Community Games Update 2018

A Rundown of Events So Far

Following the success of a children’s Sports Day which we ran in the summer of 2017, we agreed there was enough interest to enter a new Area in the Dublin Community Games.

A number of us meet with a representative of the Community Games to discuss what was needed to create this new area.
– We needed to all get Garda-vetted
– We needed to come up with a name – Roebuck
– We needed to create a boundary for an area not already contained within an existing Community Games Area. We intentionally kept it small for the first year
– We needed to set up a committee, which was made up of Chair Daithí Ó hAoláin, Treasurer Cathal Cavanagh, Secretary Aoibhinn Woods, Assistant Secretary Shane Cotter and Children’s Officer Aoife Cavanagh.
– We needed to register all this on the Community Games website
– We need to seek approval to use the Rosemount sports fields and book our timeslots in advance.
– We needed to run a local Sports Day event for the Roebuck area. This was run on a Sunday afternoon, 22nd April, at 1.30pm on the Rosemount playing field.

Thanks to our local sponsors – Lynams, Smart Dentists, and of course the Roebuck Residents’ Committee.

The competitors who finished ahead at the local Sports Day (who live within the agreed Roebuck boundary area), were asked if they would like to participate in the Dublin Games. In the end we had thirteen girls and two boys who agreed to go forward to compete in the Dublin games in Morton Stadium, Santry.

The day itself was a huge success. Morton Stadium is an intimidating stadium for first time runners. But this did not deter our group one bit. Our group may not have been the fastest, but they cheered the loudest, and were the most enthusiastic.

They competed in events such as 60m, 80m, 100m, 200m, 600m, 800m, relays and long puck. From U8 to U14.

The parents too played their part to ensure the children were hydrated, sun screamed and ready to compete when called upon.

The day was long and very hot but again this did not dampen the enthusiasm. One runner had to wait over 6 hours to race in her 600m event, and our gang cheered loudest when she produced what could only be described as a Sonia O’Sullivan kick to finish stronger than the other racers but unfortunately she did not get into the medals this time.

But we didn’t leave empty-handed; Riona Ferriter won the new Roebuck Area’s first ever medal. Competing fantastically in the U14 Long Puck. Well done Riona!

The children went away exhausted but happy.

What’s Next for the 2019 Events?
– We are looking for volunteers to help out any way they can.
– We will discuss increasing the boundary with our neighbours in Rosemount and Taney.
– Any changes will have to be submitted and approved by Dublin Community Games.
– We will run a similar local qualifing event in April 2019 in Rosemount fields again.
– We will look to have the children even better prepared for 2019. So will be looking for anyone with coaching experience to help out.
– We will have singlets for the participants, designed by one of the children from OLG (the multi-talented medalist Riona Ferriter).
– And hopefully we can buy some more equipment – the relay runners had to train with smelly old wavin piping!

(Thanks to Shane for providing us with this update.)