Taughmaconnell native to be honoured at sports awards

TAUGHMACONNELL’s Vincent Brooks, a loyal and long-serving soccer official in south Roscommon, has been chosen as the Hall of Fame award recipient in the 2014 Westmeath Independent Sports Awards.

Vincent receives the award for his undying passion for the development of the game in Roscommon, and his contribution, in a variety of guises, to the fortunes of both Skyvalley Rovers, in Taughmaconnell, and the Roscommon & District Football League.

A native of Taughmaconnell, Vincent is the current PRO of the Roscommon Football League, and has been an active committee member of the League since the late eighties. During that time, Vincent has been at the heart of all the breaking news and major soccer issues in Roscommon, and for many years has contributed admirably to the promotion of the league in local newspapers and on radio.

Vincent is a founding member of Skyvalley Rovers, and was part of the first ever Skyvalley team to play in the Roscommon League, under Johnny Cooney’s management in 1970. He was also the very first chairman of Skyvalley Rovers FC, and thereafter worked as club secretary for a number of years.
His son, Nigel, is currently chairman of the club, which is synonymous with the Brooks family in the south Roscommon region. Vincent is also a former treasurer of the Roscommon Football League.

“I’ve been involved in local soccer a long time, and the progress made in Roscommon in recent times has been brilliant,” a delighted Vincent told the Westmeath Independent upon hearing of his selection into the Hall of Fame.

Vincent joins a long and illustrious selection of local sporting greats to be feted with the Hall of Fame award, including last year’s winner, local basketball personality Paddy Mullally.
Vincent worked with the ESB in Shannonbridge for 40 years and retired nine years ago. He remains a trustee and committee member of Skyvalley Rovers FC.

“I played left-back in the very first Skyvalley team,” he recalled.
“Back then you were told not to let both ball and player past you. One or the other could go past - but not both!” he joked.

“Seriously, though, they were very different days to now. The Roscommon League has come on a huge amount, and I would say it’s now a very well organised and functioning league. The clubs deserve credit, for they embraced the idea of getting better qualified coaches and better facilities. Teams went out to buy land and develop pitches, in some cases, and there’s a really strong league in Roscommon at the moment,” he added.

Of particular pride to the League is their base at Lecarrow in south Roscommon, only a short hop from Athlone. “The Lecarrow project really set the league up for the foreseeable future, and the late John Sherlock deserves enormous credit for the work and effort he put into the place.
“The move to Lecarrow was a big moment for the league and the facilities there are excellent. The pitch, by the way, is never flooded, and there’s never a game called off there. It’s a great facility for the league and its clubs,” said Vincent.

The sky is the limit for the Roscommon league, in Vincent’s opinion, with a strong underage structure also currently in place in the county. The Oscar Traynor Cup representative team continue to defy its relatively small status on the national scene by performing capably against leagues from all across the country. In fact, the Roscommon representative side has twice reached the semi-finals of the Oscar Traynor Cup in recent times.

Vincent acknowledged the good work done by his league committee colleagues over the years, including Gerry Tully and Tom Cunningham, the current league secretary and chairman respectively. He also said that the establishment of a structured referees society in the county has been of huge assistance to the league in recent years.

Vincent thanked his family including sons Nigel and Alan, and daughter Susan for their support in his sporting endeavours over the years, and also his wife, Veronica, originally from Kiltoom, whom Vincent said has also contributed greatly to the running of Skyvalley Rovers over the years.