LGFA announce winners of 2020 Volunteer of the Year awards

THE Ladies Gaelic Football Association is pleased to announce the winners of the prestigious 2020 LGFA Volunteer of the Year Awards, in association with currentaccount.ie.

Administrators, coaches and media are among those honoured across ten categories, with the scheme now in its fourth year.

The award winners will be acknowledged during a special virtual ceremony, which can be viewed live on the LGFA Facebook Page on Friday evening, February 12.

The event will commence at 7.30pm, with Dáithí Ó Sé performing MC duties.

Ladies Gaelic Football Association President Marie Hickey and Mr. Seamus Newcombe, CEO currentaccount.ie, will join Dáithí in studio, with live links to all winners on the night.

The 2020 winners are as follows:
• Young Volunteer of the Year – Sandra O’Donoghue (Rosscarbery, Cork)
• School Coach of the Year – Conor Maguire (Loreto, Cavan)
• Club Coach of the Year – Colin Kenny (Naomh Ciaran, Offaly)
• Local Journalist of the Year – Ian Cooney (Roscommon Herald)
• PRO of the Year (Peter O’Leary, Cork LGFA)
• Club Committee Officer of the Year (Helen Clarke, An Caisleán Glas agus Sperrin Óg, Tyrone)
• County/Provincial Officer of the Year (Sinead Reel, Armagh LGFA)
• International Volunteer of the Year – Clodagh Harris (RAK Ropairí, UAE)
• Overall Volunteer of the Year – Mikey Hyland (Shanahoe, Laois)
• Volunteer Hall of Fame – Kathleen Kane (St Nathy’s, Sligo)

The Overall Volunteer of the Year winner, Mikey Hyland from Shanahoe in county Laois, will receive the Lulu Carroll award.

This award is named after the late Lulu, a 2001 All-Ireland Senior Medallist with Laois who sadly passed away in 2007, following a battle with cancer. During her glittering career, former All Star Lulu also won eight Leinster Senior titles with Laois, six county Senior titles with Timahoe, and a provincial crown with her club.

Mikey is a worthy recipient of the Lulu Carroll award, due his sterling work with the Shanahoe club, of which he was a founding member in 1994. At the start, Mikey’s daughters lined out for the club, and now he’s watching his granddaughters play, while also continuing to fulfil various roles himself.

Our Volunteer Hall of Fame winner, Kathleen Kane, has contributed as a club player, county player, club manager, county manager, club officer, county officer, provincial officer and national officer.

She represented both her club, St Nathy’s, and county Sligo as a player, and managed the Yeats County in two All-Ireland Final appearances. Kathleen would later become county board chairperson, before moving on to become Connacht LGFA President. She’s now fulfilling the role of Assistant Secretary at national level.

Paying tribute to the winners, Ladies Gaelic Football Association President, Marie Hickey, commented: “We’re very pleased to announce the winners of our LGFA Volunteer of the Year awards, in association with currentaccount.ie.

“Having currentaccount.ie on board as title sponsors has brought a new dimension to these awards, which continue to grow in profile and stature.

“Our winners have given wonderful service to our Association, going above and beyond the call of duty, and particularly in recent times.

“As our nation continues to battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s been a source of great comfort and solace to the LGFA to witness at first hand the selfless work of our volunteers in their local communities.

“We may not have had as much football as we would have liked, but the volunteer spirit and ethos has still shone through as our members have worked to ensure the safety and wellbeing of many of our more vulnerable members.

“Once again, we had a huge number of entries in each category, and it was not a simple task to whittle all of those down to just one winner per category.

“I would like to congratulate all of our winners, but I would also like to pay tribute to each and every one of our nominees.

“The LGFA would not function as it does without our volunteers, who are a credit to themselves, their families, clubs, local communities, counties, provinces and international units.

“I would also like to thank the sponsors of these awards, currentaccount.ie, who also sponsor our All-Ireland Club Championships.

“currentaccount.ie showed incredible faith in the LGFA last year by agreeing to a three-year contract despite difficult sporting and economic conditions, and we look forward to a long-lasting and fruitful partnership.”

Speaking on behalf of currentaccount.ie, CEO Seamus Newcombe said: “Volunteer-run organisations like the LGFA and Credit Unions are at the heart of communities throughout Ireland.

“Both organisations are characterised by their not-for-profit ethos and the local community volunteers who give freely of their time to develop and enhance their services for their members.

“The Volunteer of the Year Awards celebrate the dedication, the passion, and the time commitment put in by grass-roots volunteers across the country, and we are delighted to be sponsoring these awards and celebrating their efforts.

“Indeed, Currentaccount.ie is delighted with this partnership with LGFA. Credit Unions and LGFA have a common purpose – to enhance the lives of members and communities, and share similar values based on integrity, inclusiveness, fairness and innovation.

“With the recent introduction of the Current Account and Mastercard Debit Card, members can now do all their day-to-day banking through their Credit Union, while supporting in a practical way the growth of this much trusted community-based service that is the Credit Union.

“And through this exciting sponsorship, they will also be supporting the continued development of the LGFA.

“The sponsorship of these awards, and our sponsorship of the All-Ireland Ladies Club Football Championships and All-Ireland Club 7s blitz day, reflects our member Credit Unions’ commitment to supporting and strengthening local communities solely for the benefit of the people living in these communities.”

About currentaccount.ie
Currentaccount.ie is the trading name of Payac Services, a shared services company established by Credit Unions. It is the only Credit Union Services Organisation (CUSO) of its kind in Ireland that is directly-owned and operated by participating Credit Unions. Member Credit Unions have 1.2 million members and a presence in over 150 locations throughout the country.
Details of the Credit Unions offering the full-service Current Account, as well as details of fees and charges for the new Current Account, are available at www.currentaccount.ie.
Official website: https://currentaccount.ie/

For Additional Information:

Jackie Cahill, Cumann Peil Gael na mBan
E: jackie.cahill@lgfa.ie