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ELVERYS SPORTS UNVEILED AS NEW OFFICIAL RETAIL PARTNER OF KILDARE GAA

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Ireland’s leading sports gear and equipment retailer, Elverys Sports, have this evening been unveiled as the Official Retail Partner of Kildare GAA. Under the new partnership Elverys Sports will support Kildare hurling and football teams across all their adult teams.

Kildare Senior Football players Eoin Doyle, captain, and Eoghan O’Flaherty, as well as Senior Football Manager, Cian O’Neill, were on hand to launch the partnership ahead of the Senior Footballers’ Leinster Senior Football clash with Wexford on Saturday 21st May.

Welcoming the partnership, Ger Donnelly, Chairman of Kildare County Board, said: “Elverys Sports is a long established supplier of Gaelic games gear and equipment in Ireland and has been involved with many successful teams down through the years.

With retail stores in Naas and Maynooth and an on-line facility as well, this partnership will allow Kildare GAA to maximise its retail potential within the county and outside to the benefit of members, players and supporters.

We in Kildare GAA are looking forward to building our relationship with Elverys Sports to our mutual benefit during the term of this agreement”.

Speaking of the partnership Anne-Marie Hanley of Elverys Sports, said: “As one of the longest running sponsors of Irish sport we in Elverys Sports are embedded in many communities all over Ireland and we are delighted to extend our involvement with the GAA through this partnership with Kildare which will allow us to support players and administrators through various commercial initiatives. It also gives us the opportunities to engage with the Kildare GAA supporters”.

 

THE GAA WEEK THAT WAS

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HURLING

The GAA summer has already found it’s first epic. Clare and Waterford played out an intense draw in the National Hurling League final after extra time meaning they have to do it all again next weekend. Add those high pressure games to a first round Munster SHC meeting at the start of June and you have the possible re-ignition of a huge rivalry between the two counties.

Whatever happens, there’s no doubt that both these sides will have a big say in the destination of the All Ireland Hurling crown in the coming months, and who knows, we might see the rivalry extend beyond the three games of early summer yet.

Elsewhere in hurling, the championship has been going on for the majority of counties already since the end of April in the Ring, Rackard & Meagher Cups and this weekend we saw one of the first major surprises of the season as Westmeath trounced the once mighty Offaly in the opening skirmishes for the Liam McCarthy Cup in the Leinster SHC Round Robin section.

There is no doubt that the Faithful are in the doldrums at the present time but their minors did beat Westmeath in the Leinster Championship quarter-final on the same day, so hope springs eternal.

Kerry meanwhile opened their Leinster Championship campaign (qualifying as winners of the Christy Ring Cup in 2015), with a comprehensive victory to continue their fine Spring form and leaving Carlow with a make or break tie next weekend with Offaly.

In the Christy Ring Cup Kildare and Down survived their own must win clashes with Wicklow and Derry respectively in Round 2B leaving the Garden & Oak Leaf counties with a relegation play-off on May 21st and the former two back within sight of a semi-final berth.

Antrim booked their last four place by beating Roscommon and Meath did the same as they traveled to London to dispatch their hosts in a high scoring encounter.

Mayo and Fingal battled their way into the semi-finals of the Nicky Rackard Cup and await the winners of Longford v Armagh and Monaghan v Donegal who face off against each other this weekend in what promises to be two exciting games if the high scoring matches of the previous rounds are anything to go by.

After two rounds of the Lory Meagher Cup Louth top the table ahead of Warwickshire and Leitrim and they will look to extend their unbeaten run when they take on Lancashire this weekend in Dunleer but it’s a tight division and anything could yet happen before the top two face off in the final in Croke Park at the start of June.

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FOOTBALL

The football weekend saw one trophy handed out and one team exit the senior championship already. While Mayo were celebrating a glorious victory in the under 21 All Ireland Football final over Cork , three thousand miles away across the Atlantic, Roscommon were given the fright of their lives by New York in the Gaelic Grounds. In the end Kevin McStay’s men squeezed through by the tightest of margins. It could yet be seen as the best thing to happen to the Rossies this year, allowing them no complacency in any game going forward, but there’s no doubt, it’s will always be the one that got away for the Big Apple side until they finally break their hoodoo in the Connacht championship.

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CAMOGIE

It was league finals weekend for the ladies and it was Kilkenny who came out on top in the battle of the last two League champions as they saw off Galway in a disappointing showdown in Semple. It was a twelfth league crown for the Cats as goals from Anna Farrell and Julie Ann Malone ensured there was no two-in-a-row for the Tribeswomen.

In fact, there was more heartache for the Connacht standard bearers as Meath exceeded all expectations to take the Division Two league title in Birr. It’s a huge achievement for the Royals who have been battling up through the ranks in camogie over the past number of years and thoroughly deserve their breakthrough.

Armagh meanwhile added a first league crown since the mid 1990’s when they overcame perennial rivals Roscommon in the Div 3 decider by 3-11 to 2-9 with Colette McSorley and Ciara Donnelly yet again leading from the front as they bagged 2-9 between them for the Ulster women.

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Team of the GAA Weekend

Plenty of contenders here. Kerry and Westmeath hurlers, Mayo under 21 footballers, Meath and Kilkenny camógs… but we have to give the nod to New York’s finest as they almost pulled off the shock of the century against Roscommon. The Rossies were one of the most exciting teams of the league campaign in Division One and for New York to nearly oust them from the championship at the first hurdle was a massive effort. It should put to bed any thoughts of removing the Exiles from the Connacht championship in future too.

Score of the GAA weekend

It has to be Maurice Shanahan’s nerveless free at the end of extra-time in the National Hurling League final. A great score to set us up for another titanic clash next weekend.

 

Elverys Intersport is the home of GAA in Ireland and proud partners of the WGPA 

 

ELVERYS INTERSPORT & THE WGPA LAUNCH PARTNERSHIP

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Ireland’s leading sports retailer Elverys Intersport are delighted to launch a new partnership with the Women’s GPA. The company, which has long been associated with Gaelic Games, is backing Ladies Football and Camogie players to help them reach their potential on, and off, the field of play. In supporting the WGPA’s Affinity scheme, sportswear provision and player promotion activities, Elverys Intersport are making a significant contribution to elite female athletes across the country. With over 50 stores nationwide and 100% Irish owned, Elverys Intersport are ideally placed to support and celebrate the contribution of female Gaelic athletes to communities across right Ireland.

The launch was officially marked at the Elverys Intersport Croke Park store on Saturday with players including Mayo’s Fiona McHale in attendance. Aoife Lane, chair of the Women’s GPA paid tribute to the company for their support. “It’s fantastic for us to partner with such a strong and dynamic Irish brand. It’s very clear we have a shared passion for helping the people we work with achieve their full sporting potential. We see a very bright future with Elverys Intersport, beginning with their support for our membership scheme and our BehindThePlayer campaign. Increasing the visibility of our athletes instore and telling their inspirational stories online will resonate strongly from intercounty to grass roots level.”

Speaking about the partnership, Anne-Marie Hanly, Senior Marketing Manager said “we are delighted to be working with an association that shows so much ambition and promise for the future of these women and their sport. As one of the longest running sponsors of Irish sport, we are embedded in many communities all over Ireland and this partnership will allow us to further engage with the WGPA members and offer them support through various initiatives.”

Check out the WGPA’s latest BehindThePlayer videos, supported by Elverys Intersport, at www.wgpa.ie or on their facebook page. 

ELVERYS & 1916

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Since it was first founded in 1847 Elverys Sports has witnessed some of the most dramatic events in Irish history, and none more so than the 1916 Easter Rising, the centenary of which will be celebrated this weekend. Indeed, the Elverys Sports store on what was then Sackville Street in Dublin was caught up in a small way in the momentous happenings of that seismic period in the history of the country.

Cricket, once widely played across the country was in decline since the GAA had introduced Rule 27 – known ever since as “The Ban” – was still a popular enough in Dublin to have Elverys stock bats and accessories in the window of the store.

The location of the store so close to the main fighting going on at the GPO, meant Elverys were in the middle of the cross-fire and general destruction of the main street.

 

There was widespread looting on the street from the night of Monday the 24th and the Sinn Féin 1916 Rebellion Handbook, published by the Irish Times in 1917, describes children roaming the streets with sweets, toys and ‘hockey and golf sticks and all kinds of articles used in popular pastimes’, which would certainly suggest Elverys was a victim.

The Cricket Bat that Died for Ireland, a wonderful blog on Irish history, explains further what happened in those tumultuous days.

“The bullet lodged in the wood of the bat is a .303 calibre, which was used by the British Army for both their standard issue Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifles and also Lewis machine guns.  The Irish Volunteers had about 900 1871 model Mausers, landed at Howth two years before, which used .45 calibre ammunition, so the bat was shot by a British gun. Rifle fire on Sackville Street was heaviest on the Tuesday of the Rising, before the fires began to spread on the Wednesday, so it’s possible, though not certain, that the bat was shot on that day.”

“Perhaps one of the reasons the cricket bat has captured so many people’s imaginations is the idea of such a symbol of ‘Britishness’ taking a bullet in the rebellion. Maybe the fact that the bullet came from a British weapon adds to the irony.”

Today, in close proximity to where the original Elverys store stood, the name proudly lives on in Dublin city centre in Arnotts where three great Irish companies – Arnotts, established in 1843, O’Neills, founded just two years after the Rising, and Elverys, have come together to commemorate that fateful week as can be seen below. The 1916 Jersey can be purchased in any of the nearly sixty Elverys stores the length and breadth of the Republic which the men and women of the Rising fought to bring about.

To celebrate our heritage, Elverys is giving 19.16% off all online purchases from Friday until Easter Monday at midnight. Check out Elverys.ie for full details.

THIS OFFER HAS ENDED.

Thanks to Mark Jenkins and Breda Malone for their assistance with photography and information for this article.

 

ALL IN THE HEAD – BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

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Elite Performance Mind Coach Denis Coen gives us insight and tips into simple practical mental skills and effective coping strategies to allow you to unleash your true potential in sport. This time we look at building trust in a team environment.

Building a championship winning panel can be a very challenging, daunting and complicated task. Getting a team, whether in business or sport, to come together to achieve a vision is never going to be easy. Why? Because athletes come from different backgrounds with different values and beliefs. They all think and behave differently also and therefore, building a successful panel is a process. You can’t expect a group of individuals to come together and become a fantastic team without looking at some of the barriers that may hinder the success of a club or organisation.

Attitude

Recognising the dysfunctions within a team, evaluating and discussing them can bring about unity and consistency within the panel. The implications of not been able to discus and see dysfunctions within your team will be the result of underlying tension among the athletes. If such tensions exist the performance of the team will be affected.

Like fitness testing, the attitudes and behaviours of athletes need to be measured and discussed regularly. Just because a player gives a verbal commitment at the beginning of the year does not mean his commitment will remain reliable. Likewise, a player that may seem like a team player may have his own individual agenda for the season.

Having an individual agenda that does not correspond with the team goals and vision will also have an effect on team morale and performance. And you know that low team morale is a major confidence killer to any team. Having worked with various teams over the years I have distinguished many different dysfunctions of a championship winning team. One of those dysfunctions is the lack of trust.

Trust

Trust is the primary foundation for building a championship winning panel. It is a critical part of team building and it really and truly is at the heart of teamwork. Failure to understand or build trust is the result of team players and team members not been able to open up to one another.

Having worked with various teams in different sports over the years I have found that players have difficulty opening up to each other. Understanding a teammate’s emotions and motivations will result in team unity. Therefore, it’s important to understand how teammates feel and think. Sport is an emotional game. We may not always admit this but it is true. To build trust one must learn to value the emotions of their teammates.

Success

Teams that win championships do not hold back. They are completely open with one another and aren’t afraid to admit to their mistakes and weaknesses. They will seek help for their weaknesses from teammates and work on them and they will work hard to learn from their mistakes. Weaknesses may not always be physical or tactical within a team or panel. A player’s weakness maybe a behavioural or mental one that has a negative impact on the panel. It is important to be open and honest about this also. By challenging and rectifying a behavioural or mental weakness will more than likely increase the performance and success of a team.

Having trust means having confidence in your teammate and having confidence in the direction and vision of the team. When trust is at the core of a championship team, team members are more likely to commit to the process of a common goal. No matter how difficult the process, team players will stay committed to it during the ups and downs. When trust is evident there is an absence of suspicion and fear among the players. The players will depend on each other and believe that each and every one in the panel is capable of performing to get a job done.

Bring out your best in pre-season with our great Home Gym equipment sale. http://bit.ly/1NuYRdS

PUMA EVOPOWER – CHOOSE POWER

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We’re not talking Peter Kay in his famous John Smith advert here, but sometimes you just need to ” ‘ave it “. Well step forward the Puma evoPOWER 1.3  , the latest edition of the power silo that gives you maximum power based around the principles of barefoot kicking. A new outsole is part of the changes to create a more flexible, more streamline version of the boot.

Puma have increased the amount of AccuFoam for increased accuracy in the upper and to provide a smoother kicking surface, and the Adap-Lite upper allows the foot to bend akin to how your foot naturally does. The new outsole focuses on an improved configuration of the bladed and conical studs to allow for more manoeuvrability and extra stability for the standing leg when kicking – meaning you can get all your weight behind each and every shot.

These boots are ideal for those with a wider foot – it can always be tricky to find the boot to fit your feet but if you’re searching for a wider or higher boot, this is the one for you. Overall, it’s a winner from Puma, and something to seriously consider when you’re looking for the edge in your game, in defence, or in attack.

The new Puma evoPOWER and evoSPEED boots, available now at Elverys Intersport! http://bit.ly/1PeACmH