Yesterday, Sunday 3rd, saw the clubs youngest athletes compete at national level, in the Children’s games u9-11 or pairs competition, in Tullamore. Thankfully, the weather was much improved on Saturday and we had sunshine for most of the day, with a light breeze and no rain. There were 4 x u9 pairs, 3 x u10 pairs and 6 x u11 pairs competing with 4 relay teams, 2 x u9, 1 x u10 and 1 x u11.
Laura Sheehy & Amy McCarthy took gold in the u11 60m, it being 3 in a row for Laura with gold the last two years also. A fantastic achievement! Kate Collins & Clodagh Barry threw really well to win bronze in the u9 turbo. Again a great achievement in their 1st All Ireland’s.
In the long jump we had Ruby Cummins & Emma O Connell u9 and Leah Crean & Aoife Callan u10. Super jumping by all the girls on such a big day. In the u10 60m Sarah Burrows & Leah Crean got called in at the last minute by Munster to replace a pair that couldn’t go and the girls did themselves proud considering the little time they had to prepare. In the u11 600m Oisin McCarthy & Adam Barry fought bravely in two very fast races and ran very good times. In the u11 turbo Maia McCourt & Aoife Tuthill threw well but came up against very tough competition on the day.
But 4th place was the order of the day, with 5 of our pairs finishing in 4th place, missing out on medals by the narrowest of margins, whether it be seconds or cms. Harry McCourt & Oran Coughlan 4th u9 60m, Harry McCourt & Andrew Lane 4th u9 turbo, Coen Crowley & Dara Walsh 4th u11turbo, Amy McCarthy & Aoibhinn McKeogh 4th u11 600m and Maia McCourt & Vicki Good 4th u11 60m. There were some great performances and superb PBs and it just shows you also need a little luck on the day.
Last up, at the end of a very long day, with a lot of kids up since the crack of dawn, competing and waiting about in between, were the relays. Always exciting and great to watch our four relays didn’t disappoint. All age groups had to run heats to qualify for the final. The u9 girls ran their heart out and were really unlucky to miss out on a place in the final. The u10 girls qualified from a very fast heat and after a great run by all four finished 5th in a great time. The u11 girls also qualified from a very fast heat and they ran absolutely out of their skins to take bronze on the day behind their Munster rivals, Doneen & Leevale. The u9 boys qualified for the final from heat 2 behind Leevale. Once that whistle went in the final, these boys were not settling for 4th or 3rd place and gave absolutely everything they had and battled superbly down the home straight finishing in 2nd place just behind Derg and ahead of Leevale. It’s also worth mentioning that this team dropped the baton in the Munsters but picked it up and still managed to finish 3rd, to qualify for the All Ireland’s. A lesson we could all learn from, that even if the situation looks hopeless, keep trying, don’t give up. And now they have earned themselves well deserved All Ireland medals. A fantastic team performance from boys so young.
Well done to all of the above young athletes who traveled such a long way and competed so well on the day, their parents and their coaches. Off the track, there was the usual comraderie also with ‘all for one & one for all’ the theme of the day. A special thank you to Trevor Collins for taking some great photos on the day. Ye all did Bandon AC proud. Take a bow.
Report by Susan McCourt.