Calgary Chieftains Celebrate 30th Anniversary
CALGARY - The Calgary Chieftains had a big night to celebrate their 30th anniversary on November 10 at Father Murphy's Irish Pub.
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ADRIAN LAGAN, chairman of the Calgary Chieftains Gaelic football team with MVP Tim Hamill
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MICHEAL O'DONNELL receiving the Best Newcomer award for the Calgary Chieftains men's team.
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COLLETTE SMITHERS presenting the MVP award to Mandy Tuohy of the Calgary Chieftains women's team.
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CAMERON MILLIKIN, Honourary Consul General of the Government of Ireland to Alberta, presenting the Club Person of the Year award to Liam Mailey of the Calgary Chieftains
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NOEL TUOHY presenting the Ladies Best Newcomer award to Erin Sinclair of the Calgary Chieftains women's team.
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Under the chairmanship of Adrian Lagan, club members worked hard with selling tickets prior to the event and decorated the bar with county jerseys from all parts of Ireland. Over 120 guests were treated to a beautiful prime rib dinner and a healthy slice of anniversary cake that was donated by Father Murphy's.
Special guests on the evening were J. Cameron Millikin (Honourary Consul General of the Government of Ireland to Alberta), Ron Lochart (president of the Calgary Irish Rugby and Field Hockey Club), Don McAuley (President) and Colette Smithers (Communications Director) of the Irish Cultural Society.
An unveiling of a new club crest was featured with downtown Calgary, St. Bridget's cross, and two crossed over hurling sticks with an O'Neill's football underneath. This was a special moment for everyone present as many members had put forward their ideas toward this night.
Tim Hamill and Brendan Backy were master of ceremonies for the night and got down to business with the club awards for 2007. Ladies Newcomer of the Year was presented by Noel Tuohy, one of the owners of Father Murphy's, to Erin Sinclair who had a great year and always gave 100 percent in training and tournaments.
Men's Newcomer of the Year went to Micheal O Donnell from Tipperary. Tipperary is not associated with having great footballers but Micheal must be an exception to the rule. He was a constant threat to all the opposing teams and contributed both defensively and offensively with some great goals. He was also very committed to training and one of the last players to leave the bar after a night of heavy training.
Ladies MVP went to none other than Mandy Tuohy. Mandy may have to look for a bigger trophy cabinet soon as she has been the driving force of Calgary ladies football for quite some time. Mandy suffered a reoccurring knee injury in Vancouver this year and after surgery plans to be back playing in the red and white next season.
The Men's Most Valuable Player award was presented by Liam Mailey (men's coach) and it went to Tim Hamill. This award was picked by the team's management of Noel Tuohy and Liam Mailey. When presenting the award to Tim, Liam explained that the decision was based on who they would least like to take off the pitch in a game.
Tim, who is the son of St. Mike's legend Mickey Hamill, had another great year for the club in the middle sector of the pitch. His tireless work up and down the pitch and solid tackles were keys to winning the Tommy Butler Western Canada Divisional Championship. Tim was also selected as a Western Canada Divisional all star.
The final award of the night was for the Club Person of the Year. This was voted unanimously by the members of the club and it went to the (Oak leaf) man from Derry, Liam Mailey. Liam was the club trainer and "Chief" of fundraising. There is no doubt that the club's success in 2007 was largely due to Liam's efforts.
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