Sports Hub a hive of activity
ALL ROADS led to The Hub recently for the last county event on the Wexford Community Games calendar of events for the season.
The county athletic finals are one of the busiest days for all Areas competing as they have to hold their local finals beforehand and get their entries posted online to ensure that all their children are ready for the big day.
When the day comes around, it’s all systems go from the time the parade gets under way until the final event takes place late in the afternoon. For the first time ever, the events were held on the tartan track at The Hub in Enniscorthy, a facility which is first class and a great addition for all interested in athletics in Wexford and beyond.
The day began with the annual parade of participating Areas and was led by BBBCR with Bree-Davidstown, Glynn-Barntown, Piercestown-Murrintown, Rathgarogue-Cushinstown, Castlebridge-Crossabeg and Taghmon also parading.
The event was sponsored by Pettitt’s and the organisers welcomed Rosaleen Casey from Pettitt’s of Enniscorthy to the grounds. Rosaleen thanked everyone for the warm welcome and wished the children every success during the day.
Piercestown-Murrintown were the winners of the parade with Rathgarogue-Cushinstown as the runners-up. The best banner award went to Taghmon.
The Community Games pledge was read in English by Brídín Doyle from Craanford and in Irish by Ellie Stafford from Glynn-Barntown. The torch was carried around the field by Marguerite Furlong from Adamstown, and the bowl of light was ignited to declare the games open.
Margaret McDermott, Wexford President, thanked Pádraig O’Gorman and the Municipal Council for allowing the events to be held in the wonderful venue. She also thanked the committee of the rugby club for the use of their facilities for catering and parking. Thanks were also expressed to the management and staff of the greyhound track for the use of their facilities for parking.
County Chairperson Michelle Byrne said that as this has been her first year at the head of the county committee, it has been a challenging one and a steep learning curve.
‘The biggest thing I have learnt is that there is a place for Community Games within all our communities and so many children benefit due to the wide variety of activities that are offered.
‘The smiles on the children’s faces makes all the hard work a distant memory,’ she said.
She also thanked all the Area committees and fellow officers for their hard work during the busy season. With only a handful of people looking after Community Games in many Areas, she asked parents to give their local committees the support they needed.
The busy day’s events got under way at 11 a.m. with the Under-10 boys’ and girls’ hurdles, and from there on it was helter-skelter all day until they concluded around 3.30 p.m. Entries were up on last year in the track events and once again this was noticeable in the Under-8s, -10s and -12s where there were many heats.
Field event entries were average with both the winner of the boys’ and girls’ long puck sending the ball over a distance of more than 70 metres. In the case of Emma Dempsey from Glynn-Barntown, she won her medal by recording a distance of 78.48, while Michael Bolger from BBBCR recorded a distance of 75.15.
If they can replicate that performance at the national finals, they could find themselves in the last eight placings and even do much better.