FIFA president Robbie Parker’s proposal to stage a mini world cup to close out soccer for our academy has now effectively become an annual event. This year’s event took place on Saturday and featured 12 teams of 80 players, a mix of both boys and girls with 3 points awarded for a win and 1 for a drawn game in the group stages of the competition. In total 30 games took place in the morning. Once again, the day was a huge success, complimented by the beautiful weather and the additional space to provide for such large numbers thanks to the availability of our 2nd pitch.
The world cup trophy received a new film of 18 carat gold plating just for the occasion and was lifted by Shane Quirke on behalf of his team mates Luke Mitchell, Katie O’Dea, Dermot Parker and Martin Mellody. There were also some additional awards for Incredible skill won by Joshua McDonnell, Menlough & Tadhg Hart, Gurteen who reached the 2nd and 3rd tier competitions introduced this year by the FIFA committee! Everyone joined in on a fun filled day which was finally completed after 4 hours of soccer with the academy kids taking on their coaches in a serious football match. The game was only minutes old when the academy coaches had to peel off their layers as they were made sweat by the youngsters proudly displaying the skill they learned all year.
Eveyone chatted over a cuppa afterwards where there was a bountiful supply of food supplied by the parents and a football field work of art in the form of a homemade cake made by Orla McCaffrey and her son Joshua. There was only one word to describe the cake – perfection. Afterwards, Director of Youth Football, Robbie Parker & Chairman Adrian Burke thanked all the academy coaches for their relentless work all year at an exciting and progressing time for the club.
So that sees the end of our academy on the football field until September. There’s one more social outing left for them though…. This Saturday morning in Ballymacward Hall where the club will host its inaugural Breakfast morning. Don’t miss out on this folks….. it’s a first and a great way to close out the football season for our academy kids and underage. Anyone wishing to attend, please let any committee member know as soon as possible so that adequate arrangements are made to ensure everyone receives an ample healthy breakfast.
