Kelly ratified for second season as Louth boss

Louth manager Colin Kelly

There will be no change of management in the Louth GAA structures for 2016.

Football boss Colin Kelly was last night ratified for a second season as Wee County manager, with County Board officials backing him to bounce back from a disappointing league campaign this year in which Louth were relegated to Division Four.

Despite that setback and a heavy championship defeat to Tipperary, there was no appetite for change.

Meanwhile, Diarmuid McCarthy was also ratified for a third successive season as Louth hurling manager.

Dundalk-based start-up PlayerTek secures €1m investment

Ronan Mac Ruairi and Kevin McDaid of PlayerTek

Dundalk-based tech startup PlayerTek has secured a €1m investment for its wearable sports tracker, ahead of the product’s imminent launch in Ireland.

The firm was founded by Ronan Mac Ruairi and Kevin McDaid, both of whom have worked in education and technology development for years.

The founders claim that PlayerTek is the world’s first consumer wearable sports tracker designed to give aspiring amateur players the ability to optimise their training and matches – something previously available only to professional players.

The system measures more than 2,000 variables every second and uses algorithms to produce measurements and simple charts that help players improve their performance.

Investment into PlayerTek has come from Danu Investment Partners and entrepreneur Brendan Gilmore.

According to co-founder McDaid: “PlayerTek is a system that can give a player pinpoint accuracy.

It is much more sophisticated than the GPS in a jogger’s watch because it has to be – football, rugby, GAA, and hockey players, for example, don’t run in straight lines.”

The company is taking pre-orders for the PlayerTek device from its website, with an RRP of €249.

Its founders said that, following the Irish launch, PlayerTek will be launched in the UK to coincide with the start of the 2016 Premier League season.

Mac Ruairi added: “There has been huge interest in the product, as wearable tech is the area that so many brands are focusing in on at present.”

Louth GAA meet and greet

The Louth GAA senior football and hurling teams will be hosting a meet and greet event at the Darver Centre of Excellence on Friday May 9^th.

The event gets underway at 7pm on the night and gives fans the chance to meet stars such as Paddy Keenan and Diarmuid Murphy, amongst others.

The event also takes place just a week before the footballers take on Westmeath in the Leinster Championship.

Louth GAA Easter camp in Dowdallshill

A three day GAA football and hurling camp will be held in St Brigid’s Park in Dowdallshill from Tuesday April 15th to Thursday April 17th.

The Easter camp is open to boys and girls aged between 5 and 12 years and will run from 10am to 2.30pm each day.

The cost is just €10 each day with further information on the Louth GAA website or from Francie McMullen at 087 3741984.

Fitzpatrick vows to return as Louth boss

Peter Fitzpatrick TD

Local TD Peter Fitzpatrick has vowed to return as Louth football manager in the future.

Speaking to The Irish Daily Star, the Fine Gael representative said he missed the job, which he stepped down from in 2012.

He also hit out at the defensive manner in which his successor, Aidan O’Rourke, has the side playing.

“Some day I’ll be back, I’ll have to come back,” he told The Star.

“I’ve no problem saying that: some day I’ll be back. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think I’d miss it as much.

“They changed the whole style of football in the county team. We’re playing very defensive; we’re playing a blanket defence. That doesn’t suit Louth.

“We have some fantastic forwards there and with the new rule, the black card, that suits an attacking team because if you pull a fella down, you are gone straight away.

“That new rule should suit Louth and it’s done quite the opposite because we’re playing very defensive football and we’re not attacking teams.

“I’ll be honest: it’s all doom and gloom in Louth at the moment.”

Fitzpatrick led the Wee County to the 2010 Leinster final against Meath – the county’s first in 50 years – with only a controversial late Joe Sheridan goal denying them victory.

He also secured promotion from Division Three during his tenure, with Louth losing their status in Division Two last weekend following defeat to Donegal in Ballyshannon.

Glenmuir Academy registration day this Saturday

The Glenmuir Academy are holding a registration day this Saturday 1st March from 10:30am to 1:30pm at the club’s grounds on Hoey’s Lane in Dundalk.

Parents who are interested in getting their children involved are asked to come along on the day to fill out the registration forms and pay the €30 fee which covers insurance, jerseys, shorts and socks.

Academy Age groups for 2014 are as follows:

• U6 – born in 2008/9
• U7 – born in 2007
• U8 – born in 2006
• U9 – born on 2005 (starting at a later date)

The academy is open to all boys and girls regardless of ability. Weather permitting, it is hoped to commence training on Saturday March 8^th.

Morgan Fuels take over as Dundalk IT GAA sponsors

Derek Crilly, Hugh Morgan and Oisin McConville with the new Morgan Fuels-sponsored Dundalk IT jersey

Morgan Fuels were last night unveiled as the new sponsor of the Dundalk IT GAA teams.

The company, whose headquarters is located just over the border on the old Dublin Road near Carrickarnon and Meigh, presented Dundalk IT coaches and players with two new kits.

Hugh Morgan of Morgan Fuels, who also owns a number of properties in the Dundalk area, was in attendance on the night. He is also sponsor to the Louth GAA football and hurling teams.

One of the new Morgan Fuels-sponsored Dundalk IT jerseys being showcased by Shane Lennon, Brian Brady and AN Other

Dundalk RFC to conclude their year with full day of activities at the Mill Road on Saturday

The 2013 senior competitive rugby calendar year concludes for Dundalk RFC at the Mill Road on Saturday with an extravaganza of rugby and festivities.

All three senior teams will be in action, followed by an afternoon and evening of entertainment in the clubhouse to bring down the curtain on another great year for the club. The day’s itinerary is as follows:

• The U-13s face Clane at 11am
• Dundalk 2nds look to continue their blistering league form when they take on Enniscorthy at 12.30pm
• Dundalk 3rds take on Rathoath in the McGee Cup, at 2pm
• The main Event, Dundalk 1sts look to end an excellent calendar year in style when they take on Enniscorthy at 2pm

From there it will be up to the clubhouse where fantastic local band The Stormers will be playing an acoustic set from 3.30pm until 6pm, following by a live screen of the Leinster v Northampton Heineken Cup match.

All are invited along on the day.

Dundalk Mavericks on the search for a new home

Fledgling local American Football team the Dundalk Mavericks are on the look out for a new home after being evicted from Dundalk IT.

The new team, which has attracted up to 40 members since getting off the ground, had been training for some time at the college. However, they have been told by officials from DkIT that they must find a new home in the next few weeks.

It is unknown why this decision was made as the Mavericks had full permission to use the college’s facilities prior to then and were fully insured.

Training will continue at Dundalk IT this Sunday from 11am to 2pm and new members are always welcome.

For further details check out the Mavericks Facebook page here.