THE Ladies Gaelic Football Association has named the ten winners of the prestigious 2020 LGFA Volunteer of the Year Awards, in association with currentaccount.ie.
Administrators, coaches and media are among those honoured across ten categories, with the scheme now in its fourth year.
The award winners will be acknowledged during a special virtual ceremony, which can be viewed live on the LGFA Facebook Page on Friday evening, February 12.
Dáithí Ó Sé will host the live event getting underway at 7-30 PM.
The 2020 winners are as follows:
Young Volunteer of the Year – Sandra O’Donoghue (Rosscarbery, Cork)
School Coach of the Year – Conor Maguire (Loreto, Cavan)
Club Coach of the Year – Colin Kenny (Naomh Ciaran, Offaly)
Local Journalist of the Year – Ian Cooney (Roscommon Herald)
PRO of the Year – Peter O’Leary, (Cork LGFA)
Club Committee Officer of the Year (Helen Clarke, An Caisleán Glas agus Sperrin Óg, Tyrone)
County/Provincial Officer of the Year (Sinead Reel, Armagh LGFA)
International Volunteer of the Year – Clodagh Harris (RAK Ropairí, UAE)
Overall Volunteer of the Year – Mikey Hyland (Shanahoe, Laois)
Volunteer Hall of Fame – Kathleen Kane (St Nathy’s, Sligo)
The Overall Volunteer of the Year winner, Mikey Hyland from Shanahoe in county Laois, will receive the Lulu Carroll award.
This award is named after the late Lulu, a 2001 All-Ireland Senior Medallist with Laois who sadly passed away in 2007, following a battle with cancer.
During her glittering career, former All-Star Lulu also won eight Leinster Senior titles with Laois, six county Senior titles with Timahoe, and a provincial crown with her club.
“Our winners have given wonderful service to our Association, going above and beyond the call of duty, and particularly in recent times,” said LGFA President Marie Hickey.
“As our nation continues to battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s been a source of great comfort and solace to the LGFA to witness at first hand the selfless work of our volunteers in their local communities. ”
“We may not have had as much football as we would have liked, but the volunteer spirit and ethos has still shone through as our members have worked to ensure the safety and wellbeing of many of our more vulnerable members.”
“Once again, we had a huge number of entries in each category, and it was not a simple task to whittle all of those down to just one winner per category.”
“I would like to congratulate all of our winners, but I would also like to pay tribute to each and every one of our nominees.”
“The LGFA would not function as it does without our volunteers, who are a credit to themselves, their families, clubs, local communities, counties, provinces and international units.”
“I would also like to thank the sponsors of these awards, currentaccount.ie, who also sponsor our All-Ireland Club Championships.”
“currentaccount.ie showed incredible faith in the LGFA last year by agreeing to a three-year contract despite difficult sporting and economic conditions, and we look forward to a long-lasting and fruitful partnership.”
“Volunteer-run organisations like the LGFA and Credit Unions are at the heart of communities throughout Ireland,” added Current Account CEO Seamus Newcombe.
“Both organisations are characterised by their not-for-profit ethos and the local community volunteers who give freely of their time to develop and enhance their services for their members.”
“The Volunteer of the Year Awards celebrate the dedication, the passion, and the time commitment put in by grass-roots volunteers across the country, and we are delighted to be sponsoring these awards and celebrating their efforts.”
“Indeed, Currentaccount.ie is delighted with this partnership with LGFA. Credit Unions and LGFA have a common purpose – to enhance the lives of members and communities, and share similar values based on integrity, inclusiveness, fairness and innovation.”
