Hugh Owens – Volunteer
For Hugh Owens, Gaelic football is life.
The current Kinawley Brian Borus Treasurer spends countless hours a week around Patrick McManus Memorial Park. From the hours he puts in as Treasure of the club, opening pitches for games and training, helping with the weekly club lotto, cleaning the dressing rooms and supporting the club in any other capacity the pleasant Owens is a positive and inspirational man to have around any club.
Owens has played football with Kinawley before heading off to Belfast many years ago as a young 21-year-old to the bright lights of Belfast. “Back then when you went away you might not come back home as quick as they do nowadays, the thought of driving a car to Belfast back then was unheard of as cars were a rare commodity.”
Owens later played Gaelic football for St Agnes GAC, Belfast before joining up with Darragh Cross GAC in County Down.
The captivating Owens admits it’s a good time to be involved with Kinawley and all that is currently happening with the club, “The club is really blossoming, and membership numbers are growing year on year, so it really is a good time for the club. From the Senior team staying in Division 1, the ladies team continually doing well and now a number of youth teams starting to bring home trophies including the winning of the Feile in April then it really is a happening place.”
He continues, “We now have a new pitch, an excellent stand, plans in the process of placing a walking track around the two pitches that would be 1km exactly and in the future the hopes of getting a state of the art training 3G pitch.”
For Owens he admits the change in the GAA from his playing days to now is enormous, “Administration in GAA has just gone off the scale if I am being honest. Rules, Regulations, Data Procedures and I could go on. It really is now all paperwork for anything, Kinawley have just became accredited as part of Club Maith which is a benchmark to best practice in the core of GAA activity, we were two years in the process of getting that.”
Hugh continues to inspire, motivate and most importantly listen to all around the club. He has a huge feeling of pride being involved with Kinawley Brian Borus and when he is not getting involved with Kinawley you might see him at another GAA ground around Fermanagh. “I just love football, I love come the bright evenings and when Summer arrives, I would go out and watch plenty of games from Derrylin to Teemore to Belnaleck, I just love it and its what I know best.”
The 70-year-old is married to Elizabeth and they have one daughter, Nuala who is living and married in Newtownards with four children.
Hugh Owens is one of life’s good guys, he goes over and beyond to expand his skills and knowledge to be the most effective club person he can be with Kinawley, as well as undertaking and understanding any job he is asked to do, he has an energetic attitude that comes from the will in his heart to keep Kinawley GAA central to everything he does.
