WICKLOW ROVERS AFC CLUB NOTES WEEK ENDING 30th JULY 2023

That's it for another year with week 2 of our annual summer camps ending last Friday. To say we broke all records regards numbers is an understatement. It was great to see such huge numbers attending with an interest in football. Every child had a great time with beaming smiles the order of the day. There was a high level of talent displaying their skills throughout, well done kids. Just a few people to thank. A massive thanks to Corinna Collins, Trevor Conyard, Stephen Clarke and Ross Byrne for their help in organising different aspects of the camp, from the ordering of jerseys to the administration side of things. Thanks to club chairman Paul Delaney who ensured the signing in process ran smoothly again with the help of Emer Kennedy, with Paul helping all week where needed. Thank you to Jenna Sheridan and Rachel Taglienti for making sure the distribution of the jerseys went off in week 2 without a hitch, fair play Jenna and Rachel for keeping the three grumpy old men happy with the supply of biscuits and cakes all week. Also, a massive thanks to Rachel for the camp photos as well. Huge thanks to our coaches Emer Kennedy, Rachel Taglienti, Evan Conyard, Lorcan Sinnott, Charlie Czwalina, Jack Macklin, Ben Doyle, Dylan Vickers, Brandon Battams, Peter Quinn, Mel Earley and Oscar Broxton who were great with the kids all week, thanks to one and all. Big thanks to club president Anthony Earls who is always on hand to help in anyway, the face of Wicklow Rovers. Thanks to head coach Johnny Dunne for overseeing the camp all week making sure everything went off smoothly, well done Johnny as usual. Thanks to the parents for supporting the camps and bringing the kids along. Finally, to the main people, the kids. Yet again they done themselves proud with their excellent behaviour and willingness to learn. A credit to themselves and their families, well done kids, take a bow. See you all next year.

The club’s mini world cup took place at Whitegates on Saturday. With four separate competitions running throughout the day the large crowd were treated to some excellent football with plenty of close exciting games. In the under 7's/8's section Spain topped the group on 13 points with England coming in second place on 10 points. Portugal were just pipped for a final playoff place when they finished in third place on 9 points. Holland on 6 points, Germany on 3 points and Argentina on 1 point completed the group standings. In an exciting final nothing could split Spain and England at full time drawing 1-1 and it was on to the dreaded penalty shootout which saw Spain coming out on top winning 2-0 on penalties. Next up was the under 9's and 10's section, Spain topped the group on 12 points with England close behind on 10 points. Portugal missed out when they finished third on 8 points, Italy next on 6 points followed by Argentina and Brazil on 4 and 3 points respectively. In the final Spain emerged winners in what was a closely fought encounter with the Spanish winning 1-0. In the under 11's/12's section it proved to be another close group. Italy and Argentina made the final when both teams finished joint top on 11 points. Holland missed out in third place on 9 points with Portugal on 6 points, England on 4 points and Germany on 0 points completing the group stage. On to the final and yet again we were treated to a close tense tussle. On the final whistle the sides were locked at 0-0 and our second final of the day was heading to penalties. Italy held their nerve to win 3-1 on spot kicks. Finally, it was the 13's/14's section, Spain topped the group on 9 points, New Zealand making their first appearance at the finals finished second in the group on 6 points with the Republic of Ireland and Holland finishing level on a point a piece. It was Spain and New Zealand who went on to meet in the final and yet again it was a close tussle with Spain edging it winning 2-1. Now it was time for everyone to relax, 55 games were played in total with many games turning out to be close exciting encounters. Well done and congratulations to every single child who took part in the mini world cup, you all served up a bonanza of exciting football for the watching spectators and it was a pleasure to present every child with a medal to mark the occasion, well done kids. A few people we need to thank, thanks to Almire Kamusoko, Brian Galligan, Michael Keating, Stephen Earls, Cormac (Pep) Finn, Marc Gill, Joe Quinn, Paul Forde, Scott Clarke, Philip Slater, Zoe Patterson, Keith Jameson, Ed Lysaght, Daryl Doyle, Deborah Kavanagh, Garry Collins, Colum Reade, Tom Foley, Christina Kavanagh, and Ross Byrne who all looked after the teams on the day. Big thanks to Neil Copeland who ran the under 13's/14's section and done an excellent job, thanks Neil. Thanks to Ben Doyle, Evan Conyard, Kale Conyard, Sam Conyard, Stephen Clarke, Ross Byrne and Jilu for refereeing the matches. A big thanks to our photographer for the day Rachel Taglienti who organised all the teams for their photos and then took photos throughout the day, excellent work Rachel, looks like I'm out of a job. Well done and thanks to the girls on shop duty, thank you to Corinna Collins, Yvonne Conyard, and Anne Marie Byrne who were busy all day doing trojan work helping set up and running the shop all day. Well done girls and fair play. A special thanks to young Sophie Byrne who was on hand to help the girls in the shop all day. Also, thanks to Claire Foley who gave us a dig out to clean up and put everything away, thanks Claire. Thanks to Johnny Dunne for helping us set up, Paul Delaney for his help around the grounds and Anthony Earls and Zoe Patterson for collecting and storing the jerseys away. Thanks to Irish Popcorn Company who part sponsored the goodies they supplied and Dario Coppola who lent us the sound equipment, thanks lads. Thanks to Greystones Bouncy Castles and Paula Hanrahan from Face Painters & Body Artists Ireland for their excellent service on the day with the kids having a great day of enjoyment. Finally, thanks to Stephen Clarke, Trevor Conyard and Ross Byrne who put in a lot of work to make the day so successful, from picking the teams, to setting up the pa system, to ensuring we had managers for teams, referees for games and making sure everything ran smoothly like a well oiled machine. Well done lads. A great day was had by all, and we are already looking forward to next year's competition. Thanks everyone.