As the year draws to a close the time has come to review the year gone by. The club fielded Juvenile teams at U8, U10, U12, U13, U14 and U16 levels this year, competing at the Semi-Final stage in each andamp;ndash; apart from U8, which doesn’t have Knockout stages.
The highlight of the Juvenile year was the progresssion of the U13 panel to the County U13C Final. Under the management of Mick Carr, they were beaten just once in eight games in the Championship (by Ballinasloe). However, they gained revenge in the Final beating the same opposition to secure a first U13 title for the Club. These are a promising bunch of players and if they continue to improve they can hopefully add more titles to this one in years to come.andamp;nbsp;
Many of those U13s were also key members of the U12 panel, again managed by Mick Carr. Like the U13s they won all but one of their games in the Championship. They lost out in the last game, to Sylane. This was effectively a Final, but like U8/U10 GoGames model the emphasis is on fun, so there was no trophy on offer. The U12s also qualified for the International Hurling Festival in Salthill, one of four qualifying teams to join the four host teams and four visiting teams. New kit was sponsored by Aer Lingus and the lads played Salthill-Knocknacarra, Oranmore-Maree, Ballycastle (Antrim) and Castlegar. They took part in the parade and got to meet a certain Liam McCarthy on a great day out for all involved.
Our U16s, managed by Paul O’Brien, qualified for the U16B Final, defeating St Thomas, Liam Mellows, Tommie Larkins, Meelick-Eyrecourt and Cappataggle in the Group stages. They took on Portumna in the Semi-Final, overturning an earlier defeat in the Group to book a Final date with St Thomas’. Given that Pearses had won the earlier Group game, they were favourites. Unfortunately, Thomas’ were the better team on the day. These too are a promising bunch of players with several of them also important members of the Minor panel and great prospects for the future.
The U14s, managed by Pat Healy had a busy schedule, starting with the Suck Valley League in February. They competed well in the Group, but didn’t make the knockout stages. The Fandamp;eacute;ile Shield competition took place in Ballymacward on one of the hottest days of the summer. In this blitz style competition Pearses lost out to eventual Champions Ballinasloe in the Semi-Final. Pearses played seven Championship Group games, winning two. They went on to contest the Shield Semi-Final, losing out away to Ballinderreen.
The U10 hurlers had a fantastic run in the East Galway U10 League, winning 7 games from 8 to book a place in the Semi-Finals. Opponents in the Semi-Finals were our neighbours Mountbellew-Moylough and the lads were unlucky to lose out by just 3 points. They also competed in GoGames and in the Garda Tournament in Mountbellew. Special mention must go to Cian Murphy, who scored a whopping 27-47 (128 points) in the nine East Galway League games. The U8s, managed by Martin Scarry, played a series of GoGames and all players played their part. The focus of GoGames is of course the fun element and their are no Knockout stages.