Medals galore at Community Games finals

THE first weekend of the All Ireland National Finals took place at the weekend in Athlone. Kerry was represented by children in Art, Cycling on Grass, Cross Country & Mixed Distance Relays; Dualthlon; Handwriting; Model Making; Swimming; Draughts, Futsal, Soccer, Indoor Soccer and Music - and all the hard work definitely paid off.

Kerry came home with plenty of medals of every colour and excellent performances by all our children competing. Some of our children may not have been lucky enough to come home with a medal but they can be extremely proud of themselves for representing their local community, area and county so well.

RESULTS

ART Under 10 – Girls – Gold – Caitriona McKenna (Fossa) Under 14 - Boys – Gold – Caleb Brosnan (Kenmare); Girls – Pewter – Erin Welch (Duagh Lyre) Under 16 - Boys – Bronze – Ko Kallewaard (Kenmare); Girls – Silver – Christina McCar thy (Kenmare) CROSS-COUNTRY Under 12 Boys Relays – Gold (County Team) Under 12 Girls Relay – Pewter (County Team) CYCLING ON GRASS Boys Under 12 – Gold – Shane Galvin (Beaufort) Girls Under 12 – Bronze – Lola Eagar (Beaufor t) Girls Under 14 – Pewter – Kerry Eagar (Beaufort) DRAUGHTS Under 10 – Bronze – Ardfer t/Kilmoyley Under 12 – Silver – Ballyheigue Under 14 – Gold – Milltown/Listry SWIMMING Under 8 Freestyle – Boys – Silver – Liam O’Connor (Rock St/Caherslee) Under 8 Freestyle – Girls – Pewter – Raonaid Ross (Ballyduff) Under 10 Freestyle – Boys – Silver – Padraig O’Halloran (Castlegregory) Under 14 – Freestyle – Girls – Bronze – Erin O’Halloran (Castlegregory) Under 16 Freestyle – Boys – Silver – Nader Maloudi (St Brendans/Oakpark) DUATHLON Under 13 Boys – Silver – Patrick Galvin (Beaufor t) Under 13 Girls – Bronze – Emma O’Regan (Kenmare) FUTSAL Under 13 – Boys – Silver – Ballyheigue Under 15 – Girls – Gold – Duagh/Lyre GROUP MUSIC Under 16 – Gold (Kilcummin) HANDWRITING Under 10 – Boys – Silver – Oliver O’Shea (Kenmare); Girls – Bronze – Holly Ar thur (Kenmare) INDOOR SOCCER Under 13 – Boys - Gold (Ballyduff) Under 13 - Girls – Bronze – Moyvane/Knockanure MODEL-MAKING Under 10 Boys – Bronze – David O’Connor (Kenmare) Under 14 Girls – Bronze – Shauna Casey (Ballyheigue) Under 16 Girls – Silver – Eva Gadsden (Kenmare) SOCCER Under 12 – Gold – Fossa CONGRATULATIONS to all the children who took part – the standard of competition at Nationals is very high with every County vying to win medals and advance as far as possible in every event so getting to finals is in itself a tremendous achievement and in all the events Kerry had to fight hard to achieve success. Getting a National medal of any colour should be seen as the ultimate award for all the hard work that has gone into preparing for these All-Irelands.

We hope all our participants enjoyed the weekend. Community Games is, above all else, about participation and something we value highly, so to every one of our National qualifiers we say well done. By participating in Community Games you are getting the opportunity to take part in some activity be it sport or a cultural event, perhaps trying out something new, meeting other children from Kerry and other parts of the country, and getting the opportunity to represent your local area and county at All-Ireland National Finals.

The most important thing for any child competing in Athlone is to enjoy the occasion – as anyone who has been to the Nationals knows – this is a unique event with huge excitement and anticipation generated which creates such a wonderful atmosphere for the children.

Patrick Galvin, Beaufort, competing in the Duathlon Boys U-15 & O-13 at Weekend 1 of the Community Games National Festival at Athlone I.T in Athlone

The Kilcummin Group Music competitors who won gold medals at the Community Games National Finals

The Duagh/Lyre under-15 futsal team that won gold medals at the Community Games National Finals

The Fossa U-12 soccer team that won gold medals at the Community Games National Finals in Athlone

The Milltown/Listry under-14 draughts team that won gold medals in Athlone