Community Games
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The Community Games is an annual sporting competition held in Ireland for children up to 16 that finishes in a national finals every August, where over 6,000 children compete for their area, town, county and province.
History
The community games were set up in 1968 - initially only in Dublin as a way to deal with the problems of the lack of leisure-time activities for young people. In the first games, 3,000 took part at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Santry; the following year it was 5,000 - today, over 500,000 children compete for the chance to make the national finals. For most of the games history, the National Finals were held in Mosney, County Meath. However this will change from 2005 as the former campsite - now a residential area for asylum seekers - is no longer available to the games.
Events
The following sports and games are played at Community Games:
Sports
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Camogie
- Cycling
- Gaelic football
- Gaelic handball
- Gymnastics
- Hockey
- Hurling
- Judo
- Olympic handball
- Pitch and putt
- Rounders
- Tag rugby
- Soccer
- Swimming
- Table tennis
- Tennis
- Volleyball
Other Events
National Finals
Young people from all over Ireland aim to qualify for the Community Games National Finals each year. These take place over two weekends in August.
In the individual events (including relay races), one competitor from each of the 32 counties of Ireland qualifies for the National Finals. In the team events, one team from each of the 4 provinces of Ireland qualifies for the National Finals. The exceptions to these rules are:
- In judo, one individual from each province qualifies for the national finals.
- In pitch and putt, choir, "culture corner", project and variety, three teams from each province qualifiy for the national finals.
- In the under-14 quiz, two teams from each county qualify for the national finals.
- In the under-17/over-17 quiz, three teams from each county qualify for the national finals.
Theme Song
"We're singing as one" is the theme song of the Community Games written, sung, arranged and produced by Colm O'Loughlin, an ex competitor of the Games.
Past Competitors
Many famous Irish Athletes have competed in the games over the years:
- Sonia O'Sullivan
- Niall Quinn - won the poc fada
- Mark Scanlon
See also
External links
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