The Cup Finals will now be held on the 18th May, at Blaendolau. A revised itinerary will be circulated shortly. Presentations will be held around lunch time.
Russell
Congratulations to Richard Lucas's U12s who won the CWFA U12 Area League Tournament on Sunday 20th April.
I have known Gary for around 7 years or so since we both got involved in Junior football, and I also played cricket with Gary for the Commoners.
One of Gary’s great attributes was the time he gave up and the energy he put into this level of football to give as many opportunities as possible to local children to play the game, regardless of their ability. It is this unselfish ambition of working for others that made Gary stand out above others involved in the league. There are no or few medals or awards for managers, yet Gary would work tirelessly to do his best for others.
Gary
first became involved with the Junior League in early 2000, initially helping running one junior Llanilar or ‘Ystwyth’ side as the U11s are known.
The number of sides grew as his welcoming attitude to anyone who wanted to take part attracted players from around the area, offering many opportunities
that many other managers wouldn’t give. As a guide to his achievements there were 8 sides in this year Junior League, that’s about 120 players, out of around 700 in the league as a whole.
Above all Gary
took pride and quiet enjoy from simply seeing children getting involved and playing the game.
He encompassed the true spirit of the Junior league providing for all children not just the talented ones.
Not content though with a difficult and time consuming job organising a large number of local Llanilar junior sides, Gary was one of the first to put his hand up when it came to running Junior League representative sides in the Welsh nationwide HSBC / Tom Yeoman Shield between 2004 and 2007.
He was also a member of the Junior League Executive during this time, where he would spend many hours helping to organize the Leagues and contribute to the general direction that the junior football should take in the area. Gary always had an opinion but was very rarely not spot on when it comes to doing things the right way.
Gary had also recently committed to doing his UEFA C badge, having much early done his FAW Football Leaders Award, and even encouraged his wife Verity to attend courses too! When she attended welfare courses to help support Gary in providing a first class junior league set up in Llanilar.
He is held is great esteem by all those involved in Junior League football and that is clearly evident to me today, with so many players, parents and managers here today.
I spoke to several people during the week and what they said expresses how everyone felt about Gary far more I can say in my own words.
Adam Carvell, who played with Gary throughout said:
“Gary has always been special to me. He has been my football manager for over 8 special years for Llanilar and the academy. He has always been there for me during the bad times. Gary has put so much commitment into Llanilar during games and training. I've always enjoyed being at training with Gary as coach and it will be a very big loss to me and many more people. I remember the cup final last year against Bow Street when we were 2-0 down and we won the game. I think I will always remember Gary and Gareth celebrating! It's because of Gary that I never wanted to play for another team and I will miss him so much........ "
Connor Kenny, who joined Gary this year said:
“Gary was a great coach he made training fun. He was always very supportive of me and the team. I couldn’t always see him during a game but he would always shout ‘Great save Conor’ when I made a save. That always made me feel good. I wanted to play well for him. He made me feel special. He was always the same after a game. Win or lose he was always very proud of us.
I will miss him.”
Brothers Owen and Morgan Roberts-Young said:
“He was a real inspiration to us, we really enjoyed having Gary as our manager. He gave us so much of his time. Diolch Gary”
Coaches
Gary
also provided opportunities for young people to get involved in coaching, and one said:
Ben Jones, assistant coach: “
I started helping Gary last September in coaching Llanilar Juniors. I learned a lot from Gary. He was so respected by the players and myself. He was always fair and made sure everyone felt important and valued as part of a team. He had a brilliant sense of humour and we always had a good laugh about something. I am proud to have coached with him and I wish I had known him longer. He was a good friend and I will miss him at the football
.”
Dave Slinger, parent of another said:
“Gary encouraged Gerwyn to do his leaders award and first aid course when he turned 16 and also asked him to help coach the Llanilar u11 teams to help gain experience , he will be sadly sadly missed by all”
I also spoke to Meirion Appleton, who was Football Development Officer for the Junior League 1999-2006, and worked with Gary during this period said:
“Gary was a unique person and his work with the junior league was unprecedented. He was knowledgeable, understanding, and the perfect example of how to work with children in football. My first recollection of seeing Gary was coming with a team from Llanilar to Minyddol in 200, asking where to play and if he could play a girl in the side. Soon that one team would become several as Gary’s enthusiasm developed the club. He was a breath of fresh air - his attitude, commitment and dedication in treating children equally stood out in such a way that soon made everyone realize he was a gem of a coach.
His talent was soon recognized and he was asked to be part of other aspects of the junior league where again his contribution was immense – giving time to the Exec, the coaching centre and managing representative sides in HSBC Tom yeoman tournaments, all at the same time as having heavy commitments with his beloved Llanilar club.
At the coaching centre one evening Gary told m the most depressing news that I had to experience when he told me of one Llanilar junior player was very ill and unlikely to recover. As we all know Urien was to lose his life a few months later but in that time Gary was a pillar of strength to the young boy, and right up to his death, Gary would get him to join in, have fun and enjoy things in the way only Gary could do. Today there is a special award in the junior league in memory of Urien and Gary was a huge influence on the way this was set up.
The sadness I felt when I received the news about Gary is too much for words to describe but we must celebrate the life of Gary as we all have very special memories of him. His name will be remembered for ever within the Aberystwyth and District Junior League”
Gary also came into contact with Aberystwyth Town FC and was often seen at home matches and lifelong firend Martyn Griffiths, now Assistant Coach & Academy Director at Aber Town FC, he said:
“Having spent time together growing up in Penparcau, Gary and I spent many a weekend playing football down at ‘The Square’ where we learnt our trade of playing football, usually against players older than ourselves. I think this is where Gary got his toughness from and where he learnt his trademark in football – ‘the art of tackling’. As you all know Gary was very fond of this particular aspect of the game and often left his mark on opponents, not with his silky left foot skills as he would like to point out, but usually a few marks down the shins!!!
A point I raised when I contacted Gary 3 weeks ago to play in a charity game against TNS. As always Gary obliged but pointed out that he had dodgy knees and didn’t know if he would stand up to the challenge, where I promptly replied “its not your knees I’m worried about – its theirs!”
Always willing to help Gary was a competent coach and was studying for his UEFA C License badge. Even with all his other footballing commitments he offered his services to the Academy and we were hoping for him to come on board next season.
He will be hugely missed in the football community”.
There are many, many more I could read but the message is clear that he made a great contribution to football locally, was well respected and will be a huge loss.
Gary
’s interests however weren’t restricted to junior football as he had many others interests, including cricket. It was Gary who 3 years ago introduced me to the Commoners CC in the West Wales Conference League, with whom I would spend several afternoons at Vicarage Fields chatting, as we would wait patiently to bat and on the odd occasion just to field, when the top order did their job right. I hasten to add we usually got a bat!
He was a team man, and would help out when he could, and wouldn’t think twice about agreeing to play at short notice. He also organized things in this sport too, as he run the Cambrian Tyres team in the midweek league. Many of those involved in cricket are also here today and will sadly miss him on the square this season and in future seasons.
In the time I knew Gary, it was clear he did things for others and that is what he enjoyed. And even in these sad times I’m sure that one of his main wishes would be for you to remember the happy times.
To finish I found the following poem:
Happy Memories:
I’d like the memory of me
to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an array
of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo
whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times
and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve,
to dry before the sun
of happy memories
that I leave when life is done.
The U11 Cup preliminary rounds brought with it with usual drama, unpredictable twists and turns, and mixed emotions as the tension built throughout the morning. For some the day ended a trip booked to the Cup Finals at Aberystwyth FC’s ground in April, for others it was just a great day of football.
In the preliminary rounds each league is split into groups with the top two sides progressing through to the semi finals.
In the U11 Premier Cup Cewri Un topped Group A with Dolphins edging out Bow Street Junior for a place in the semi finals. In another close group Ystwyth Rovers booked their place in the semi’s as Group B winners with Penparcau Swans runners up. Two good semi finals followed and it looked like both would go to extra time until Swans snatched a late winner to knock Cewri Un out of the Cup. The fate of the other semi was sealed in the first minute of a 5 minute golden goal period when Dolphins broke the Ystwyth Juniors defence to win 1-0 and book their place against the Swans on April 12th.
There was no less drama in the U11 First Division Cup as Cewri Dau and Bois Y Graig came through as Group winners to be joined by Penllwyn and Aber Utd as runners up in two competitive leagues. In the first semi final Cewri Dau came out firing and were soon 2 up against Penllwyn, the Capel Bangor side fought back to 2-1 and despite a determined effort couldn’t find a second as Cewri Dau held on for a 2-1 win. The semi final between Bois Y Graig and Aber Utd finished 0-0 at the end of normal time setting up another golden goal finale. A shrewd move though saw Aber Utd score from the kick off to book their place against Cewri Dau in the final.
In the U11 Second Division Cup Penuwch Owls, Ystwyth Juniors, Merched Talybont and Aber Stars reached the semi finals. Both semi finals went to extra time as Penuwch’s game with Merched Talybont ended 1-1 and Ystwyth Juniors ended their game with Aber Stars 0-0. With no goals in either period of extra time both games needed penalties to decide between the teams. Penuwch Owls and Ystwyth Junior held their nerve to win 3-1 and 2-1 respectively in the penalty shoot out to reach the final.
In the U11 Third Division Pont Teifi, Tregaron Tigers and Celtiaid won through to the semi finals as group winners with Ystwyth Select joining them as the best runner up ahead of Waun Stars after a penalty shoot out. In two good semi finals the games between Celtiaid and Ystwyth Select and local rivals Pont Teifi and Tregaron Tigers ended 0-0 to set up yet more golden goal football. Ystwyth Select favoured an early end to this tension with a 3rd minute goal to beat Celtiaid but nothing but penalties was to separate the Bont and Tregaron teams. In front of a decent crowd Tigers came out with a 3-2 win on penalties to join Ystwyth Select in the final.
The U13 and U15 League Cup preliminary rounds were unfortunately postponed due to rain on Friday afternoon. It is likely that these games will be rescheduled for the 15th March.