Remarkable year for St. Brigid’s girls

In the course of this school year the girls have won the school’s first ever GAA trophy, reached the Northern Ireland finals in hockey and netball as well as winning the Ballymoney girls’ soccer tournament.

The first trophy secured, at the beginning of the year, was the North Antrim Indoor Camogie Shield. St. Brigid’s have been runners-up for the past three years and this year the school went one better, securing its first ever GAA trophy. This was a very proud and historical occasion for the school. It was memorable too because the team was made up of a combination of camogie and hockey players, which would prove successful later in the year for the hockey team. The camogie team followed up their indoor success, with an outdoor title in the spring when the won the Cumann na mBunscol Nine Glens’ Shield in Ballycastle.

The girls then turned their focus to hockey and supported by Diane Kirgan and Ballymoney Hockey Club the girls set off on an epic journey which took them to the Northern Ireland Primary Schools’ Final. Unfortunately the girls didn’t win, losing after extra-time on penalty runs.

Success followed in netball, when the girls retained the Causeway Region Netball Trophy. This was followed by a play-off to reach the Northern Ireland Finals. At the NI Finals, in Derry’s impressive new Foyle Arena the girls finished in the top six. The girls’ ability to reach national finals is all the more remarkable because there are only six girls in P7, therefore everyone has to play their part in all of the sports. In order to field teams the school also selects children from Primary 5 & 6.

In the school’s final sporting event of the year, Ballymoney Girls’ Soccer Tournament, it was the younger pupils who played their part in securing the local title. This was achieved against very able local opposition and a summer hail storm!

The school’s principal, Mr Conlon spoke about the girls, ‘This is a remarkable group of girls. They are very talented but most important of all they are a team. We may never see their like again and they have left an historical legacy for the school.”