The changes were few and far between at Friday's County Convention THE WEXFORD Handball Board held its annual convention on Friday night last in Templeudigan Hall, with a huge turn-out for a generally quiet affair, with little changes in terms of election of officers.

The only alterations to the County Board officials list were Helen Brennan (Templeudigan who fills the designated official post, while Nicky Curran (St. Martin's) takes over as delegate to the County G.A.A. Board, replacing Patsy Murray from Coolgreany.

All of the other positions were filled by the outgoing personnel, and here is the full list of County Board officials for the coming year for Wexford handball:

Uachtarán, Ger McWilliams, Horeswood; Chairman, Ricky Barron, Barntown; Vice-Chairperson, Sinéad Cowman, Templeudigan; Secretary, Tony Breen, Templeudigan; Treasurer, Nicky Curran, St. Martin's; P.R.O., Noel Holohan, Templeudigan; Youth Officer (Children's Officer), Betty Roche, Bridgetown; Designated Officer, Helen Brennan, Templeudigan; Development Officer, Fergal McWilliams, Horeswood; Promotions Officer, Noel Holohan, Templeudigan; Facilities Officer, Betty Roche, Bridgetown; Coaching Officer, Gavin Buggy, St. Mary's; Competitions Officer, Tony Breen, Templeudigan; Chairman, Bord na nÓg, Brian Murphy, Castlebridge; Secretary, Bord na nÓg, Mary Foley, Castlebridge; Delegates to Congress, Tony Breen and Ricky Barron; Delegates to Leinster Convention, Tony Breen and Ricky Barron; Delegates to Leinster Council, Tony Breen and Ricky Barron; Delegate to County G.A.A. Board, Nicky Curran, St. Martin's.

Following the election of officers, there were three motions passed that will be brought into law as of now.

The first motion up for discussion was brought forward by Templeudigan with the view that rather than expelling players from further competitions, a ¤50 fine for not fulfilling a fixture be implemented, with the motion as follows:

That a failure by an adult player to fulfil a County Board fixture without notice to opponent, to host club Secretary and to county Secretary, to result in a fine of ¤50 being imposed on the player in singles and each player in doubles. This fine to be paid at least one day before next match. Failure to pay fine on time to result in that and subsequent matches being forfeited until fine is paid in full.

The second motion passed was also brought to the table by Templeudigan club and, after debate, the following motion was carried: That an adult player who fails to fulfil his/her Leinster or All-Ireland fixture and allows his/her opponent to travel, be barred from the next two Leinster championships.

The final motion brought to the floor by Ballymitty was passed unanimously, with the clubs all seeking the reintroduction of the Junior 'C' and 'D' grades for the coming year.

Following the motion, five transfers were passed as follows:

Trevor Donovan from Barntown to Portobello, Dublin, and from Wexford to Dublin; Johnny Westlake from St. Joseph's to Castlebridge; James Berry from New Ross to Castlebridge; James Waters from Bridgetown to Ballymitty; Martin Doran from New Ross to Horeswood.

All in all Convention 2009 was very encouraging for Wexford handball, with County Chairman Ricky Barron praising everyone for their success and looking forward to 2010 with hopes high that Wexford can add more All-Ireland titles and continue to see the sport grow back to its prowess of past years.