Passage West's Carolyn Mullane honoured by Croke Park

PASSAGE West GAA club member Carolyn Mullane recently received the Club Committee Officer of the Year award in Croke Park.

Carolyn, who is the current ladies committee secretary, was recognised by the LGFA on a national level due to her brilliant voluntary work with her beloved Passage West GAA club. The modest club secretary said the recent award win was ‘unexpected’ but a lovely surprise.

“I was delighted. It was very unexpected but a lovely surprise. Our outgoing chairperson Kieran Keane who is the current county board secretary nominated me. I got an email shortly after Christmas informing me of the good news,” she said.

Ms Mullane said she has received lots of nice messages from various club personnel throughout the county since her recent award win.

“It was a very proud moment for myself, the club, and my family. My parents were thrilled. Getting nominated was a lovely honour as it showed I was held in such high regard which was great to know. I got so many nice messages from so many people which meant a lot. Winning the award meant so much to me. My main aim is just to help within the club and do my bit.”

The dedicated club officer said the award ceremony which was held in Croke Park was a great night and she was proud to represent Passage West on the national stage. “We were fortunate the awards ceremony was held in Croke Park.

It was held virtually last year, but because the restrictions were lifted it was held once again with an audience. We were able to bring ten guests with us.

“There were ten awards presented on the night. It was a lovely event. It was held the night before the recent club finals so there was a great buzz around the place.

“It was great to meet up with the award winners and hear their stories. There is so much good voluntary work going on nationwide. It was good to promote Passage West on the national stage,” she added.

Carolyn has served as an administrator with her beloved club for many years. She combines her administrative role with a playing role with the junior ladies.

“I have been secretary of the ladies club for eight years. I was on the camogie committee when I was about 16 or 17 and after college, I got back involved as a treasurer for a few years. I then moved into the secretarial role. I am still playing junior football as well, so I combine both. We have no junior camogie team now, unfortunately.”

Carolyn also trains various ladies’ football teams within the club. She said she loves ‘helping’ out.

“I train the U8 team and I am a mentor with the U16 and U21 teams. It is great to help out and do my bit for the club.

“It is a great club to be involved with. We are not a massive club, but we have a good few teams between the male and female teams. The junior football and hurling teams have enjoyed good success in recent years which has been great.”

She said the various ladies’ football teams in the club have managed to increase their playing numbers in recent years which augurs well for the club.

From a ladies perspective we won a junior county title back in 2009 and I was fortunate to be captain. We built from there. We got to the county final in 2019 and we also won a U16 county title that year.

“We have a nursery for teams from U5 up and then these players separate at U8 level which go all the way up to junior level. It can be hard maintaining numbers especially when they reach the teenage years. We have held our own with regards to numbers in recent years.

“During the pandemic, we increased our numbers as more girls were around and they rejoined which was great. We have had a good few families move into the area in recent years and hopefully, they will become members of the club,” she added.

The Passage West club officer said there are great people involved in promoting initiatives within the GAA club.

“We have very good people on the committee who are doing great work behind the scenes. We have a small but dedicated crew of people.

“There are also so many great coaches doing super work with all the teams. We recently launched a player pathway which is a curriculum for each age group throughout the club. We also have the Gaelic 4 Mothers initiative which is a great success.

“They are a great asset to the club in terms of social events and fundraising ventures. There is a great support system in the club and people are very obliging. The ladies footballers get treated very well. We have full access. We are all very much on the one level.”

The Aghada NS teacher said the club is pursuing a number of big developments off the pitch at present.

“There is a great atmosphere and spirit in the club. We are currently undertaking a big development. We want to extend our clubhouse and have a gym, a club shop, and a walkway around the pitch. We recently got a grant of €100,000 from the lotto so hopefully, the work can start soon. This is a very exciting development.”