THE UNDER-8 AND UNDER-10 boys and girls of the Letterkenny Gaels got a special treat last Wednesday.
Donegal players Mark and Ryan McHugh as well as Donegal ladies’ Karen Guthrie, Katy Herron and Grainne Houston visited Pairc na nGael to help out with the underage training.
The Donegal ladies brought along the Ulster Cup which they recently secured by defeating Monaghan in the Ulster Final.
The Donegal stars spent over an hour and a half working on football skills, signing autographs, posing for photos and talking to the young football enthusiasts about playing for their county.
Mark McHugh worked on the defensive and tackling skills while his younger brother Ryan tweaked the shooting and scoring skills of the young boys. The three Glenfin ladies put behind the pain of the county final defeat the previous Sunday to train and entertain the growing team of underage girls at Letterkenny Gaels.
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“The club has worked hard over the last number of years to develop the girls football and camogie at the club,” underage Secretary Brian Sweeney said.
“We are seeing the number of girls taking part in both codes increasing from year to year”. “Having the Donegal ladies attend our training session with the Ulster Cup and participate in the training with our own stars of the future is great for the girls.
“A lot of focus tends to be on the Donegal men’s team, but the Donegal ladies have had an excellent year this year winning the Ulster Cup. It gives our young girls football stars to look up to and a goal to aspire to, that is, to represent their county someday”.
Letterkenny Gaels underage training will take a break now after a long summer. The winter indoor training will start in November again and run for six weeks up until Christmas.
The indoor training is an excellent opportunity for new boys and girls to join in the fun. The club coaches focus on introducing new underage players to the basic skills of Gaelic football in a fun and enjoyable atmosphere.
Under 6 training starts at 6:00pm on Fridays in the Gym Hall at Woodland School. The combined under 8 and under 10 training will take placeevery Friday from 7:30pm to 8:30pm in the Aura leisure until the end of March.
To enquire about the underage football training, Parents should contact John McDermott (086) 8561768 (under 6s), Brian Sweeney (087) 2282386 (under 8s), Donal Murphy (087) 6858546 (Under 10) and James Frain (Under 12) (087 2480790) or come along on any of the nights.
