Soccer

St Gerald’s DLS College Soccer

St. Gerald’s reintroduced soccer to the school in 2009 with a single team of first years. Now the school enters teams at all five age groups within the Connacht Schools Structure. These are: First year (U-14), Minor (U-15), U-16 which is a provincial competition, Junior (U-17) and Senior (U-19). Each of these competitions terminates with a National Final except the U-16 competition which concludes with a Connacht Final. All teams compete in “A” competitions. The school has won Connacht Titles at First Year, Minor and Junior levels since the sport was revived in 2009.

We are lucky in this school that we have many clubs within our catchment area, with students from our school playing for the following: Castlebar Celtic FC, Manulla FC, Ballyheane FC, Snugboro United FC, Ballyvary Blue Bombers FC, Castlebar Town FC, Partry Athletic FC and Ballyglass FC. The quality of the players which attend our school is a testament to the coaching that they receive at club level.

The support of all these clubs is greatly appreciated when it comes to the development of the game here in the College. We are particularly fortunate to have the support of Castlebar Celtic, where all our teams train and whose excellent facilities include multiple changing rooms as well as a full size floodlit Astro Pitch. This enables our students to train throughout the year even when daylight is at a premium during the winter months.

The ethos of our teams is based first and foremost around the fact, that our players show respect for themselves and their teammates. This is demonstrated by work rate and a positive attitude at training sessions and matches.

The support of parents and guardians is greatly appreciated in the development of our students’ sporting ability. This coupled with the backing of school management allows our students the opportunity to compete and achieve at the highest levels of school football.