Series of busy weekends at Connaught Community Games finals in Mayo

Mayo Community Games had the privilege of hosting the Connaught Community Games in 2023 for the first time since 2017.

Covid-19 had disrupted so many plans for everybody and brought sadness to the lives of many in the intervening period, but Community Games is back now to its full schedule of events. That includes cultural events as well as indoor and outdoor sporting activities.

The Connaught games were completed over three Saturdays in Mayo, with Davitt College, Castlebar, acting as the official headquarters for results, coordinators, catering and some sporting events too.

The first weekend consisted of indoor sports such as badminton, basketball, futsal, indoor soccer and table tennis. A total of 52 teams competed across the region at the best facilities available to the competitors in Davitt College, Balla Secondary School, St. Gerald's College, An Sportlann, Lakeside Centre Sports & Fitness Club, Foxford Sport and Leisure Centre and the Castlebar Primary School Junior Campus.

The winners and Connaught champions went forward to the National Community Games team finals in Gormanston, Co. Meath.

Congratulations to the Turlough Towers boys Under 15 badminton team of Harry Guthrie, Dylan Moran and Morgan Neary, who secured the silver medals. Lauren Clark from Westport took part in the 2K grass cycling final, where she won a bronze medal in a very competitive race which took place in very favourable conditions.

It was decided this year to hold the skittles, chess and draughts on a separate day. The venue selected was the Balla Community Centre, where 33 teams from all over Connaught gathered in a bid to secure a title that would bring them to Carlow on August 27.

All the Mayo teams played very well in the chess and draughts competitions, albeit without any success.

Well done to the chess teams from Tourmakeady, Kilfian and Kilmaine, who have started to develop the game in their areas. In the draughts competition, Kilmaine and Kilmurry did themselves proud in representing Mayo.

Mayo has not yet entered this level of skittles, which is a pity because it is a great game to get involved with. Hopefully 2024 is the year when Mayo areas and teams get involved in skittles.

The final day of the Connaught Community Games gave us the finals of the outdoor competitions. A total of 36 teams assembled to contest the soccer, Gaelic football, rounders, hurling, camogie and rugby finals.

Castlebar Rugby Club hosted all the rugby finals, while Davitt College was the venue for the rounders competitions. The Ballyvary community pitch held the hurling, camogie and the Under 14 girls Gaelic football final. Manulla was the location for the boys and girls soccer finals, while Castlebar Town held the girls Under 12 seven-a-side soccer finals. Breaffy GAA Club took care of the mixed Under 10 gaelic football and Ballintubber GAA Club hosted the girls Under 12 Gaelic final.

Mayo Community Games were successful in winning five titles on the day. Congrats to the Balla girls Under 15 soccer team who beat Sligo champions Ballymote 4-2 in a very exciting final. Carra Community Games are have a very successful season so far and now their girls Under 12 Gaelic team are Connaught champions. After beating a strong Moycullen team from Galway in the semi-final, they met Cornageeha/St. Anne's from Sligo in the decider. Their opponents provided stiff opposition for the Carra team but in the end the quality and the team work from the Mayo girls gave them a deserved Connaught title to treasure.

Charlestown/Carracastle are developing great underage teams in Gaelic football at present, which was very noticeable this year when they produced two excellent teams in the mixed Under 10 and the girls Under 14 competitions. The Under 14 girls team are Connaught champions thanks to victory over a good Carrick-on-Shannon team in the semi-final followed up by a win over Roscommon champions Ballaghaderreen in a pulsating final between two great neighbouring teams.

Breaffy rounders teams have represented Mayo at the highest level for decades, and this will continue in 2023 after the the Under 13 boys secured the Connaught title against Elphin, the Roscommon winners. The Breaffy Under 15 boys received a walkover and progress to the national finals as they faced no opposition in their scheduled final in Davitt College.

All of the Mayo teams did themselves proud in this tough, competitive Connaught fare. Turlough Towers reached the Under 12 boys soccer final after beating Clarinbridge in the semi-final. In the final, Ballinamore proved their strength by beating Turlough Towers following a great battle of skill and determination. The Balla Under 12 girls seven-a-side soccer team won their semi-final by beating St. Mary's from Sligo before going down in the final against a good Clarinbridge team by the slimmest of margins in the finish.

The Charlestown/Carracastle mixed Under 10 Gaelic team played great football to win the semi-final against Ballinamore but they met a very talented Moycullen team in the decider.

In the Under 15 girls rounders, Breaffy put up a great display against Athenry in terrible conditions but lost out to a well organised team from Galway.

Over the three busy Saturdays, a total of121 teams competed in the Connaught Games. Best of luck to all the Connaught teams and especially the Mayo teams who will be competing at the National Community Games team finals in Carlow.

Mayo Community Games would like to thank everyone who allowed use of their facalities, as well as the officials, coordinators, volunteers. Thanks to the Mayo Community Games committee for securing the venues to host the Connaught Community Games in 2023. Further information concerning the remaining national finals and the timetables can be found on the Community Games website – www.communitygames.ie.

Still to come next Sunday (August 20) are the Connaught and Donegal regional athletics finals, which will be held at the Knocknarea Arena, IT Sligo (F91 YW50). It will be a long day for all athletes in Sligo so the advice is to be prepared with food and drink for the day. All the Mayo Community Games athletes are wished the best of luck.

Meanwhile, Mayo Community Games has lost a number of areas over the past few years. Now is the time for Community Games areas to spring back to life, or for some new areas to be created. It can start with the planning of your local annual general meeting and preparation for boundary changes in conjunction with the area maps.