Wexford Federation enjoys benefits of sports officer Alice Whitty's dedication to active sports
Rather than having teams from each guild, Alice Whitty picked mixed teams.
She wanted to increase the sociable aspect of the evening, as well as distributing expertise evenly between teams.
“People who’d done the bowling before liked the way it was but it worked out brilliantly.
"There was one guild where only one person was interested in participating, the new format gave them a chance to come along.
"They didn’t have to look for three more to make up a team. Everybody mingled well, it was a great night,” says Alice.
A member of Camross Guild for the past seven years, Alice got an early introduction to ICA, her mother was a member of Taghmon Guild and Alice used to go along to meetings as a 10-year-old.
“I enjoyed it, especially when they did a make-up demonstration a few years later.”
It was a talk on holistic health organised by Camross ICA that prompted her to go along to her local hall seven years ago but the warmth of members encouraged her to join up: “I found a lovely bunch of ladies, they made me feel so welcome.”
Alice is into sports, she has done aqua aerobics with ICA, she goes bowling with members on Sunday evenings and on Sunday mornings she walks six miles with her husband, Maurice, and sister-in-law, Liz.
“Maurice has done marathons and ultra marathons, he has done 40 miles in Connemara four or five times. I love supporting him.”
This year’s bowling competition attracted 62 entries.
Only three points separated the winners (Mary Ward, Mary O’Hanlon, Eileen Thorpe, Eleanor Power, Helen Furlong and Mary Strahan) from the runners-up: Betty Rossiter, Joe Keane, Phil O’Neill, Betty Halligan and Mary Nolan.
Meanwhile, up to 100 Wexford ICA members turned out for the fun walks, which have been organised around the county over the past six weeks or so.
Proceeds so far have come to €2,000, with funds still coming in.
All funds will go to St Patrick’s Special School and to the Hope Cancer Support Centre, both Enniscorthy-based.
As sports officer, Alice says the challenge is finding activities to suit the age profile of members.
She intends to run the bowling competition twice next year, with another contest planned for the spring.
