Showtime for SPAR 5s Leinster Finalists
Saturday, April 23, 2016
ALL ROADS will lead to the MDL Grounds on the Trim Road, Navan in County Meath for the hugely anticipated SPAR FAI Primary School 5s LEINSTER FINALS DAY.
An impressive 24 schools have come through their County and Regional qualifiers to fortunately make it to the big stage as the Provincial decider will kick off this Thursday, April 28 at 11.30am sharp
Schools fromDublin (6), Kildare (4), Wexford (3), Meath (3) Westmeath (2), Carlow (2), Offaly (2), Longford (1) and Wicklow (1) will participate in this keenly contested event.
Dublin’s regional breakdown sees Walkinstown, Coolock, Johnstown, East Wall, Ballyfermot and Tallaght all flying the flag for the City slickers.
St. Damian’s NS are competing in the Girls ‘A’ Cup section for small schools. The record shows a victory for the school back in 2006 at Leinster level. They even went on to pick up silver at the Nationals that season in the ‘B’ Cup. Can the girls replicate this form next week for the Walkinstown side?
Meath side Dunboyne SNS have tasted Leinster success twice before and did extremely well at Nationals with a runners up spot in the Girls ‘B’ Cup back in 2012 and a fourth place finish in 2004. Another representative for the Royal County see Yellow Furze make a welcome return. The Girls ‘A’ side were finalists way back in 2000 and 2001.
Offaly have two schools in contention with Durrow NS and St. Colman’s NS in the mix. Durrow are very experienced at this level but still have to make the breakthrough for the National final stages.
It should make for an excellent showcase in the MDL. All school sizes are catered for with small (‘A’ Section, Girls ‘A’ Section) medium (‘B’ Section, Girls ‘B’ Section) and large (‘C’ Section, Girls ‘C’ Section) schools all taking centre stage in this penultimate contest. There is a section provided for mixed/boys teams as well as a girl’s only category which is sure to turn out some future starlets as previous years will attest to, most notably Lauren Dwyer & Aoibhin Webb (Leinster & National Cup winners with Bennekerry NS, Carlow in 2009),
The Provincial stages are the culmination of three months of entertaining competition held at County level which sees schools progress to the respective Provincial decider. The participants have enjoyed a series of blitz days and excitement will now be mounting as the teams try to build on their previous successes. There are some new faces in the mix which is always lovely to see as well as some familiar friends who all have eyes on the ultimate prize, the bragging rights for the season!
It promises to be a fantastic fun filled day with winners and runners up all receiving a SPAR commemorative medal. The lucky winners will also receive a complimentary SPAR Umbro kit and the prestigious Leinster trophy for their school.
Nearly 24,000 children have participated in 2016 with 1,268schools competing for their respective areas. It’s a huge achievement for the schools to reach this stage and we’re sure to have some laughs and amusement as proceedings get underway.
The ultimate prize for next week’s lucky winners will be an appearance in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin for the National Finals on Wednesday, May 11 all courtesy of our sponsors SPAR.
This too will be a family fun day focused on providing participants and spectators alike with huge excitement and entertainment in order to make it a day to remember for all involved. We wish all participating schools the very best of luck.
Fergus McDaid, Secretary of FAI Schools stated, “This is our second year with title sponsors SPAR and the competition is expanding year on year. The support shown by SPAR ensured this grassroots initiative really supports the local talent in Leinster. The event encourages children to become involved in soccer at an early age and emphasizes the fun aspect of the sport. FAI Schools are delighted to be hosting the Finals on Wednesday, May 11 in Aviva Stadium, something which the children will relish I’m sure.”
Anne Gallagher, SPAR Marketing Manager said, “This is a great opportunity for SPAR to support the local community and encourage children to be more active and participate in sport in a fun and competitive way. As a community based retailer, SPAR encourages a healthy and active lifestyle and is proud to be a supporter of primary schools’ soccer in association with the FAI.No doubt the teachers will be putting in plenty of match practice before the next stage of qualifying as they keep an eye on the top prize... best of luck to all involved.”
Follow the action on social media via #SPAR5s or at www.faischools.ie and www.spar.ie
LEINSTER FINALISTS:
SPAR Cup ‘A’ Schools:
TEAMS
St. Joseph’s Co-Ed, East Wall (Dublin)
Mount Hanover, Scoil Cholmcille, Dunleek, Meath (North Leinster)
St. David’s NS, Naas, Kildare (Mid Leinster)
Ballyellis NS, Wexford (South Leinster)
SPAR Cup ‘A’ Girls Schools:
TEAMS
St. Damian’s NS, Walkinstown (Dublin)
Ardnagrath NS, Westmeath (North Leinster)
Moone NS, Kildare (Mid Leinster)
Clongeen NS, Wexford (South Leinster)
SPAR Cup ‘B’ Schools:
TEAMS
Mary Queen of Angels, Ballyfermot (Dublin)
Dean Kelly NS, Athlone, Westmeath (North Leinster)
Durrow NS, Offaly (Mid Leinster)
Ballon NS, Carlow (South Leinster)
SPAR Cup Girls ‘B’ Schools:
TEAMS
Gaelscoil Cholmcille, Coolock (Dublin)
Yellow Furze, Navan, Meath (North Leinster)
St. Colman’s NS, Offaly (Mid Leinster)
Gorey ETNS, Wexford (South Leinster)
SPAR Cup ‘C’ Schools:
TEAMS
St. Mark’s NS, Springfield, Tallaght (Dublin)
Dunboyle SNS, Meath (North Leinster)
St. Corban’s NS, Kildare (Mid Leinster)
St. John’s SNS, Wicklow (South Leinster)
SPAR Cup Girls ‘C’ Schools:
TEAMS
Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS, Johnstown (Dublin)
Melview NS, Longford (North Leinster)
St. Evin’s NS, Kildare (Mid Leinster)
St. Fiaac’s NS, Carlow (South Leinster)
ENDS
SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Competition
Schedule of Events
PROVINCIAL
Munster Final: April 20, Waterford Institute of Technology Sports Centre, Waterford
Ulster Final: April 21, Lakeside, Aileach FC, Burnfoot, Inishowen, Donegal
Connacht Final: April 27, Milebush Park, Castlebar, Mayo
Leinster Final: April 28, MDL Grounds, Trim Road, Navan, Meath
NATIONAL
National Final: May 11, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
For more information:
Jennifer Kelly, PSG Sponsorship – Jennifer.Kelly@psgsponsorship.ie / 085 1076806
Scott Graham, PSG Sponsorship – Scott.Graham@psgsponsorship.ie / 086 3687548
Diane Fay, FAI Schools - Diane.Fay@fai.ie / 086 0404 952
