Willie Uprising

December 4th in Madrid hailed a momentous day in Belgium G.A.A.'s history as Tipp man Willie Cashin was elected Chairman of the European County Board. It is the first time a member of our club has held this position and the achievment deserved the welcome home party it was given in de Valera's the following night.

Willie has been a committed player, referee and Board man since his arrival on the continent in 2004. The club are very proud to have one of its own in the position and no doubt Willie will give it everything during his reign.

He will be joined by some of his own as the Kevin Keary/Olof Gill led campaign landed positions for Becky as Camogie Officer, Kevin himself as Club Development Officer and my good self as Coaching Officer.

I'm told the vote between myself and Denis Reidy was as close as it gets and that it was a rousing speech from Olof Gill that sealed it. Olof probably wished that all the wonderful things he said about me would never be repeated but alas, with Kevin Keary on the megaphone that was unlikely to ever happen.

Now I must deal with the painful title of 'committee man' even though my position by its nature should be one of the furthest from any committee table! From the many emails in circulation from the incoming committee, it is clear that there is plenty of energy and new ideas floating around so hopefully 2010 can be another great year for European G.A.A.