Football Legend visits school

FORMER Northern Ireland goalkeeper Pat Jennings joined local school children in Limavady last week at a special football festival hosted at Roe Valley Leisure centre.

Pupils from Termoncanice, Drumachose, Central and Roe Valley Integrated Primary Schools joined 'Big Pat' and local IFA and community coaches for a series of fun football drills and training techniques. The festival, hosted by McDonald's and the Irish Football Association, was spearheaded by the former NI goalie through his role as McDonald's Head of NI Football.

The Roe Valley pupils were amongst over 4,000 children throughout Northern Ireland participating in McDonald's and the IFA school curriculum coaching programme in 2010, a key part of their Community Partnership.

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Commenting on the Limavady based festival Pat Jennings said:

"The event in Limavady is an example of our regional football festival programme which is an excellent way to encourage more children across Northern Ireland to enjoy playing football. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the pupils and witnessing how much they love the game."

Pat continued: "McDonald's community partnership with the IFA is delivering significant benefits for grassroots football programmes across Northern Ireland. As well as being committed to encouraging more children to enjoy football, McDonald's is providing more access to qualified coaching and the necessary expertise and equipment to enable more people to become involved in the game, be that as coaches, volunteers or within football clubs, to improve the standard of grassroots football."

The festival was led by local IFA Grassroots Development Officer Joe Doherty who praised the former footballer's attendance.

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Joe said: "McDonald's partnership with the IFA is enabling more and more young people to become involved in and enjoy the game of football in the Limavady area. I'm delighted Pat was able to attend our event and pass on his vast football knowledge to the children, who were all very excited to meet a true legend."

Together McDonald's and the IFA have been developing grassroots football in Northern Ireland since 2002 and have created over 400 coaches who are delivering qualified coaching to thousands of children across Northern Ireland. Local football clubs across Northern Ireland are also benefiting from the programme through the provision of free equipment, the availability of places on coaching courses and by having qualified McDonald's IFA coaches lead club training sessions. McDonald's and the IFA also host a number of football festivals throughout the year where thousands of primary school children and members of the public receive access to qualified football coaching while enjoying a day of fun-filled football action.