The inaugural Meath Schools Futsal Tournament will take place from November 4th – November 7th in Trim:
Futsal is the official UEFA and FIFA version of 5-a-side football and last month saw hosts Brazil win the Futsal World Cup for the first time:
The Republic of Ireland are due to compete for the first time in an international next year and hopefully this tournament will set the ball rolling for future internationals stars:
The tournament kicks off next Tuesday the 4th with the Girls Primary Schools section and is followed on the 5th by the Boys Primary Schools section:
Both days will see students from fourth class across 8 schools competing for the title of Meath champions and the chance to represent the county in the Leinster finals, which will take place in the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght in February 2009:
The Girls competition will consist of; St: Marys (Trim), St: Josephs (Navan), Gaelscoil Na Rithe (Dunshaughlin), Scoil Mhuire (Navan), Scoil Naomh Eoin (Navan), Realt Na Mara (Donacarney), O’Growney N:S: (Athboy), St: Patricks (Stamullen):
The Boys competition will be made up of St: Michaels (Trim), Gaelcsoil Na Rithe (Dunshaughlin), St: Olivers (Navan), O’Growney N:S: (Athboy), Realt Na Mara (Donacarney), Cortown N:S: (Cortown), Nobber N:S: (Nobber), Drumbaragh N:S: (Kells):
The event has been organized by FAI Meath Development Officer Mark Scanlon and FAI Schools co/ordinator Paul Holland, the hope is that next year the event can be rolled out to all schools in the county:
On November 6th the Girls Secondary School section will take place and on November 7th the Boys Secondary School section will take place, the secondary schools tournaments are for first year students from 8 secondary schools across the county and again the winners will have a chance to represent Meath in the Leinster finals in January:
The Girls title will be competed for by Beaufort College (Navan), St: Michaels Loreto (Navan), St: Josephs Mercy (Navan), St: Olivers Post Primary (Oldcastle), Scoil Mhuire (Trim), Dunshaughlin Community College (Dunshaughlin), St: Peters College (Dunboyne), Eureka Secondary School (Kells):
The Boys title will be up for grabs between Beaufort College (Navan) St: Olivers Post Primary (Oldcastle), Dunshaughlin Community College (Dunshaughlin), St: Peters College (Dunboyne), Athboy Community School (Athboy), St: Ciarans Community School (Kells), Boyne Community School (Trim), O’Carolan College (Nobber):
The tournament will begin each day at 10am and teams will be split into two groups of four, semi/finals will take place at 1pm and the day will finish up with a final at 2pm: Best of luck to all schools competing across the four days: