It could be said that it was “Love at first Spike” when the children of St. Colmcille’s, Templemore were introduced in 2013 to the game of Spikeball. Spikeball is an initiative developed by the Volleyball Association of Ireland to aid School Teachers in introducing Junior Volleyball to their students. Mr. Doyle and Mr. Kelly completed training courses in how to introduce Spikeball as an alternative game children can play as part of Physical Education in school. Spikeball instantly became a massive hit among the boys in Templemore.
St. Colmcille’s, a school decorated with sporting achievement on the fields and tracks of Ireland in recent years, saw this game as yet another alternative to the traditional games played such as hurling, football and soccer. Being an Active School, St. Colmcille’s strive to allow children to try many different games and cast a net wide enough that all talents can be exercised and encouraged.
The school entered competitive Spikeball for the first time in 2015 and showed an immediate pizzazz for the game as they reached the Munster Regional Finals. This was a huge learning experience and gave St. Colmcille’s the hunger to come back and go further in 2016.
That was the challenge facing the current crop of Spikeballers who nicknamed themselves The Templemore Devils and tasted immediate success as they once again qualified to represent Tipperary in the Regional Finals. These finals would be held in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford and would pit St. Colmcille’s against the best Spikeball teams that Laois, Waterford and Kilkenny would have to offer. The prize on offer was a place in the National Finals in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick on March 15th.
Preparations had gone excellently and at 8am on Thursday 25th of February, the Templemore Devils departed on the long journey to Dungarvan. Ms. Bergin and Mr. Doyle accompanied the team on what they hoped would be a very enjoyable day for the boys.
The day’s schedule was hectic with games coming thick and plenty, the Templemore Devils would have to play four group games and hope that they would qualify in first or second place in that group and reach the semi finals. A positive start was the order of the day and it proved that ‘tús maith leath na hoibre’ came into effect as the Templemore Devils won their opening game narrowly 20-18 against the Heath Heroes from Co. Laois. Their progress was slowed somewhat in game 2 as Kilkenny opposition called the Church Hill Chasers emerged 17 – 16 victors over the Templemore boys. The Tipp men didn’t hang their heads and bounced back with an impressive 21 – 14 win in Game 3 which meant they had done enough to qualify for the competitions semi finals. Their opposition at this stage would be St. Leonards from Dunamaggin in Kilkenny and St. Colmcille’s knew they would have to be at their very best to overcome these challengers. With focussed minds the Templemore Devils demonstrated the skills of the game to perfection and emerged comfortable 27 – 07 winners. This result led to joyous celebrations as qualification had been achieved to the National Finals and further progress made in this new and exciting game. Celebrations had to be curtailed briefly however as the small hurdle of the Regional Final had to be played and in Templemore’s way were the only team to have beaten them, The Church Hill Chasers. Could Templemore gain revenge and progress as Regional winners? It unfortunately wasn’t to be as the Kilkenny men won a keenly contested final by 21 points to 18.
Templemore Devils would have to settle for second place on the day but some would say that they have simply left some room for improvement as they prepare for their first venture to the Spikeball National Finals in the school’s history.
All roads lead to Limerick on March 15th, St. Colmcille’s are incredibly proud of their Spikeballers and all they have achieved so far. They are very excited about showcasing their skills on the biggest stage next month.