The Kerry Diocesan Youth Service (KDYS) in partnership with the Castleisland Garda Siochana ran their annual soccer tournament at Castleisland’s AFC Georgie O’ Callaghan Pitch, Castleisland on Thursday 18th of July. The event was a great success with record breaking number of teams entering, there was 16 teams with around 160 players taking part. This year there were three categories: Primary School section, under 15’s and under 18’s competition.
The primary school competition had 9 teams taking part. They were put into three groups with top three teams in each group getting into the semi-finals. In the end it came down to a final between ‘The Ramblers’ and ‘The Confidence Killers’. The final was a competitive match with great skill on display with ‘The Ramblers’ winning on a score line of 2-1. The team were delighted to win the trophy and victory brought huge celebrations.
There were 5 teams in this category with each team playing eachother with the top two teams in the final. The Final was between ‘Snackbox FC’ and ‘Sean Griffins’s Boys’ with ‘Snackbox FC’ winning on a scoreline of 2-0. The Georgie O Callaghan cup was presented by his brother James to the winning captain Ajay O Connor.
There were 2 teams in the under 18’s competition. They played eachother twice, and the match was played out in a great spirit and in the end ‘Aidan Joy’s Mafia ’ were victorious beating ‘The Grizzleys’ on a score line of 1-0.
In each competition, there were also awards handed out to individuals for Player of the Tournament. In the Primary game, Dylan O Biren from ‘The Ramblers’ received the award. In the U15’S category Glen O Sullivan from ‘Snackbox FC’ received the award. Maurice Lane from ‘Aidan Joys Mafia’ received the award for the U18’S category. The event was organised by Chris Brosnan and Helena Falvey, Youth Justice Workers, KDYS, alongside Garda Niamh Corkery, Sgt Marcus Twomey and Garda Mike Dwyer. However, the event depends on the support and help of many local volunteers.
The KDYS and Castleisland Garda Siochana would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people:
- Stuart Auctioneers for sponsorship of medals and plaques
- Castleisland AFC for use of Georgie O Callaghan Pitch and special mention to its member James O Callaghan for helping on the night.
- Cian Ring, Jim O Connor and student Garda Kalid who did an outstanding job refereeing the games
- KDYS staff and An Garda Siochana for their help on the night.
Thanks also to all the team organisers, players and everyone else who supported the event. We look forward to seeing you again next year.
This project is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.