John Kelly has been appointed as the new National Handball Manager for the GAA. The Longford native takes over from Tony Hannon who had been acting National Manager and departed the post last November.
A member of the Ardagh St Patricks GAA club in Longford, John has been employed as Fixtures and Events Officer for the past 5 years with the Association and now takes the step up to National Manager. “I am very honoured to have been appointed to the position of National Handball Manager” Kelly said, “In the past five years I have met some incredible people in the sport and have seen the terrific work that is being done at grassroots level and it is a credit to all the volunteers out there. My job is to maintain this great work and build our Association from here as the clubs and the volunteers are the lifeblood of our Association.”
One of his main aims will be to increase the profile of the game here in Ireland and throughout the World.
“We currently boast the top Mens & Ladies Handballers in the World in Paul Brady and Aisling Reilly. This is something not many Irish Sports can say. Paul Brady has been one of the most phenomenal athletes in Irish Sport in the last decade but has not always got the recognition his brilliance deserved. Others like Fiona Shannon, Aisling Reilly, Catriona Casey, Robbie McCarthy and Eoin Kennedy to name a few have raised the standard of the sport significantly in recent years and my aim is to try and raise the profile of GAA Handball to ensure that the talent in our sport gets the recognition it deserves and also our sport grows and appeals to people all over Ireland and indeed worldwide”
He also believes that there is a very bright future for GAA Handball with the talent that the sport currently has at Juvenile level.
“There is great work currently been done at schools level and at Juvenile level throughout the country and it is imperative that we give these players the best possible opportunity to succeed in the sport”
John Kelly was educated at St Mel’s Longford and DIT, graduating with a Degree in Marketing and E-Business. He has previously worked for Celtic FC, AIB, CDC Software and Mars Ireland aswell as his previous role in GAA Handball.
His first official function will be at GAA Handball Congress on Sunday 9th February which takes place in Clare.
Read More Here: http://www.gaahandball.ie/