We have had a very successful second year developing our under age at the club. The club has continued to grow with over 80 new players joining us. This has allowed us to field teams at under 10s, 12s, 14s and 16s. Next season we will also be fielding at under 18s.

Our under 12s travelled to Birmingham to compete in the All Britain 7 a side championship. They acquitted themselves with great aplomb and we all had a great day. This seemed to gel the team as later in the August they went on to win our first trophy of our new era, the Full Irish 7 a-side tournament. The under 10s and under 13s also performed admirably on the day, as they both successfully qualified for there respective finals. Unfortunately they were both narrowly beaten.

We had planned to enter teams at under 10s, 12s and 14s this season, but as the season progressed our numbers grew at our training sessions. We were fortunate to be able to enter an under 16 team into the County Championship. This team has surpassed all our expectations as it has reached the county final.

3 members of the under 16 team were asked to represent the county and did not let themselves down. It will not be long before these lads are knocking on the door of our senior team so watch out lads, the young guns are coming!!!!

Norman Whiteside makes a presentation to Oisin Under 12s

Presentation Evening

We held our presentation evening at the Old Bedians in November of last year. After careful consideration from all the coaches players of the year for each age group were chosen and presented with trophies. They were as follows:

Under 10s	Daniel Moran
Under 12s	James Lamb
Under 14s	Jonathan Moran

Anthony Osborne also received a special award for all his assistance in developing the under 16s team for this season.

Sponsors

As with anything new equipment and kits need to be supplied. The club received two very generous donations from Dermot McKenna and John Flanagan to supply new kits for the under 10s and 12s. Our thanks go to both, as without the financial support from local businessmen we would not be able to help the game grow.

We would like to buy the kids some track suits for the trip to Ireland in May 2007, if any companies would like to sponsor these please contact one of the coaches.

Under Age Trip to Ireland

Anne Smyth and Mary Mulhern along with the coaches have been working hard organising a trip to Ireland this May for the boys. We will be playing teams from Offaly and Westmeath, we are sure the boys may surprise a few unsuspecting Offaly and Westmeath men. We would like to thank all who have helped with fund raising for the trip, either donating prizes for raffles, or more importantly giving up there time or hard earned cash.

We will be staying in the Days Hotel in Tullamore, Offaly and our under 10s and 12s will be playing St Vincent's in Ballycommon, near Tullamore in Offaly, Saturday 5th May 2007.

On Sunday 6th May 2007 the two teams will be playing in a tournament in Mullingar, Westmeath. St Michael's will be hosting the day.

Development Of Gaelic Football

As Ireland develops and the Celtic Tiger continues to roar young Irish people are staying at home to make there living, rather than try their luck over here. We need to continue to promote Gaelic Football to children in our schools or try to find any other outlets where we think we can link the game. We need to produce our own home grown talent if the game is to survive and prosper in Lancashire.

In 1994 Oisin GAA were a major force in British Gaelic football. The senior team won the All Britain Championship for the club. A large proportion of that team were home grown players. This year our senior team did very well in reaching the final of the same competition. Unfortunately they didn't manage to win it. I looked at the team that played in the final and noticed not one player was a home grown player. I think if we can nurture our kids and progress them into the senior squad we can go on and win many All Britain's. We need to support our already excellent senior squad and take it back to being the best in the country. You never know we might be giving Micky Harte a game in the near future.

Coaches, Pat Scally, Steve Neary, Kevin McCormack and Jonny Farmer have worked very hard during the year, they require more help as the club grows. Anyone interested in coaching our new up and coming stars please contact the club. (See coach contact numbers below.) We have also approached a number of schools and managed to promote Gaelic Football and in some cases incorporate training sessions. We hope to develop in this field further next season.

Finally I would just like to say well done to all the players throughout the season and thanks to all the parents who have helped out especially Terry Watters, Gary and Sharon Osborne who have helped with training and provided the club with equipment. We will be restarting our training Tuesday 13th March 2007, at 6:00pm. If you have not already signed up get yourself down, we are always looking for new players and coaches.

Coaches:
Pat Scally	07714 521455
Steve Neary	07879 634363
Kevin McCormack	07929 257913
Jonny Farmer	07834 214229