Cerebral Palsy Sport Ireland

The Cerebral Palsy Sport Ireland National Athletic Championships took place on the 29th of March at Morton Stadium Santry.

The events started at 10.30am and went right through out the day until about 5pm.  We had track and field events for Senior and Junior athlete, male and female and it was open to any person with a physical disability.  The weather was not great as we had rain early in the competition but it cleared later to give us some sunshine.  However, although it was a cold day, this did not keep the athletes or the officials away and we had a great day of competitions.  We hold this event every year usually in late August or September, but as the Paralympic games are on this year we brought our games forward to give the athletes an early competition, to help them achieve their qualifying times or throwing distance to qualify for the Paralympic games.

The Junior athletes were aged from 8 years to 18 years and most of them took part in both the track and field events.  Some of the shining through, winning 2 or 3 medals each.  We hope to keep working with these Junior athletes and hopefully some of them will go on to represent Ireland in the Paralympic Games in the future.  The athletes travelled from country wide to attend the games and they all brought their supporters with them.  The excitement and encouragement in the stadium was great, with roars and cheers going on at every event, particularly on the track.  Some of the cerebral Palsy Junior soccer team had great competition amongst themselves during the events with David Mc Court and Thomas Hogan battling it out for first and second place in the 400 meters with Conor Daly in third place.

Of course while the Juniors were working hard and enjoying the day, our senior athletes got down to serious competition.  Unfortunately due to very strong winds and some rain, no records were broken on the day.  However, some did get close to their personal best times and throwing distances which is great considering this was the first competition of their season.

The track events were 60 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters and 800 meters.  The field events were discus, Shot Putt, Javelin, Soft Ball Throw and Club Throw.

Our Junior girl Heather Jameson won 4 gold medal.  She had good competition from Lorna Browne and Ria Mc Guire with both girls also winning gold and silver medals on the day.

The Junior boys were also successful in their competition where Eamon Butler got 2 gold for wheelchair track and events and 1 gold for Discus.

Trevor Dunne and Cormac Ryan also had good results in their ambulant discus competition even though they  were throwing into a head wind.

Well done to all athletes who took part in the event and best of luck for the rest of the saeson.    A big thank you to all the individuals who helped out on the day, without which the event would not happen.

Cathy Dolan - Athletics Manager