What a proud day for St. Colmcille’s!
Today in Limerick six boys achieved something extraordinary – something new for our school – an All Ireland title!
Having lost their first two games, hopes of becoming All Ireland Champions were faint. But with that Colmcille’s spirit and some inspiring coaching from Mr. Doyle and Ms. Faherty, things soon began to look up. Impressive wins over Scoil Iosagáin Ballincollig (Cork), Fethard (Tipperary) and Castlebar (Mayo) paved the way to an All Ireland Final.
In the final the boys were pitted against Creagh NS (Galway). After three gruesome sets, the boys in green were crowned All Ireland Champions!
All Ireland Glory for St. Colmcille’s.
On Monday 20th March 2017 St. Colmcille’s Templemore welcomed local Paralympian Peter Ryan to their school for the day. Despite being visually impaired Peter has represented Ireland in cycling at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. Peter spoke to the boys about overcoming setbacks and never giving up in pursuit of your dreams regardless of the barriers in your way.
These words echoed deep in the minds of the eight St. Colmcille’s 5th and 6th class students as they departed Templemore for Mary Immaculate College Limerick on Wednesday 22nd March for the All Ireland finals of Spikeball 2017.
Spikeball is a volleyball alternative developed by the Volleyball Association of Ireland which children can play as part of Physical Education in school.
St. Colmcille’s were one of 124 boy’s schools to have started out on the quest to become National Champions. Having successfully progressed from a County Tipperary blitz in Rockwell College and then a Regional Finals Blitz in Callan, Co. Kilkenny St. Colmcille’s had now found themselves in the final 8 in Ireland and the dream was now becoming more and more like something that could be achieved.
Coming into the National Finals unbeaten meant the boys were not short of confidence as they took to the court for their first game of the day against The Rock N.S from Co Laois. Uncharacteristic mistakes and unforced errors saw St. Colmcille’s fall to a 25-18 loss. The sense of disappointment was palpable among the team as this was definitely not the way the boys hoped the day would begin.
They didn’t get to feel sorry for themselves for long though as game 2 was upon them before they knew it and Scoil Raifteirí from Castlebar in Co. Mayo lined up opposite St. Colmcille’s. Despite a greatly improved performance lady luck did not shine upon St. Colmcille’s as they were again defeated on a scoreline of 27-20.
With 2 defeats from their opening two games the boy’s heads were down and when Mr. Doyle reminded them of Peter Ryan’s inspirational words two days previous that a setback is only an excuse for a comeback, they rallied and vowed to give their all in their final group game against Scoil Iosagáin from Co Cork and hopefully the right result would follow. The weight of consecutive defeats was lifted as St. Colmcille’s put in a super performance to win 27-22. This result meant they finished 3rd in their pool and qualified to play Holy Trinity N.S from Fethard in a Tipperary derby in the Quarter finals.
There was no room for error now as a defeat would spell the end of the road for either team. After a gruelling first set the teams could not be separated and drew 20-20. Ten more minutes were needed and St. Colmcille’s held their nerve to edge out their opponents 20-18 in the second set. The boys were elated when the final whistle went and they realised they were now in the final 4.
As news of other results spread, we soon realised that we would once again face Mayo’s Scoil Raifteirí who had defeated St. Colmcille’s earlier in the day. Revenge for earlier and the prize of reaching the All Ireland Final lay ahead and after losing set 1 we felt a sense of déjà vu clouding over us and that we would again fall to the Mayo men. The boys learned from these earlier setbacks that they could bounce back and an excellent second set saw them tie the game at one set each and take the game to a deciding set. First team to 15 points would win and St. Colmcille’s momentum from set 2 continued as they cruised to a 15-8 win.
Defeats in games 1 and 2 seemed a distant memory now as our focus turned to the final and the challenge of Creagh N.S from Ballinasloe Co. Galway. Creagh N.S had been undoubtedly the most impressive school in the hall all day with high scoring victories and having won this competition twice previously they were sure to be a huge challenge in the final.
Ámhrán Na Bhfiann rang out in the hall as both teams stood to attention before this final battle. With formalities completed the game began and St. Colmcille’s began impressively and opened up a small lead which they maintained and won set 1 21-15. Templemore were now one set away from being crowned champions! Not being content with doing things the easy way St. Colmcille’s relaxed a little too much and allowed Creagh back into the contest as they took set 2 by 6 points. This meant the National Champions would have to win a tiebreak set. With Mr. Doyle and Mrs. Faherty’s final words of encouragement in their ears the boys began this tie break with a pep in their step and put all their training and preparation into practice and gave a cool and technically brilliant performance to win 15-11 and become All Ireland Champions.
The scenes of elation and pure joy that followed will live long in the memories of all those present as St. Colmcille’s captain Mikey Delaney accepted the trophy on behalf of his school. As Peter Ryan told the team on Monday, you fall seven times, you stand up eight, Peter would be pleased to know his inspirational words hit home as these amazing young athletes would not let setbacks define them and overcame all hurdles. A massively proud day for St. Colmcille’s as the boys made history and showed once again the wealth of sporting talent in the town of Templemore at present.
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