This years club dinner, held in Rathfarnham Golf Club was a success and a night enjoyed by all! The annual player of the year awards were announced shortly before the main course, with Sam Ryder winning men’s player of the year and Siobhan Matthews women’s. This was proceeded by the volunteer of the year award, an award with two recipients this year, Siobhan Madeley and Niall Denham. This was no real shock. This year Siobhan Madeley approached committee asking to set up a parahockey team for people with intellectual disabilities. She had already secured sponsorship from Osaka for equipment and had Niall Denham, the most qualified coach in the country lined up to run the sessions free of charge.
Within the space of five months our team has grown from 5 to 15, with continued interest from even more. Siobhan and Niall give their time weekly free of charge, and have helped all the children and their parents feel welcome by ensuring that mens 1st XI players help coach them, that the kids have their own Three Rock hoodies and were a part of the junior end of year Christmas parties. To top it off they are currently planning a trip with this group to the EuroHockey Federation Parahockey tournament in association with the A division Europeans in Amsterdam this summer. This is a life-changing event for these kids and one that we would welcome the support of our members in terms of helping us fundraise for.
For anyone who has seen this group together you will be able to appreciate the difference sport makes in these children lives. For Three Rock to be a guiding light in Ireland in ensuring that hockey really is for all, is something that every single member of the club should be proud of and grateful for. It is all down to the vision, belief and work of these two members. They more than deserve this small token of appreciation, but better yet would benefit hugely from anyone who is able to volunteer just an hour of their time to help with this worthwhile team. Niall runs all the drills so we need people willing to help supervise the sessions. If you have time, please contact Siobhan on shivmade.@msn.com