February 2016

By Annette Conway, PRO Robe Rockets Our U10 Indoor Pella league starts this Friday 12th February at 6pm. This fulfills one of the key planks of our coaching plan, namely to play football virtually all year round. Players should arrive 10 minutes before the kick-off time for their match indicated on the schedule below. Matches will be 10 minutes a side with a half time break. Allowing for delays, players should be available for collection 30 minutes after kick-off time. Please bring water and gum shields Teams and schedule times are listed below U10 Indoor Pella Rules Format 8 teams in two pools of 4. Teams in each pool will play each other in a round robin format. After the three round robin games, the Pool 1 first placed team plays the Pool 2 fourth placed team, the Pool 1 second placed team plays the Pool 2 third placed team , Pool 1 third placed team plays the Pool 2 second placed team and the Pool 1 fourth placed team plays the Pool 2 first placed team. The winners of these four games will be the semi finalists for the Cup competition. The losers will be the semi-finalists for the Shield competition. Rules Gum shields & runners must be worn. Scoring: 3 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 point for losing by three or less scores. In the event of a tie, final placings will be determined by total goals scored. 4-a-side games. Substitutions made regularly to ensure all players play an equal length of time. If any team has less than 4 players a temporary substitution from another team will be made if possible. This may not always be possible so please make every effort to attend each week – your team needs you. Matches will be 12 minutes a side with a two minute half time break . Gaelic football rules apply for pick-up, hand-pass, movement with the ball, etc. A player is allowed two solos or a solo and a hop before they must pass or shoot. A player may score with a kick or a hand-pass – both count for one point. A player must be in the opposition’s half to score. The ball may hit the side wall without penalty. If an attacking player hits the ball against the end wall, the defending team gains possession and re-starts the game from under their goal. Before the re-start no attacking player is allowed inside the blue semi-circle zone. If a defending player hits the ball off the end wall, the attacking team gains possession at centre court. Teams must have at least one player in each half of the court at all times. If a team fails to do so, the opposing team is awarded a free from the opposition’s blue semi-circle. When a free is called the defending player must step back 5 paces from the free taker. A defender may block a player or attempt to strike the ball from his hands but no tackling allowed – i.e. no grabbing, pushing or striking an opposing player to any degree. A player guilty of persistent fouling or dangerous play will be sin binned for 3 minutes. Venue: Lakeside Sports & Fitness Club, Station Road, Ballinrobe. Players should arrive 10 minutes before  the kick-off time for their match indicated on the schedule above. Please make every effort to be early to allow us organise the teams and ensure the players do not lose any playing time. Allowing for delays, players should be available for collection 30 minutes after scheduled kick-off time.  

By Annette Conway, PRO Robe Rockets This weekend marked the start of our 2016 training for our Robe Rockets. With over 90 players in our U6, U8 and U10 teams gracing the hall of the Lakeside it was a fantastic turnout. A special welcome to our new Robe Rockets and their families who embark on their GAA career today, hopefully it’s a long and fruitful one. A big thank you to our Coaches who volunteer their time weekly and to all Parents who helped out at training today. We extend a warm invitation to any parent who wishes to help out to stay and join in at any of our training sessions. All help is much appreciated. We will be indoors in the Lakeside for the next few weeks until the weather improves before taking to Flanagan Park for the rest of the year. Please remember that children need to be dropped off  to and from the Lakeside by an adult for training. See you all next week!!! Our U6 Robe Rockets 2016 U8 Robe Rockets 2016