250 young footballers enjoy St Loman's Street Leagues finals night
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The Dublin and Monaghan teams with their coaches.Image 2 of 8
The Roscommon and Tyrone teams with their coaches.Image 3 of 8
The Mayo and Galway teams with their coaches.Image 4 of 8
The Wexford and Offaly teams.Image 5 of 8
The Clare and Leitrim teams with their coaches.Image 6 of 8
The Derry and Kerry teams with Ronan O’Toole.Image 7 of 8
The Westmeath and Sligo teams.Image 8 of 8
The Donegal and Louth teams before their match.The 250 young footballers who played in the St Loman’s GAA Street Leagues finals on Friday June 7 had the company of large numbers from the club’s senior squads as mentors and referees.
The hundreds of players in the junior division (U8 girls and U7 boys); intermediate division (U10 girls and U9 boys); and senior division (U12 girls and U11 boys) were also joined by large numbers of families and friends, who provided a guard of honour as they paraded from the dressing rooms to the main pitches for their matches.
In a competition where fun and fostering a strong club spirit are more important than results, everyone played with massive enthusiasm, encouraged and guided by the volunteer coaches who do such a fine job on midweek evenings and Saturday mornings throughout the season.
The teams are named for counties, and in the younger divisions, Meath played Kildare, Cork played Cavan, Fermanagh played Armagh, and Lough played Donegal. In the senior finals Mayo faced Galway, Kerry played Derry, Roscommon took on Tyrone and Dublin played Monaghan.
Ted Cronin, chairperson of St Loman’s Ladies, and Aidan Canning and Donal Kilmurray, are the organisers of the Street Leagues, and they’ve been involved since they began four years ago.
Ted said the leagues have been growing in that time, and they continue to emphasise fun for the underage players. "We get great support from the parents and families, and members of our senior men and senior women squads have turned out in large numbers this evening. That gives the youngsters a connection with the older payers, and likewise, for the older players they can see ‘this is the future’ – in six or eight years’ time, some of these kids will be playing alongside the current senior players, so it’s great to see, and it builds a great club atmosphere."
On behalf of the club, Ted offered thanks to the coaches who put in so much of their time, and to the parents who provided the massive array of treats for the post match party in the clubhouse. He said there are a number of sponsors and supporters of the Street Leagues, and also thanked them, and added that although Friday evening was driven as a club event rather than as a fundraiser, any funds raised through the collections buckets would go to the future development of the club.
"All the kids received medals, and a medal entitles them to free ice cream," he concluded.