Glin Road Community Centre in Coolock was the site of a fiercely-contested soccer blitz last Friday.
Organised by Derek O’Neill of the Darndale Community Training Centre with the help of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and Dublin City Council (DCC), the blitz featured eight local teams drawn from the Traveller and settled communities, Community Tra-ining Centres (CTCs) and Youthreach centres.
Niall McDonald, a sports development officer with DCC, told Metro Eireann that the soccer blitz events and DCC futsal leagues get a great response, especially from the Traveller players.
“It’s very skills-based and regular,” he said. “Our league operates out of St Catherine’s [in Dublin 8] so some of the Traveller players here today have come from that league.
“It’s great for the lads to get to know each other this way. Other guys come from the CTCs where football features as an extracurricular part of the mechanics’ skills course.”
David Lovett, a woodwork instructor at Darndale CTC, explained the importance of soccer in the lives of their trainees: “We get to communicate with them on a different level; it’s more of a teamwork opportunity.
“It takes a certain level of aggression out of classroom situations and out onto the pitches and playing fields. The teams also get to realise that they have more in common than they do in differences.”
Gabriel Mirza, originally from Romania and a former professional football player, is team coach for the winners of Friday’s competition, Rings-end.
“I have the FAI coach certificate and I am glad to pass on the skills,” he told Metro Eireann. “I have a good team and I was pretty confident in their chances here today. My guys are doing a Fás course which includes health and fitness, so that’s how we heard about this soccer blitz.” Ringsend also produced the player of the tournament, Dean Buckley.
Jim Lee, a local Rapid (Revitalising Areas by Plan-ning, Investment and Devel-opment) co-ordinator, said: “This initiative is just one example of the kind of work that the FAI and DCC are doing. It’s very competitive and there is plenty of enthusiasm. The Travellers have fielded some good teams, but all the players deserve credit for making today a great success.”
The players are equally happy with the competition. Keith O’Reilly, playing with Darndale CTC, said: “We do training over in Darndale and try to keep fit. These matches are great. If I wasn’t into the training and the football I’d probably just be at home all the time watching TV.”
Sharon Boyle, community development officer in the Darndale–Kilbarrack area working with the FAI, told Metro Eireann: “At this age we want these guys as active as possible… This is a pilot run and hopefully we can secure funding to make it a more ongoing thing. We want to make it a ten-week run.
“We would also hope to extend it out to Fingal and Dublin 24. Having the facilities is key and the response we have had from the lads who turned up today has been fantastic.”
Thomas Heary, a Bohemians player who was on hand to present the day’s trophies, commented: “These soccer blitz days are more about honing your skills, not just about winning.”
His colleague Neale Fenn added that blitz days are good for ball control, expressing yourself and not having too much pressure on. “Just get out there and enjoy it, it’s what football should be about,” he said.
Participating teams: Ringsend, Darndale CTC, Discovery Centre, Maughan Celtic, Cherry Orchard, Harmonstown, Darndale United, Belldale United
Winners: Ringsend
Player of the tournament: Dean Buckley, Ringsend
Fair-play player of the tournament: John Maughan, Maughan Celtic
Referees: David Rake and Denis Hyland
Player of the tournament: Dean Buckley, Ringsend
Fair-play player of the tournament: John Maughan, Maughan Celtic
Referees: David Rake and Denis Hyland
