Kilmeena GAA are taking part in the Féile football competition(u14 boys) on the weekend of Friday 28th to Sunday 30th June.
Kilmeena will be participating in Division 5. We will be hosting the club St Ergnats from Moneyglass, Co Antrim. The other teams in our four team group (group C) will be Swinford, Co Mayo and St Colums from Kealkil, Co Cork.
In the group stage of the competition in Swinford on Friday, we play St Colums at 4:45pm and Swinford at 6:15pm. On Saturday morning we play St Ergnats at home at 10:45am.
We will then have a quarter Final on Saturday afternoon.
Depending on winning our games, we could then have a Semifinal on Sunday morning and a Final on Sunday afternoon. The times and venues for these games will only be known a few hours before the games. Fortunately, in any event we will not have to travel too far for these games as they will be held in either Westport, Islandeady or Castlebar.
The children from Moneyglass will be staying on the Friday & Saturday nights with some Kilmeena families. A special thanks to the families of the u14's who volunteered to provide accommodation. Some of the Moneyglass families will also be travelling down and staying locally in Hotels, B&B's etc.
On the Saturday evening we will host a social event at Gracy's Bar and Restaurant in Westport House for the Children and families of both teams. This promises to be a great night and we would encourage all to attend. We plan to watch the Mayo Match from 7pm on TV at Gracy's and then there will be a BBQ served followed by short presentations. All club members are welcome to attend.
Just a bit of background for those unfamiliar with the competition. (from the Féile Website!)
The John West Féile na nÓg is a Club festival for Gaelic football and Ladies Gaelic football at Under 14 level, involving teams from across the Association. The John West Féile na nÓg National tournaments will be held across Connacht on the weekend of 28th - 30th June 2019.
Féile provides an opportunity for:
Under 14 players to participate in an annual Festival of Hurling/Camogie, Handball and Gaelic Football/Ladies Gaelic football
Clubs to experience playing against teams from other Counties/Provinces
Clubs to foster links with other Clubs in other Counties/Provinces
Counties to celebrate Gaelic games by acting as hosts
A core aim of Féile tournaments is to promote a philosophy whereby every player has the opportunity to participate and play in their respective Féile tournament at a level commensurate to their age, skills and strengths.
1. Participating Teams
John West Féile na nÓg competitions are composed of host and visiting teams. Host teams are drawn from the host region (Counties). Visiting teams participating at the National Finals of Féile na nÓg will be nominated by their County Bord na nÓg to represent their respective Counties. Both host clubs and visiting Counties are graded into their respective divisions. Normally the identity of the visiting teams is determined by the results of internal Féile na nGael competitions, however, due to the level of interest from host clubs, each visiting County is usually asked to nominate 2 – 3 representatives. All overseas units are also asked to nominate representatives to take part at Féile na nÓg.
In the 2019 John West Féile na nÓg boys football tournament, there are 104 host teams. These 104 host teams, will host visiting teams from across the 27 non-hosting Counties, plus Britain, Europe, North America, and Australia. In total, 13 overseas teams will travel to take part this year. In the girls football event, there are 64 host teams, with 64 visitors travelling from across Ireland, Britain and North America.
2. Competition Format
In 2019, the Divisions are composed of 16 teams – 8 host clubs, and their 8 visiting teams. In the boys competition, there will be 11 divisions. Depending on local requirements, deviation from the 16 team division is possible in co-operation with the national Féile committee. Thus, in the girls competition, there are 7 divisions of 16 teams.
Since 2014, Féile na nÓg has introduced both Cup and Shield competitions in each Division. To facilitate this each division of 16 teams is divided into four groups (Groups A – D) of four teams (two host clubs and their visiting clubs). Each team plays each other team on a round robin basis. Upon completion of the three group games teams are ranked 1 – 4. Teams ranked 1st and 2nd proceed to the Cup quarter finals, while teams ranked 3rd and 4th proceed to the Shield quarter finals. Therefore, each participating team is guaranteed a minimum of four games – three group games, and either a Cup or Shield quarter final.
Thereafter, knockout quarter finals, semi-finals and finals take place in each of the Cup and Shield competitions.
3. Playing Numbers
Participating teams shall be 15-a-side, comprising of players who are over 10 and under 14 years of age on 1st January in the year of Féile. Panels in a 15-a-side division are limited to 24 players.
Similarly, amalgamated teams are permitted to participate in Féile na nÓg, though again this is limited to those clubs that field as an amalgamated unit in their local Under 14 competitions in that year. It is not possible for either host or visiting clubs to request to amalgamate for the purposes of participation at Féile only.
Each team shall be accompanied by a maximum of 4 team mentors.
4. Competition Schedule
The final competition schedule is to be confirmed, however usually the schedule is as follows:
Friday 28th June:
Each team plays their first two group games
Saturday 29th June:
Each team plays their final group game
Each team plays their Cup or Shield quarter final
Sunday 30th June
Cup and Shield semi finals
Cup and Shield finals