Competitors at this year’s Community Games came away with lifelong memories borne of narrow wins and tough competition
THE HSE Community Games has been a fixture of Irish summer life for 42 years, and some of Ireland’s greatest sportsmen and women, including Sonia O’Sullivan, Niall Quinn and Ronan O’Gara, have taken part in it.
Added to those luminaries of Irish sport who have gone on to success at international level is 17-year-old Gráinne Murphy, who won a silver medal at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest on Saturday.
It was apt that her 1,500m race happened just as the national finals for girls were finishing at the Regional Sports Centre in Athlone on Saturday. She first graced those finals as a competitor when she won national recognition as a six-year-old.
She then won a bronze medal, competing against older girls, in the under-eights for her native Rathgarogue/Cushinstown in Co Wexford, an achievement that marked her out as something special.
Eleven years on and there was already a frisson of excitement among many in the packed gallery at the sports centre who watched the race on laptops, and the loudest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for the announcement that she had won Ireland’s only medal of the European championships.
The Community Games is essentially about participation, and the 3,000 competitors who took part in the first of the two big national weekend finals on Saturday and Sunday are the lucky ones who have qualified for it.
For the gifted ones, it remains a place to discover talent and to hone it. “Gráinne’s success is primarily down to her hard work, and we are very proud of her,” said Community Games chief executive Fiachra O’ Mathuna, “but the games have always been a place where athletes can progress and understand the nature of competition at an early age. It is the start of the ambition that leads to international success.”
Swimming co-ordinator Mary Corby said many of the weekend competitors got up early in the morning to watch Murphy’s heats in Budapest. “She is a great role model because when the kids see her on the television they want to emulate her. It is great for the profile of our sport.”
Unlike in previous years, there was glorious sunshine for the weekend’s action which took place in the environs of Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) for the second year in a row.
Yesterday, the weather was so hot that one volunteer fainted.
Competitors miss the hurdy-gurdies and the sense of novelty that surrounded Mosney, but the brilliant sporting facilities of AIT have their compensations.
The organisers put on a spectacular opening ceremony, which included a display from the Army’s Black Knight Parachute Group who dropped in the game’s flag from the air.
Nine-year-old Richard Whelan from Bagnelstown, Co Carlow, will never forget yesterday. He scored the winning goal in the mixed under-10 Gaelic football competition, capitalising on a goalmouth mélee with just two minutes remaining as Bagnelstown edged out the Co Cork favourites Douglas by 1-3 to 1-2.
Douglas missed two goal chances and a last-minute free, but they had been fortunate in the semi-final against the Connacht champions Carrick-on-Shannon who also failed to win the semi-final match in extra time with a free in the last minute. That game was decided in sudden death. Carrick went on to win the bronze medal yesterday.
It was the second consecutive year that Bagnelstown has won the competition – a fantastic achievement for a county that never wins at national level. The young players brought hundreds of fans, many in Carlow jerseys, who staged a pitch invasion after the game.
The under-15 girls’ final also turned out to be a protracted affair. Wexford, represented by Bree/Davidstown, and Kilmallock from Co Limerick played out a 0-0 draw. The game was stopped for 15 minutes when one of the players got injured. Bree/Davidstown eventually won 3-2 on penalties.
The finals will continue next weekend, when the children will participate in athletics, rugby, futsal, camogie, hurling, rounders and basketball
