Eglinton CC, City of Derry Rugby Club, Institute FC, St Mary’s Faughanvale GAC and Na Magha hurling and camogie club all come together for Eglinton summer scheme

With no play park available throughout the summer, Eglinton Community Association decided to organise a summer scheme for the local children and issued a call to local sports clubs for help. The response was phenomenal!
Soccer action from the recent kids sports camp at Broadbridge Primary School. DER2130GS - 054 (Picture by George Sweeney)Soccer action from the recent kids sports camp at Broadbridge Primary School. DER2130GS - 054 (Picture by George Sweeney)
Soccer action from the recent kids sports camp at Broadbridge Primary School. DER2130GS - 054 (Picture by George Sweeney)

Eglinton CC, City of Derry Rugby Club, Institute F.C., St Mary’s Faughanvale GAC and Na Magha hurling and camogie club all came together, running two separate week long courses, the second of which gets underway next Monday, as children from 5 to 10 years old all got the opportunity to participate in a cross community, multi-skilled scheme at Broadbridge Primary School.

And for ’Stute’s Youth Development Manager, Gary Forth, he believes the initiative proved a huge success.

“It has been brilliant for the kids with the opportunity for them to try a new sport, a sport that maybe traditionally they wouldn’t have played,” he stated.

“In fact one of the kids’ parents said they watched a bit of the rugby sevens in the Olympics and now understood it better because of the coaching at the scheme. They were enjoying watching it more so the parents benefitted too.

“Look, if the 30 odd kids that were here last week and the 30 that are coming this week, if even a handful of them go on and try a different sport, whether in school or in a local club, then we have really achieved what we set out to achieve.

“From Institute’s point of view, we have changed the model of the club over the last year and now focus on bringing kids in from their U16 season, but before that my role was is liaising with different clubs in the area. If this week plays a tiny part in gaining some exposure for the kids then that’s an added bonus.”

For Eglinton cricket coach, Gary McDaid, the initiative should be just the start of things.

“We need more of these types of cross community sporting activities,” explained McDaid, “It’s good to get everyone involved, especially in cricket, because it has the tradition of not going outside local areas to get players but I feel we need to start targeting ‘non traditional’ areas and this initiative is definitely great for the club.

“I have been involved with Eglinton CC for two or three years and it’s one of the most open and welcoming clubs I have been at. They are willing to try new things and are open to new ideas, which is great.”

Ross McLaughlin, from City of Derry Rugby Club, pointed to the fact that rugby and the GAA, with St Mary’s Faughanvale and Na Magha represented, have similar skill sets for players.

“The likes of rugby and Gaelic come hand in hand as their skills are very similar so it would be great to get some guys who have just played Gaelic to try rugby and vice-versa and then, with cricket also in the village, it’s great to try and encourage as many children to try all the sports as possible.”

Faughanvale senior player Paddy O’Kane enjoyed coaching the various levels and said it was pleasing to see so many children from different backgrounds taking part.

“I’ve enjoyed the coaching and it’s great to have so many kids from different parts of the community, all enjoying all the sports,” he admitted, “It brought a lot of smiles to the kids’ faces and that’s what sport is about, especially as kids, like everyone else, have had a tough time doing sports during the pandemic.”