Soccer Marathon, Nov 2019

This year’s soccer marathon, in aid of St. Vincent De Paul, had a record 142 transition year students involved.

Good weather and the novelty of the 4G pitch resulted in entertaining games.

Though the rain arrived in the afternoon, the spirit and energy never wavered, as the outdoor part of the tournament finished at the last 16 stage.

After tea, the troupe convened in the Jubilee hall where the competitiveness continued. At 11.00pm the teachers’ team took to the pitch captained by Mr E O’Brien. The atmosphere was hostile, silenced only by the exquisite finishing of Mr O’Brien. As expected, the teachers won all three matches.

The arrival of pizzas at midnight recharged the batteries and the boys stuck to the task and the activities continued with FIFA tournaments, swims and even a movie or two.

I thank Mr O’Brien, Mr Grant, Peter O’Reilly, Jack Gardiner, Scott Cullinane, Tom Sheerin, Peter Quinlan and Matthew O’Carroll for their soccer skills. I would like to especially thank the student coordinators of the event Michael English, Bobby Dowling, Josh Scallan, James Boland, Marcus Noble and Will Fitzgerald. Finally, I commend the boys on their incredible fund-raising efforts as we collected just over €19,000 was collected for St Vincent DePaul.

I thank Mr O’Neill and Mr Grant who delivered on a top-class event.