Tuesday, November 18, 2014
The 6th Annual Sean Tallon Tournament
AOH of Greater New York Sponsors 6th
Annual Sean Tallon Tournament
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| The FDNY Ceremonial Unit and Color Guard at Gaelic Park |
The life and legacy of a New York City Firefighter who was
killed on September 11, 2001 was celebrated in grand fashion as AOH County Boards
and Divisions from around The New York City area teamed up to sponsor a region
wide Gaelic sports tournament which featured over 250 youngsters in an all day
event.
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| Tough Competition at Gaelic Park in the Sean Tallon Tournament |
The 6th Annual Firefighter Sean
Tallon Memorial Tournament welcomed over 24 youth teams (Under-8) from New
York, New Jersey and Connecticut competing in Irish Football and Hurling. The tournament was operated in conjunction
with The New York GAA Minor Board and was held at Gaelic Park in the Bronx.
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| Young Hurlers at the Sean Tallon Tournament |
The tournament was originally founded by
Division #1 in Yonkers to promote Irish Culture and to honor a local hero killed on
September 11th. Sean Tallon
was a U.S. Marine Reservist and a member of FDNY Ladder 10 in Manhattan, whose firehouse is located
directly across the street from The World Trade Center.
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| The Tournament is held to Honor Firefighter Sean Tallon of Yonkers |
The
tournament was held as a small local event involving only 4 teams for the first
5 years. However, the future of the tournament was put in doubt this year due
to the fact that the field in which the event was held had to be closed due to
renovations. An opportunity arose for
the AOH to sponsor a much larger regional tournament, but the cost of hosting
an event of that size was to big for one Division to handle. Division #1 reached out to its neighboring
AOH County Boards for help. By
the time the tournament was scheduled to be held, the New York, Queens, Bronx and Westchester County Boards, as
well as Division #18 in Peekskill all joined as tournament co-sponsors. “The
response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic” said Division One President
Kevin Ellis, “They saw the potential for this to become a truly great
regional event and got behind us to ensure this tournament would continue.”
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| The Family of Sean Tallon present Awards at the Sean Tallon Tournament |
The FDNY Ceremonial Unit Color Guard
participated in the event for the first time this year, and the family of Sean
Tallon also was on hand for the awards presentations. The AOH now has a very large and visible
event on the GAA Calendar in New York, and additional AOH Divisions have also
expressed interest in joining as sponsors for next years tournament. “This event will now continue to grow
and become bigger each and every year” said Ellis, “The great relationship that we have established between
the AOH and the GAA Minor Board will ensure that both organizations become stronger.”
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| All Players Received a Medal for Taking Part in the Tournament |
Special thanks to The Tallon Family, FDNY Commissioner
Daniel Nigro, The FDNY Ceremonial Unit & Color Guard, The GAA Minor Board
President David McIntyre, The AOH New York County Board President Tom Bierne,
The AOH Queens County Board President John Manning, The AOH Bronx County Board
President Robert Nolan, The AOH Westchester County Board President Aidan O’Kelly
Lynch & AOH Division #18 Peekskill President Vic Versace.
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| 4 County Boards and 2 Divisions Teamed Up to Sponsor the Tournament |
