Winter 2004 Newsletter

Introduction:
On behalf of the McNally Swords CC committee I would like to wish everybody a happy new year. In this first newsletter of 2004, decisions that were made by the new incoming committee are alluded to. In particular, the process for members seeking financial support for particular events and the importance of stewarding/marshalling at the club league are detailed. Once again it is the time of year to renew ones membership and full details of the amount due is listed. Finally, general news relating to the club and an overview of the successes experienced by our members in 2003 are provided by Hugh Byrne.

The new committee for 2004 is:
Chairman – Kevin McFeely
Vice Chairman – Terry Quinlan
Treasurer – Breda McNally
Secretary – Jason Kelly
Members – Ken Brennan, Joe McNally, Kieran Whelan, Mick Daly,
Alister Cole, Coleen Foley.

Marshalling in the 2004 racing season
It was agreed at the inaugural meeting of the new committee that marshals require to be 18 yrs or over and a person who is between 16-18 yrs must be accompanied by an experienced steward at the races. Members will be nominated to marshal on a date for the coming racing season, however, where a person fails to make appropriate arrangement to excuse themselves from marshalling, in turn, will be required to marshal before being allowed to enter subsequent races. The purpose of this rule is to ensure equity among members and seek to have races which are conducted safely so everybody benefits. Finally, all club members will be given a permanent number at the beginning of this racing season

Policy on Financial Support of Official Events
The committee have once again asked that those who anticipate additional expenses concerning events (such as the ‘Gorey 2 day event’, Tour of Munster, Ras Connaught, Leisure tour to include an over night, etc) or any other special event that a written request for financial support is submitted to the committee on the first Monday of every month and prior to the event.

Club Meetings
The committee will continue to meet on the first Monday of every month. However, three meetings for members will take place in 2004, dates will be provided in the next newsletter

Touring in 2004
The committee have decided to introduce an award for the end of the 2004 season in recognition of the person who accumulates the longest number of miles in the official tours listed in the 2004 Cycling Ireland calendar and the IVCA calendar events. Details of each event completed should be given to Ken Brennan 086-8103287 or 01-8404491

Club Spins for Jan to March 2004

Membership for 2004 Season
The good news is that there is no increase in the annual membership fee which is required to be paid before January 31st 2004. The membership meeting will take place on Monday 26th at 8pm in Fingallians and enclosed please find application form. Note that all members of McNally Swords Cycling Club must register with either Cycling Ireland or the Irish Veteran Cycling Association.

In addition, in order to enable our treasurer to manage the membership fee more effectively, those who use cheques must write two seperate cheques (McNally Swords CC and Cycling Ireland or IVCA). Membership forms should be sent to Breda McNally, Walshestown, Lusk, Co. Dublin

McNally Swords CC Membership Fee 2004

Cycling Ireland Membership Fee 2004

IVCA Membership 2004

Club Gear

Ring Breda McNally @ 8433022(w) 8433669(h)

A Review of 2003 by Hugh Byrne

Time to reflect a little. What are the things that stand out the most for me in the 2003 season?

I suppose the best was of evaluating the state of things is to ask the Question – “How many of our riders had their best Season so far and how strongly did they finish their season?”

Sean Rock overcame his run of early season bad Luck (No 13!!!) to win both the Swords & Drogheda League (and a Leinster TT Gold) .He also went one better this Sunday after finishing 2nd to our Megastar last week, by winning the Willie McKevitt Memorial. Keith had a huge finish to his season, with 3 big wins in a week. Not forgetting Anto. I’m sure he has won more races other years , but this year it was the manner of his victories, and likewise with Keith & Sean, that particularily impressed me. They all made things happen !!! Next season Keith starts as a Senior and he is well prepared for the task, Sean will be joining Dad, Mick, in the Vets/Jun/C Races. Jason (Leinster C Champ) has been upgraded to B Cat, Gearoid to A cat. Many of our members, thanks to our competitive Club League under the expert guidance of Sean Lally, have continued to improve and indeed many of our new members have made huge leaps.

A well organised Ladies League was followed by the most successful TQ Ladies 2-Day International Ladies to date and it was great to see Swords fielding a Team, with Grace selected for Leinster and some of our new members competing so well in their first season.

On the Triathlon scene both Caroline Kearney and Brian Crinion dominated the domestic scene and have represented Ireland internationally. Brian also took Gold in the Leinster TT Champs and won an International event in Brighton in his fastest ever time, ranked 2nd in the National Series and won the Irish Sprint Triathlon C/ship. One of Carolines many wins was finishing as Irish Champ, U23 Champ and first Lady overall in the 4 Country C/ships.

It seems unfair to single out only some of our superstars for mention, as there are so many riders who impressed me this year at one stage or another. Long may they all continue to stretch their own boundaries! Ever onwards… ever upwards!

World Triathlon Games
Congratulations to Caroline Kearney on her participation in the games based in New Zealand, no doubt she accumulated a great experience that will be beneficial in her future sporting career. However, we would like to express our condolences to Caroline and Edith on the recent passing of her Mum, who made a very valuable contribution to the club over the years RIP.

General News

• The club league commences on April 7th (22 events including 6 Time Trials-the best 18 results will be considered for awarding points)
• The McNally Swords CC Grand Prix takes place on May 2nd
• The McNally Swords CC Annual Tour (80 &50 miles) takes place on May 30th