JUNIOR SCHOOL GAMES NEWSLETTER MARCH 2015 STD4 – Tag rugby Blitz -Sarah – India O’Donohoe The Std.4 girls went to a tag rugby blitz on Tuesday the 10th of March. We left the school at 11.30am to go to Mount Anville. There where four schools competing. All ten Std4 girls played on the squad. The games were eight a side. We firstly played Rathdown School followed by Mount Anville A’s and B’s and finally Castlepark. We had an overall score of 10, which although didn’t get us into the final was a great result. Everyone enjoyed the day and it was a great experience.
STD5 – Willow Blitz Hugh Beashel STD5 The annual Willow Blitz was on the 7th of March. It was very exciting as there were teams from all over Ireland and even England. We played our first three group matches against Pres Bray, Terenure and a Limerick Club and won all of them! The first two we won easily but Pres was a very tough match so we were really happy we came out on top. Then there were treats and cakes before three more matches. Unluckily we lost two of them against strong Willow and CBC Monkstown sides but we were happy to beat Castlepark. The team played Great! Unfortunately I got injured in our last match against Willow but I was cheered up by getting the Gerard’s Man of the match prize of a really nice Rugby Ball!!!
Hockey Trip to Limerick -Sarah Lily Lynch Std6 On the 11th of March, the Std. 6 girls headed down to Limerick on the bus accompanied by Cathy and Julie. When High School Musical 2 was just over we arrived at Cresent Comprehensive school where the event was held. Scoil Ide was the school hosting the event to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary. We played five friendly matches with the friendly country gals. After food and drink in the canteen, we hopped on the bus and drove to Moneygal, where we stopped at the Barack Obama Plaza for dinner. We arrived home at six, we were all tired and glad it was a Saturday!!
RUGBY AND HOCKEY Julie As the Rugby and Hockey seasons come to an end, we reflected back on all the ups and downs of the season. The rugby boys really showed great progress this year with the Std6 boys winning their final two games with tough opponents from Terenure and Pres Cubs. We wish the boys all the best in Senior School Rugby, The Std.6 girls are following in the Senior schools footstep by winning the League and the Plate Finals in Three Rock Rovers last week. All the younger teams have shown great progress throughout the year also I would like to thank all the coaching staff for the hard work commitment and dedication which they have shown to all the teams. SUMMER GAMES The summer term is going to be equally as busy with the Std5 boys in the cricket league, Std6 boys and girls in Tennis leagues, Swimming galas, Athletics Meets and golf event. Please keep watching the web page for updates and please feel free to come along and support any of the games! INTER SCHOOLS Emma Ward STD6 The Inter schools was a show jumping competition. The teams were made up of pupils from Std5 & 6 . Me ( Emma) , Faye, Ronan, Ailbhe, Caragh,Jordan, Emily, Abbie and Roisin. They were held once a month in Killosery Stud. At the start I felt a bit nervous because everybody had done some show jumping competitions before, but I was a complete novice. By the end of it I had so much more confidence. Thanks to Deirdre, Abbie’s Mum, and Pam O’Loughlin for organising it and Neil Durkan for being team leader. On the last day out we were absolutely thrilled to come 2nd. I feel I can do anything now!
ORIENTEERING NEWS Cuan Riordan Std5 This is my second year doing orienteering and I love it. Orienteering is basically a cross country race usually in woods, forests and mountains. At the start you get a map and everyone has a compass. When you get your start time and set off you have to find orange and white controls (flags) that are marked on your map, but you have to find them in the right order or you will be disqualified. When you find them you put a little electric card that is attached to your finger into the reader on the control and when it beeps it proves you have found it. Orienteering was invented by the army in Sweden about 100 years ago and today it is used in special forces tests and training worldwide. Some of the world’s top orienteers are so fit they even end up running in the Olympic Games in the 10,000 metres and the Marathon. Orienteering is expected to be in the Olympics soon as it is now a sport that is popular in 73 countries throughout the world. You can do orienteering in groups but most people, including me, like to do it on their own because then it is a real challenge. Races are usually held every Sunday which is great because I get to play rugby on Saturday too. The nice thing is that it doesn’t have to be a race. People of any age or fitness who just want to enjoy nature and have an interesting walk can do a course at their own pace. There are also big competitions like The Leinster Schools Championships and this Easter I am going to England for the “JK” which will have over 4,000 competitors. It’s going to be over the mountains in the Lake District so I think it will be tough! In the summer holidays last year I brought Harry from my class orienteering in Barnnasinglan (near the Scalp) and it was great fun. We ran as a team of two there.
Rossa Byrne Leinster Schools Swimming Championship
Alan Gordon All-Ireland Indoors for high Jump and relay team
Boys Basketball team that narrowly missed out in a place in the semi-finals of the AIJS basketball Blitz
Cuan Riordan Leinster and Irish Oreinteering competions SPORTS STARTS
Leinster Primary and School Girls’ Hockey League and Plate Winner 2015 Roisin Treacy Irish Pentathlon team 2015
By Julie McInerney Head of PE and Games St Gerard’s Junior School