Letter from the Rebels Chairman Cillian Flavin
A chairde,
D'éirigh linn ár gcuid spriocanna a bhaint amach I mbliana. Ba bhliain rathúil é 2019 do na reibiliúnaithe. Bhí roinnt díobhálacha againn. Tar éis roinnt eochair-imreoirí a chailliúint, chuir muid imreoirí nua isteach go tapa a thug díograis agus dúthracht don chlub. D'éirigh linn cuid de na spriocanna a bhaint amach mar scuad i mbliana ag cur imreoirí nua isteach agus ag bhuaigh comórtas Montreal.
We succeeded in achieving our goals this year. 2019 was a successful year for the Rebels. We had some injuries. After losing some key players, we quickly added new players who brought enthusiasm and dedication to the club. We managed to achieve some of the goals as a squad this year by introducing new players and winning the Montreal competition.
Our major accomplishments included:
7-2 overall record
Winning the Montreal Tournament
Adding a number of new players and continuing to develop current players
Receiving a grant from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to begin building a youth program
Competing in the New York Cup
We played possibly our best football as a club in the Montreal Tournament, going undefeated and beating teams with some serious Irish players.
We did, however, lose the New York Cup to Buffalo after two contentious games. We struggled at times with our attacking play versus Buffalo, especially away to them on a full-sized Gaelic Football field, which when playing 13 a side, was a struggle for our players used to playing on soccer pitches with far less space and less need for long kicking ability or the need to work the ball out over long distances. We look forward to competing against them next season.
Our team performed well against Syracuse and Hartford, two of our closest rivals, defeating each of them twice.
Off the playing field we continue to build our relationships with the local Irish organizations who remain steadfast supporters of ours. The local AOH organizations, the Capital District Irish American Association, and the Capital District Celtic Cultural Association are long term supporters of ours. We also are indebted to the American-Irish Legislators Society. Our sponsors like Tipperary at Tara provide us with the resources we need to keep our organization going. We owe them all a debt of gratitude and thank them for their support.
We are also excited by our growing relationships with the Irish American Heritage Museum and the Conradh na Gaeilge Craobh Chumar an Dá Uisce (Two Rivers Gaelic League).
I would like to offer our club officers and board of directors a sincere thanks for their efforts this year. The work they put into the organization is tremendous and our continued success is due to their volunteering their time to a sport that many of them picked up in their adult years.
-Cillian Flavin, Rebels Chairman