All ages and all capabilities. I miss the gathering of my friends for both training and matches. GAA as a sport is so much fun and brings everyone together. It’s a sport that brings me happiness and I always feel good after a good training session with everybody. In the summer months especially where we get to enjoy matches and blitzes after our efforts in Winter through various weather conditions out training and working together as a team. The team spirit when we win is something out of this world. But more importantly if we lose we lose as a team and gather ourselves together to learn from our game. Its challenging mentally and physically and it makes me stronger as a person. Sometimes the games don’t go your way but that’s ok too. So all in all training, practising, winning or losing there is always time for a bit of fun. Looking forward to the day when we all get together with our coaches as a team and play again in our Shamrocks kit

Why I miss Shamrocks and GAA: Hugo Corroon U11

I miss Shamrocks because it is so much fun. I get to see my friends and play together and learn new skills. And when I go there every Saturday morning everybody is so enthusiastic to start playing. I am passionate about Shamrocks and so is my whole family. Down at the club we play various challenges and blitzes against other clubs. I also get to come up against my other friends in friendly competitions and games. I love playing against each other as its played in good spirit and as a team. We win some and lose some but it doesn’t matter as we play fair and to the best of our ability.

So looking forward to getting together again soon. Our coaches really work hard to show us how to enjoy our game and special thank you for the drills and skills sent on so we can still work on our football and enjoy GAA in Lockdown. Who knows when we all get back together again our skills will help us to improve for our next matches

Why I miss Shamrocks and GAA: Suzi Corroon U10

I miss Shamrocks so much. I miss everything about my training and my trips down to the pitch. I miss my matches too as well as my training with my coaches. I love playing games with Karen and Sophie and all the coaches and my teammates. Our coaches always make sour training so much fun. I just really want to be back together with my team where I can practise new skills and best of all wear my favourite Shamrocks gear.

Why I miss Shamrocks and GAA: “Mammy” Corroon aka Jacquie

In one I cannot begin to sum up the feeling that comes to me when I see our kids gather together in their training gear to head out through wind and rain and EVEN snow and to have the desire to go out and train. Wild horses wouldn’t hold any of them back for their love of the game. Its never a case of enticing and encouraging to keep it up it’s just in them – the desire to put on the kit and represent their club. It’s a family thing no other word for it – it’s the club that works together and plays together and that isn’t something that can be easily learnt or easily taken away. So – even in lockdown and even when everyone has their own families to keep safe and think about and all around us is changing, its still nice to have the little texts come in from the club from skill demos to motivational texts and normalise it all a little. So – a BIG THANK YOU to all the coaches for their efforts in this especially over the last few months. It's all appreciated and we look forward to that day when we can all get together again on our Saturday morning and train for a club we all love. Coz it’s a family thing!!!!!

And finally a few words from Daddy Corroon aka Sean:

I’m missing most the community spirit which is so evident around the club both at training sessions and at the games being played. It’s a family thing and the heartening experience of seeing my kids thrive in such a healthy way through the efforts of the club and all its members. Looking forward to having it all again and seeing our underage go from strength to strength.

Shamrocks is the place to be by Theo Kelly aged 10.

Shamrocks is the place to be

On a Saturday morning, Paddy, Manus, and Me

Before we leave full of glee

Barry is shouting “boots, gloves and gum shields”

On to the pitch to practise our shooting skills

Until the coaches shout “now time for some drills”

Solos, hand passes and lots of runs

Sweating and panting like someone’s chasing

us with guns

Now for a game, the teams all line out,

We race to our positions then wait for the shout

The ball is thrown up and we are ready to jump

I hope I catch it so I won’t get dumped

Down the field I head for the goal

But one step too many and the whistle is blown

After the game we say goodbye

And we know it’ll take us a week to get dry

It always rains on training days

But we don’t care because it's just good to be there.

"I hope the immersion is on in your house” by Manus Kelly aged 10.

One day we were training on the back pitch in Mullingar Shamrocks and it was really muddy and really mucky. There were wet muddy puddles all over the pitch. My boots got stuck in one or two puddles, it was such a filthy rotten day. Every other year we trained on the front pitch and that never had too many muddy puddles. I decided that it would be super fun to cover one side of the football with muck and then hand pass it or kick it to my partner and when they caught the ball they’d get covered in muck. The first person that I passed the ball to ended up with muck all over his favourite clean “Kerry” jersey! He ran after me in anger, but I was laughing so hard that he started to laugh too. Another player tripped me up as I was running by and I landed straight into the mud. I put my hands out in front of me to try and save my face from landing in the puddle but it didn’t work out too well. This all happened during the warm up so I had to play for the next hour with filthy mucky dirty hands. There were new kids in our group that morning and I couldn’t even shake hands with them and it wasn’t because of the Corona virus it was because of the dirt.

My hands looked like they were covered in cow dung and I was sure it smelt like it too. I caught no balls at the session because my hands were mucky, slippy and also numb because of the cold.

At the end of training it started to lash rain and we all dashed to our cars. As I was running past one of the coaches he said, “Manus I hope the immersion is on in your house”