Comhghairdeachas and well done to both our Girl’s team’s who earlier took part in the FAI Spar 5’s at Kiltimagh and Knock United.

Team 1 / White had a fantastic morning winning three of their group games before losing to the eventual winners from Bekan NS. The can be so proud of their performances.

Team 2 / Green also performed brilliantly progressing from a very difficult group (Scoil Íosa Ballyhaunis, Claremorris Girls NS and St.Aidan’s NS Kiltimagh) winning all three of their games and with each member of the squad playing a big part in this.

Unfortunately the girls lost the final against an excellent Bekan NS team who had earlier defeated our White team. Again, each of the girls played their hearts out and can be so proud of their efforts. Maith sibh a chailiní.

Finally a special word of thanks to Ms.Sweeney for all her support this morning and to Paul Byrne of the FAI who organising the competition here in Mayo. Despite the weather conditions it was a really enjoyable day for us all!

Next up on Monday of next week will see our Boys team take part in their qualifiers. We wish them well!

Our three teams Girls, Boys and Mixed teams set off this morning to participate in the Connacht Regional Spikeball Finals in Loughrea. This alone, was a fantastic achievement on their behalf, having progressed from Mayo County qualifiers. The standard of Spikeball from all of the other Connacht qualifiers was, as you would expect, very high indeed. Nevertheless, both of our teams did us very proud as always, showing great spirit and determination in all of their matches each playing four matches in the initial rounds.

What a morning we had with our three teams progressing from their group stages, despite facing some very challenging teams. Unfortunately, here our Mixed and Boys’s team both were defeated by the eventual winners in thrilling games. Despite this, they both can be so proud of their efforts, they each certainly represented our school with pride.

Our girls team also faced stiff competition, with tightly fought contests in all rounds. Their performance increased and improved as the day progressed and after some epic battles they reached the Connaught Final. As a result they qualified for the All Ireland Spikeball Finals in Limerick on Thursday next. What an achievement it is to have our school back again on the National Stage. As with all our teams we could not be more proud of them. All our students have made great progress and we were delighted their efforts.

As always to conclude a special thank you to Mr.Rushe who prepared our students so well and to Geraldine Finn who coached our teams and year on year puts so much into Spikeball in our school . We are very fortunate to have her expertise, enthusiasm and support always.

Onwards and upwards for our Girls as all roads lead to Limerick on Thursday next, a very exciting way to conclude our term!

Congratulations to our Girls ‘White’ Team, our Boys Team and our Mixed team who on Monday progressed to the Connaught Primary Spikeball finals following Monday’s Mayo deciders here in Charlestown.

Well done also also to our Girls (Green 2 ) team who also played so well in their respective group. We were delighted with the progress the children have made in such a short space of time. It was heartening to witness the improvement in confidence and skill level as the day progressed.

As mentioned both our Girls, Boys and Mixed teams have now qualified for the Connaught Finals which will take place in Loughrea, Co.Galway (Date to be confirmed). There are still lots of areas for further improvement and we look forward to working hard over the next month to prepare for this date.

Finally, a special word of thanks to Geraldine Finn for coaching the teams. Geraldine’s knowledge and expertise is invaluable alongside her interest in the game. We really appreciate this support.

Thank you also to Mr.Rushe for all his help in preparing the teams and to the Transition Year girls from St.Joseph’s Community College who gave the students such a great base through their coaching programme throughout the autumn.

Well done to all the students who this morning participated in the annual local Spikeball blitz. It was a fun morning where we had the opportunity to play with and against our friends from all the local schools.

As always we were very proud of our students, particularly the manner they represented the school trying their very best!

A very special word of thanks to the Transition Year students from St.Joseph’s Community College for all their help and enthusiasm in promoting the game, organising the local blitz and helping our students and to Ms.Leyden in particular for co-ordinating the programme throughout this school year.

We really appreciated this interest and support.

Next up for the boys and girls is the Mayo Finals on Monday next. We wish our teams every success!

Commiserations and hard luck to our girls team who today were defeated in their Area 8 Mini 7’s Final by against an excellent St.Attracta’s NS Ballaghaderreen 4-4 to 2-4 this afternoon.

Our girls can be so proud of themselves giving was a great team performance with all our panel members contributing and adding. Maith sibh go léir a chailiní.

Many thanks as always to all at Ballaghadereen GAA who deserve great credit for having their excellent facilities available to us. Thank you also to our referee Tommy who officiated today. Finally a very special thank you to Mr Rushe who for all his time, interest and support of the girls.

Comghairdeachas mór to Jessica Casey of our Sixth Class who on Saturday morning competed in the Connuaght Primary Schools Cross Country Finals at St.Brigid’s GAA Club, Kiltoom Co.Roscommon.

Jessica produced a fantastic performance finishing 25th in a very competitive race and can count herself unlucky that she didn’t finish higher due to the crowded nature of the finish.

Jessica has represented our school with great distinction across a number of codes over the past number of years. As a side she is a talented soccer player also and represented her county and indeed her province- Connaught in a recent regional blitz in Dublin.

Well done to Jessica and to all our students who took part in Cross Country this school year. Each and every one of you did your very best and we’re very proud of all your efforts.

Maith sibh go léir.

Well done to our Girls and Boys teams who today competed in the Local Finals of the Mini 7’s in Charlestown. Both our teams gave fantastic accounts of themselves, with many of our students experiencing the thrill of wearing their school jersey for the first time.

As with our Cross Country preparation earlier this term, we were delighted with the progress of the students, each of the children played their hearts out and gave their all! Comhghairdeachas to our Girls team who progressed to the area finals which will be played after our Mid Term break against St.Attracta’s Ballaghaderreen and commiserations to our Boys who as we mentioned tried their very best and were competitive in both of their games.

A special word of thanks to all at Charlestown G.A.A. for organising and supporting today’s games, particularly given the weather conditions. Finally and indeed most importantly a huge thank you and well done to all the local participating schools who played such a part in ensuring it was a very enjoyable morning. There are so many talented footballers in this area that the children can only look forward to having great days together wearing their club colours.

Maith sibh go léir!