DOING WEXFORD PROUD
WEXFORD’S COMMUNITY GAMES FINALISTS WERE FANTASTIC AT THIS YEAR’S NATIONAL FINALS AND DID THEMSELVES AND THEIR COUNTY PROUD, WRITES BRENDAN KEANE
THE PARTICIPANTS from County Wexford put in fantastic performances at the recent Aldi National Community Games finals.
The University of Limerick provided the facilities for the event which involved thousands of young people from all over the country.
A lovely atmosphere prevailed throughout the weekend with a fun-filled festival type vibe in evidence as the local delegation made new friends from other counties and showcased in exemplary fashion the high level of talent that exists within the Model County.
Community Games is one of the largest sporting movements in the country and that fact was underlined by the numbers in attendance at the finals which highlighted everything that the initiative stands for with regard to promoting healthier, active lifestyles in young people.
A wide range of competitions took place over the weekend involving activities such as swimming, gymnastics, projects, art, handwriting, debating, drama, singing, music and choir events.
Ann Cowman, from Wexford Community Games, said she was very impressed by the confidence of the Wexford participants and by the standard of talent they displayed.
‘All youngsters competed to win and my admiration for them grew over the weekend,’ she said.
‘The standard in the various stage events was mighty and these children could play a variety of instruments and the singing was of the highest standard,’ she added.
Ms Cowman said the drama competitions were also very entertaining and performed to a very high standard. The Wexford delegation were delighted to have an U13 team competing in the Project category in addition to having a choir also involved this year in the form of Glynn-Barntown. They bridged a long gap since the last time the county was represented in the Choir section.
The girls sang beautifully under the direction of Ann Stamp and such was the standard to which they performed they came home with silver medals much to the delight of everyone concerned. The group was composed of Aoibhe Broaders, Maeve Buckley, Rachel Burke, Laura Carley, Jane Duggan, Hazel Dunne, Shauna Hume, Caitlin Hunt, Lydia Hunt, Ina Mullen, Ellen Murphy, Sarah Nolan, Ella Nugent, Sarah O`Brien, Saoirse O`Connor, Sidhi Sinnott, Sophie White and Zoe Wildes.
Boys and girls from around Wexford represented the county in the swimming events but the competition always offers up the highest standard of competition. However, the local representatives performed brilliantly and Rosie Fraser, from Bree-Davidstown finished in 5th place in the final of the U8 Freestyle event.
The gymnastics events also attracted very high standards of competition and with most of the Wexford delegation coming from the north of the county Dillon Byrne, from Gorey town, picked up the 4 th place medallion in the U9 category.
Wexford was well represented in the Art & Handwriting section with a number of Area groups having participants involved including boys and girls from Castlebridge-Crossabeg, Bree-Davidstown, Clongeen, Glynn-Barntown, Kilrush-Askamore, and Piercestown-Murrintown.
Dara Kelly, from the Pierces-
town/Murrintown group, came home with the bronze medal in the U14 girls’ event while Jonathon Winters, from the Castlebridge/Crossabeg area, finished in 5th place in the handwriting competition.
The Projects category was contested by a group from Castlebridge-Crossabeg in the U13 section. Composed of Aoibhinn McDonald, Ann Molloy and Christina Molloy, the group participated under the theme, ‘Are girls more likely to drop out of sports than boys?’. The girls created their own little bit of history by being the first from their area to participate in the category and the first to represent the county at national level for many years.
They also achieved a great result finishing in 5 th position.
The team that competed in the Table Quiz competition was from the Ring of Hook area and was composed of Sophie Doyle, Molly Lynch, Dan Nolan and Aoife O`Connor. They went up against 23 other counties and were well in with the leaders for most of the event.
A wide range of competitions were contested in the Stage Events section with Wexford’s representatives including Sean Og Doyle, Daniel Hersey-Kenny, Billy Lee, T.J. Redmond and Aoife Wafer (BBBCR) who competed in the Group Music competition.
Una Walsh (Taghmon), Min Allen (Clongeen), Eabha Keane (Piercestown/Murrintown) and Carys Jones (Castlebridge/ Crossabeg) represented Wexford in the Solo Music section, and Chloe Wafer and Shauna Mulhall (BBBCR) did likewise in the Recitation section.
Clongeen flew the Wexford flag in the U12 and U16 Group Drama events. The U12s, who took home the silver medal, were composed of Gianna Blake, Kaleb Blake, Keela Daly, Ciara Farrell, Blanaid McCormack and Roisin McCormack. They acted out ‘Princess Liberation’ with good delivery and plenty of laughs. The U16s also put in a great performance and were unfortunate to finish outside of the medals.
The county was represented in the U16 Contemporary Group Irish Dance category by a team from Rathgarogue-Cushinstown composed of Aoife Barry, Laurie Bolger, Mia Walsh and Aoife Byrne. The girls were fantastic and very much deserved their bronze medal finish.
Bree-Davidstown members Michael Roche, David O’Leary and Gavin O’Connor won gold medals in the U14 Debating final which was a fantastic result. Eight teams took part in the competition which began with the Wexford team successfully opposing the motion, ‘This house believes that children U14 should not use social media’.
At the next stage of the competition the team successfully proposed the motion, ‘This house believes that people should be fined for not recycling’ and in the final debate of the day the team opposed the motion, ‘This house believes that Ireland should give more money to poor countries’.
It was a wonderful performance by the three boys that earned them their gold medals. Shane Jordan was also part of the team that won the county final but was unable to attend the national finals due to a family communion. The team was coached by Clare Doyle.
All of the Wexford participants represented their county with distinction and with the National Finals (part 2) due to take place in August, Community Games Wexford is hoping for even more success at the end of the summer.