New jersey to be unveiled as Bal’ celebrates centenary

Ballynacargy GAA Club is celebrating its centenary this year and in honour of that, they ran a special competition to design a commemorative club jersey over the past month.

Last Tuesday evening, the three judges, Frank Mescall (Westmeath County Committee Chairman), Jack Cooney (former Westmeath senior football manager) and Damien Maher (Sports Editor, Westmeath Examiner) met in TEG Cusack Park to judge the winning entry. There were over 160 entries and the competition was quite considerable. It was open to people in the local community and indeed to all club members.

There were entries from as far away as Donegal, with life-long supporter and member, Leo Penrose submitting his very own design and dedicating it to one of the founding members of the club, Hubie Murray, who was chairman for almost three decades. Leo, aged 84, is one of the oldest members of the club and remains as interested as ever in how its progressing.

Having considered all the entries very close, the judges made their decision and the winning jersey was one entered by Aidan Lyons, who is the club’s Coaching Officer.

The overall runner-up was an entry from Anita Connell, with Lexi Maher the under 18 female winner and Kylan O’Reilly the under 18 male winner.

The commemorative jersey reflects the history of the club, the white colour representing Kilbixy Gaels, which the club team was called in 1960s. The date 1923 signifies the founding year, while the traditional club colours are also embraced, as are the years in which the club won junior and intermediate titles.

The competition was first mooted at the start of the year and generated great interest among young and old. The new jersey will be launched once it has been designed by KC Sports, Mullingar and there will be a number of special presentations, including to the winning entries.

Chairman, Johnnie Penrose said the club is delighted with how the competition was embraced.

“It was a fantastic success and we are thrilled that so many people got involved, both young and old,” he said.

“The idea was first put forward when we met to plan for the year ahead and everyone just got behind it. We decided to have three independent judges and it was great to have their input and everyone is delighted with the new jersey.”

It is part of a number of events to honour the club’s centenary year.

“It’s a big year for us and we have a number of things in the pipeline. Obviously, the launch of the new jersey will be a big day and the Matt Slevin Tournament will be a big event later in the summer. We will be keeping the 100th anniversary very much to the fore,” he said.

The club has made remarkable progress in recent years, but they are not about to rest on their laurels. Work is ongoing at their impressive Moynihan Park venue, with plans for an upgrading of floodlights and the installation of solar panels.

On the field of play, their intermediate footballers are playing in division 2 this year having been promoted in 2022 and they have a thriving underage scene.

“We are delighted with the facilities that we have, but it’s an ongoing project and we’re lucky to have dedicated committee members and a lot of excellent coaches through all the age grades. Our underage AGM was very positive and we have great people involved,” said the chairman.

Gerard Connolly has taken up the position of Minor Committee Chairman this year and the underage teams will very soon be back in action for 2023.

“The club keeps us busy; it never really stops. But we’re delighted to be celebrating 100 years. It’s a fantastic achievement and we have a proud history,” he added.

The club has already written and produced its own book, recounting the trials and tribulations of the past century. All is in place for some great celebrations as the year progresses.