The Camogie section, the Club Executive and the Club in general would like to thank Richie Sweetnam for his years of dedication as Senior Camogie coach. Richie and his management team stepped down at the beginning of the week.
Under Richie’s stewardship, the Ballyboden St Endas Senior Camogie team enjoyed a period of unprecedented success, winning 5 Dublin Championships in a row from 2010 to 2014. They also won numerous Senior League and Cup titles. With a number of high profile players retiring soon after, the easy decision would have been for Richie to follow suit and bask in the glory of his success. Instead, he took on the rebuilding project with enthusiasm, successfully integrating many young players into the Senior setup in the following years. As a result, he leaves behind a young and enthusiastic Senior panel for his successor; of the 30 players on the Senior panel in 2018, only a fistful are over 22 years of age.
Richie was actively involved throughout the Camogie section, not just with the Senior panel. He was to the forefront of all fundraising efforts, and I’m sure we’ll see him collecting trees in the New Year! He attended every Camogie meeting, where he was always generous with his advice to mentors of all teams at juvenile level and had a genuine interest in improving the level of Camogie within Boden at all ages.
We also thank Peter Lucey, who has been by Richie’s side in recent years & Orla Smith who also joined the management team last year. We cannot forget the input of Bernard Curtis, who has been everpresent by Richie’s side, along with the number 1 Boden supporter Rita
We would also like thank Richie’s wife Triona and their young family for their patience over the years, the kids won’t miss being dragged to the early training sessions on Saturday mornings!
We wish Richie many more years of success with the Club with whichever team which will be fortunate to inherit his talents.