For the past ten years the MDL grounds in Navan has hosted the the FAI Schools Meath 5-a-side tournament for boys and girls in Primary Schools throughout the Royal County.
The huge growth in popularity of the event continues again this year with a massive 165 teams from 77 schools across Meath participating.
The tournament was originally hosted in several venues across County Meath from 1992-1999 before moving to the MDL for the first time in the year 2000 (originally on grass pitches). The following year saw the competition move to the six-All Weather pitches at the MDL.
The Navan venue has also hosted the All Ireland Finals of the competition on six occasions in recent years.
Meath's most recent All Ireland Champions were the boys from Rathbeggan NS who won the section for medium sized schools in 2005.
Drogheda United players have made the presentations for the past three years at the Meath and Leinster Finals.
The National launch of the competition was conducted by Ireland manager Giovanni Trapatonni along with Reading and Ireland International Noel Hunt and the hugely talented Katie Taylor, Republic of Ireland Women's International and World Boxing Champion.
This year's EA Sports FAI Schools Meath 5 A Side will take place over the course of six full days from Monday 23 to Friday 27 March with the Finals on Tuesday 31st March.
All games will be played on the all-weather pitches of the MDL in Navan.
The winners of each of the five sections advance to represent Meath at the North Leinster Finals where they battle it out against their counterparts from Louth, Longford and Westmeath. The North Leinster Final will be played at the fabulous facilities of the JJB Soccerdome on 13 May.
The Leinster Finals scheduled for the MDL in Navan on the 20th May and the All Ireland Finals down for decision on May 27th at Tullamore FC 's Leah Victoria Park.
The tournament has five sections, three for boys and two for girls, each based on the number of pupils in 4th, 5th and 6th classes. This means similarly sized schools can compete against each other with separate sections for small, medium and large schools.
In 2008 the boys from Boyerstown won their first County title when beating Rathkenny in the Final for small schools. The girls from Newtown also won their first county final when overcoming Kildalkey in a close encounter.
In the section for medium sized schools Athboy won their second title when they ousted the brave challenge of Kilcloon. The girls from St. Oliver Plunkett's School in Navan won their third county title when they beat Whitecross NS (Julianstown) in the Final for large schools while the boys from St. Colmcille's Kells pipped Donacarney BNS in their Final.
However the Meath winning schools, unlike in previous years, were unable to advance to the Leinster Finals as schools from Longford and Louth dominated. The National Finals last year saw the trend in recent years continue when Ulster schools won most of the honours.
Meath and Leinster Co-ordinator Paul Holland stated, "The numbers of competing schools has grown considerably since we moved to the All Weather facilities of the MDL. Our aim has always been to welcome as many teams as possible to enjoy the experience of representing their school in a national competition. I am delighted this year to welcome on board, Mark Scanlon (FAI Development Officer for Meath). The teachers very much appreciate the assistance also from Tom Mohan, Mick Neville and Ian Carry"
Apart from the competitive aspect of the tournament every effort is made to involve as many boys and girls as possible. Schools in the sections for large schools are permitted to enter up to three teams. However, only one team per school will be allowed to enter in the sections for small schools.
Professional referees will be involved in the latter stages of each of the five competitions similar to last year’s format.
Further information on Meath’s 5 A Side competition can be viewed on www.faischoolsleinster.com or contact Paul Holland 087 9630 375 or Mark Scanlon 086 7954 353.
The competition has certainly come a long way since 1992 when the original three Meath schools Gaelscoil na Ríthe, Dunshaughlin, St. Michael's NS, Trim and Boyerstown, had to travel to West Dublin to compete in the local qualifiers of the Dublin competition!
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