Marguerite Coakley - A Tribute
Denis Crowley, Coach and Friend
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I am writing this article because Marguerite Coakley was a special athlete and a wonderful girl. Marguerite passed away in the summer of '02 after a short illness and is sadly missed by all.
I first came in contact with Marguerite through her sister Aileen who played for St Mary's for many years. Marguerite used to come to the training sessions with her big sister and was always shooting the ball at every opportunity. Later on, I had occassion to train the Scartaglin school children in the school yard each Friday evening and it was obvious from the very start that Marguerite was going to be an outstanding player. She always listened and always attempted to do the most difficult tasks and she had that special commodity "Natural Talent and Skill"
Marguerite joined our under 13 girls team at the age of eleven, and even at that age, was soon on the first five. We went on to win the county league and county championship. The following year, she was selected on the community games team that won through in Kerry and regained the All Ireland title in September 1999 again, Marguerite featured prominently in all our games.
The following year Marguerite captained the under 13 team to the All-Ireland title in Mosney in August of 2000 and as captain she led by example throughout the campaign.
She was a member and a very important part of our under 16 girls community games team that won the Kerry title in April in Dingle.
Marguerite holds a unique record with St. Mary's Baskerball club she was never on a losing team in the County League, County Championship or Community Games and her record speaks for itself.
As assistant coach to John Enright in St. Joseph' s Secondary School. I had the privilege of coaching Marguerite at school games and she carried the same grit and enthusiasm through her tragically short career at school level also. Her talent at school level was quickly spotted and Marguerite was selected for the Kerry school's team that competed in the All-Ireland Series of 2001. Fergal Daly, who coached that Kerry Team told me that Marguerite was a vital cog on the team and was an inspiration to her team mates.
Marguerite achievements in her short life were amazing. With St Mary's she won the following.
| 2 | U - 13 County Leagues |
| 2 | U - 13 County Championships |
| 2 | U - 13 All Ireland gold medals in Community games. |
| 1 | U - 15 County League winners |
| 1 | U - 15 County Championships |
| 1 | U - 16 Kerry Community Games winners. |
| In School's Basketball she won: | |
| Kerry Minors A winners | |
| Kerry Junior A winners | |
| Kerry Cadets A winners | |
| All Ireland Minor : Bronze Medal | |
| All Ireland Junior: Gold Medal | |
| All Ireland Cadet: Silver Medal | |
| Marguerite also won an All Ireland Bronze medal with Kerry. | |
Besides all her successes, Marguerite was a down to earth girl full of vitality and fun, she was the life and soul of the party.
Coming home from matches and sometimes going to matches Marguerite always organised a singsong and was not afraid to lead the singing.
It has been easy to record your great sporting achievements, but the difficulty lies in coming to terms with your loss. Your team mates and friends are still very saddened and not a day goes by that you are not in our thoughts. My only fear is that I have not done justice to your wonderful personality. This is not only from myself, this is from your team mates and your friends.
To Marguerite family always know that our thoughts and prayers are forever with you.