Mr.PRO has been on a small sabbatical and has missed some key events with the club. Here is a recap of what has been going on in the club with the Ladies Football and Camogie team accomplishing some great achievements.
Ladies Football
It has been a busy month for our ladies football team as they competed in the final Benelux round of the year in Amsterdam (Sep 17) and the European 15-a-side competition in Rennes (Sep 24). In Amsterdam, Belgium made it 4 tournaments from 4 to win all of the Benelux rounds. This meant that the ladies teamed were crowned champions of Benelux. A great achievement which saw the women be a dominant force throughout the Benelux region.
A week later they had their eyes on a different competition, the 15s. The women made the trip to Rennes who were the hosts and competitors for the weekend. The final was a great performance which saw Belgium win the 15-a-side competition against Rennes with the final score 3:07 – 1:06. This meant Belgium became the county champions of Europe and qualified for the club All Ireland series against the British champions.
Coming up, the ladies football team will be competing in this year’s Pan European competition on October 15th in A Coruña, Spain. Belgium will be looking to win their 13th Pan European championship and make it two in a row after overcoming Warsaw in 2019. For the 15-a-side competition, Belgium will be playing a Preliminary Round in the All Ireland Junior Championship on November 5th/6th (Venue TBC). If Successful, it would see them qualify for the All Ireland quarter finals, so best of luck to them!
Camogie
Our Camogie team brought 2 teams to the final round of the European Camogie Championship in Amsterdam on October 1st. The woman made it 3 tournament wins from 3 after showing their dominance travelling around Europe. Soline Whooley accepted the trophy in Amsterdam by making the point that it was good to see 6 teams travel but recruitment for Camogie still needs to be improved across Europe. Aine Charlton won (another) player of the tournament award on the day which added more silverware to be brought across the Dutch/Belgian border.
For the Camogie team, the season finishes after seeing them travel in great numbers across Europe all year by winning two of the Benelux tournaments and three of the European rounds. Congrats to everyone involved for the great year and don’t forget that training is still continuing with some fun games to be played over the next month.
Hurling
The Hurlers brought two teams to the final round of the European Hurling Championship in Amsterdam on October 1st. The two teams were split to allow everyone to have as much competitive game time as possible. Belgium ‘A’ qualified for the cup and gave a good game against Amsterdam, but fell short to the winner of the tournament. This meant the hurlers finished 2nd overall in the rankings of the European Hurling Championship. Belgium ‘B’ had a great day where they won the plate competition which resulted in them winning the European Hurling Plate, so congrats to them!
All is not lost however as they will have their eyes on the first 15-a-side Hurling Championship on October 8th. The winners of the 15-a-side competition will qualify for the Leinster Junior Club Championship against the Wicklow Intermediate Champions Kilcoole. The hurlers will play the semi final against Amsterdam in Maastricht at 2:45pm, so get down to Maastricht to show your support and watch a great game of Hurling!
Men’s Football
The men’s football team recently competed in the final round of the Benelux Championship in Amsterdam on September 17th. The men had a tough group but managed to beat Amsterdam B and Den Haag while narrowly losing out to Luxembourg. They finished off the day by winning a very competitive 3rd/4th place playoff against Luxembourg after extra time. The men’s team will be competing in this year’s Pan European competition on October 15th in A Coruña, Spain where they will face good competition throughout the day and will be a great weekend! Best of luck to everyone involved in their preparation and travels.
Belgium GAA 