July 2014
Volume 3, Issue 1 Our Mission:
r e t t e l s w e E-N A Catch Up On 2014 So Far
To develop the social and community benefits of Deaf/Hard of Hearing participation at grassroots, club, national levels and potential athletes to take part in competitions at a competitive level. Opening hours: Mon to Fri: 9.30am –5.30pm __________________
8th European Deaf Football Championship Qualifiers
Interim Committee: Chair: Dillon Smith V-Chair: Carmel Duggan Secretary: Nora Duggan Treasurer: Nicholas Dowling
Inside this issue:
42nd Inter-Provincial Championship Weekend
Committee’s Message 2 Sport Development Officer 2 Men’s Football: Irl V Fra 3 Irl V Fra Pictures4 Men’s Football Irl V Nor 5 Irl V Nor Pictures 6 Futsal Mini Tournament 7 Futsal Mini Tournament 8 Futsal Mini Tournament 9 42nd Inter-Pros 10 42nd Inter-Pros 11 42nd Inter-Pros 12 Deaf Channel Swimmers 13 Deaf Channel Swimmers 14 Ladies’ Futsal Squad 15 Irish Deaf Golf 16 Fundraisers 17 Try-A-Tri DSI Triathlon 18 7th International Bowls 19 4th European Deaf Futsal 20 DSI News 20 Call for Referees 21 Call for athlete models 21
Introduction Interim Committee: Acting Chairperson .
Di l l on S m i t h’ s rep or t
Acting Chairperson: Dillon Smith Acting Vice Chairperson: Carmel Duggan Acting Secretary: Nora Duggan Acting Treasurer: Nicholas Dowling
The current Interim Committee was voted in on the 10th of May at the Deaf Sports Ireland EGM by the members. The committee and staff have worked tirelessly over the last few months to get Deaf Sports Ireland back to where it was and to improve relationships with other National Governing Bodies and the Irish Sports Council. There have been some rough times, but as a group, we worked together, to move past any obstacles and develop and promote Deaf sports in Ireland. The committee is dedicated to providing sporting opportunities for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, from a local level to our Irish Internationally competing players. We are working with the Irish Sports Council, the Regional Deaf Sports Councils and the Deaf community to offer DSI members interesting events, regular regional and national competitions and the chance to get involved in sport for fun, fitness or to improve sporting skills. It was unfortunate that Deaf Sports Ireland were unable to send the Men's Futsal team to the European Championships in Bulgaria this November, for financial reasons, but the committee and staff are 100% behind the Women's Team and wish them every success. I would like to congratulate the Men's Football team on qualifying for the European Championships in Germany next year and wish the Irish Bowling team the best of luck in their up-coming tournament. A huge congratulations is also in order for the Irish Golf Team, who were very successful in USA in the recent World Championships! Well done to all of the players! It is also great to see that the Dublin Badminton players are doing so well! Deaf Sports Ireland are very pleased to now have a full time Sports Development Officer, Sports Programme Assistant and an Administration Assistant due to start soon. We wish him every success in his new post
I Administrator/Sport Development Officer
Lo re l ei Fox Ro be rt s ’ rep or t
So far, 2014 has a strong year for Deaf Sports In Ireland. As many of you know, Deaf Sports Ireland faced some hard times at the beginning of this year, but through the hard work, perseverance and commitment of our members, athletes and committees we are now moving forward positively. Our athletes have performed well internationally and in Regional competitions this year and I’m looking forward to seeing these players succeed throughout the rest of 2014. There are a number of exciting competitions to look at, with preparation for the 4th European Deaf Futsal Championships underway as well as the Irish Golf team having recently competed in the World Deaf Golf Championships in Michigan, USA. Deaf Sports Ireland is also putting a focus on introducing our members to new sports and activities and widening the organisation’s reach around the country and I hope to see more members getting involved in their own regions soon as well as in National events. This newsletter will give a taste of what has been happening over the past few months in sports and what is yet to come. The DSI newsletter will be available to members more regularly from now on. Enjoy.
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8th European Deaf Football Championships Ireland V France Match Report (Ciaran Moloney) A stubborn Irish side came from behind to earn themselves a well earned point against a much fancied French side to draw 1-1 at the home ground of the local side, St. Igny FC. Despite the lack of preparations due to recent unfortunate developments within Deaf Sports Ireland, captain Roy McKee and his boys gave a resilient and defiant performance as they took on the French with instructions from manager Geoff Foy to impose themselves early in the game with an adventurous game plan. However disaster struck as the boys in green found themselves reeling within three minutes of kick off after the French capitalized on an error conceded by the Irish midfield to mercilessly sweep through the exposed Irish defence, rifling the ball past goalkeeper Roy Keating.
At the half time break, Geoff Foy and his coach Jamie Wilson urged the boys on, reminding them of their belief in them, convincing the boys that they were more than an even match for the French. When the game resumed in the second half, it was clear that boys had come out with wind in their sails and Watson soon found himself one on one with the keeper only to be controversially ruled offside. Foy then made a tactical change, replacing Dudley with defensive midfielder Barry Campbell which proved to be a sound tactical decision as the Belfast veteran injected experience and defensive legs to the Irish midfield, allowing Watson to enjoy a more attacking role. Ten minutes into the second half, it looked as an Irish equalizer wasn't too far away as the French defence evidently started to tire, thanks in no part to the lightening quick runs of striker Brian Babb who had stretched their defensive shape time and time again throughout. It promptly arrived courtesy of the farmer from Donegal, Noel O'Donnell who bundled the ball in after the French keeper failed to deal with an Irish corner, sparking off jubilant celebrations in which O'Donnell unfortunately collected a booking after colliding with his opposite number. Buoyed by the equalizer, the boys in green took the game to the French as Foy replaced the tiring legs of Eamon Byrne for the energetic Mark Sinclair. However they found the French equal to their efforts as the Les Bleus made several substitutions of their own which saw them hold a slight edge. However the French found the Irish defence in dogged form, marshalled superbly by the inspirational McKee who had made several important interceptions as the French probed and probed in the last ten minutes of the game. However in the dying minutes and against the run of play, Brian Babb suddenly found himself with only the keeper to beat after a long ball from the Irish was badly missed by the two French centre backs, but the pacy striker missed a golden opportunity to record an unlikely Irish victory as the keeper stood his ground to beat away his effort which fell into the path of Mark Sinclair whose effort just went wide of the post. It proved to be the last meaningful chance of the game as the referee brought the game to a conclusion afterwards, much to the relief and satisfaction of the Irish management and players alike as they joyfully hugged each other in the knowledge that the unwavering faith they have in each other had not only just been tested but also strengthened.
1st XI: Keating, McAra, O'Donnell, McKee (c), Dougherty, Dudley, Byrne, Watson, Young, Maguire & Babb.
Subs: Campbell (Dudley 50), Sinclair (Byrne 65), Maher (Young 80), Millar and Walsh.
Man Of The Match: Roy McKee closely followed by Joey Watson
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8th European Deaf Football Championships Ireland V France
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8th European Deaf Football Championships Ireland V Norway
Match Report (Ciaran Moloney) Ireland 13 – 0 Norway A rampant Irish side recorded their biggest win ever as they trounced Norway 13-0 to achieve qualification to the 2015 European Deaf Football Championships which will be held in Germany next summer.
Norway, who had suffered an 8-1 defeat in their last trip to Dublin in 2004, went into the match as massive underdogs and proved to be no match for the home side as five goals from Watson along with a hat-trick for Maguire plus a double from Young combined with a goal each from Sinclair, Beattie and O'Donnell helped the Boys in Green to the full three points at Home Farm FC, Dublin.
Right from start to finish, the Irish were technically superior as they produced a dominant all-round performance. Special mention must be reserved for Noel O'Donnell who was presented with an award before the match to celebrate his 50 th appearance; Jason Maguire who scored his first ever international goal and going onto bag himself a hat-trick and last but not least Richard Beattie who capped off a man of the match performance with his first goal since his goal scoring debut vs GB in 2003.
First XI: Keating, McAra, O'Donnell (c), McKee, Dougherty, Millar, Beattie, Maguire, Watson, Sinclair and Young. Subs: Maher (Dougherty), Dudley (Maguire), Lowney (McAra) and Byrne.
Man Of The Match: Beattie Deaf Sports Ireland would like to say a huge thank you to all of the volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the day and made the event possible and so generously gave up their time.
DSI would like to extend a warm thanks to the staff at Home Farm for their hospitality and hard work; to referee Ian Bradley, assistant referees Damian Kilpatrick and John O'Toole along with the 4th official Liam McGuirk for their hard work on the day; and to Hellenic for the generous sponsorship of water for the Irish team. DSI is also very thankful to the Norwegian Deputy Head of Mission Grete Ă˜degaard for taking the time out to attend the match.
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8th European Deaf Football Championships Ireland V Norway
On the day, a draw was held among the spectators to win tickets to the FAI Friendly matches the following days. Here are some pictures of the lucky winners
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Futsal Mini-Tournament Men’s Futsal: Ireland V Poland
Ireland faced Poland in the 4th European Deaf Futsal Mini-Tournament Qualifier in The Arena, Tallaght earlier this year. There was a great turn out of supporters to cheer on the Irish lads , who played extremely well throughout the match. At the close of the match, the final score was: Ireland 10; Poland 4. Match Report: The match got off to a great start with both teams showing some great strategy. The boys in green's tactics of pressing high up the field was wonderful to watch as was the speed of the Polish counter attacks. Poland went 1-0 up but captain Joey Watson quickly replied with a close range tap in. Daly grabbed the second goal for Ireland after some great skill by Young but the score was quickly levelled as Poland equalized to make it 2-2 before going into the lead for the second time in the game after slack defending from the Irish saw the Polish #2 drive into danger zone before unleashing a strike that Landers couldn't keep out. But the lead didn't last for long after a cleverly worked free kick between Dudley, Watson and Young resulted in a marvellous equalizer. The fourth Irish goal was conjured up by the same trio as Watson and Young linked up well to set up Dudley who scored a fantastic volley which the Irish fans clearly appreciated as their eruptive cheers echoed loudly around the arena. The fans were celebrating again shortly afterwards when Dunne scored their fifth goal after a great throw from keeper Landers. Poland were struggling to cope with the constant waves of Irish attacks and their #7 added to their woes when he haplessly scored an own goal. However Poland remained in the game after converting a penalty shortly before the half time whistle which saw the score line stand at 6-4. Ireland dominated the second half. Shortly after the game resumed, Young successfully struck from a distance followed by another goal from Dudley who slotted his effort between the Polish keeper's legs to make it 8-4. Dunne made it 9-4 after a quick counter attack. Watson who had tormented the Polish all evening, received the close attention of two Poles but he wriggled his way out of trouble and delivered an inch perfect sliding pass which cut through the Polish defence with precision, finding Young who slinked past the onrushing keeper to knock the ball into the empty net to make it 10-4. Moments later, controversy erupted after the final whistle as Watson and his opponent were shown a direct red card each by the referee for violent conduct much to the exasperation of the Irish captain who protested his innocence. What should have been a joyous ending to the mini-qualifying tournament was somewhat tainted with the sour aftertaste of injustice. After the furore had died down, Watson shared his thoughts on the incident - “The referee's decision to send me off was ridiculous. I had just been punched in the face by my opponent so I calmly tapped him on the shoulder to quiz him why he had done so. Remarkably his reaction was to dramatically collapse as if I had assaulted him with a baseball bat which I can only imagine led the referee to decide that I deserved to be sent off. I am incredibly disappointed with what happened as are DSI who will appeal the dismissal with the help of video assistance. So my hopes lie on a successful appeal otherwise I could face a suspension of up to 3 games.” “With that said, we must not let it take away from the fabulous achievement of qualifying for the European Championships later this year. I'm delighted that we won the two games in front of the home support- They were fantastic to us. It was good to see all the players working hard from the start to finish- they were brilliant. Last but not least, a special mention must go out to our manager Martin and his staff, they did an amazing job.”
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Futsal Mini-Tournament Men’s Futsal: Ireland V Poland
Men’s Futsal: Ireland V Cyprus
The Irish Men’s team took on Cyprus on the Friday of the competition, 28th of February.
The Irish team played a strong game throughout, with a final score of: Ireland 17; Cyprus 1.
Tournament Coordinator Paul Ryder, Assistant Coordinator Jennifer Lynch and DSI representative Kevin Stanley meet with Cypriot Ambassadors.
Futsal Mini-Tournament Coordinator’s Message (Paul Ryder):
To the Organising Committee, Volunteers, Organisations & Supporters, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the Organising Committee (OC), volunteers, Organisations & Supporters who generously gave up their day to make the European Deaf Sports Organizing (EDSO) Deaf Mini-Tournament & Ladies Futsal a great success at the Arena Centre, Tallaght, on the 28th February & 1st March. Over 400 young people, parents, grandparents and Deaf/Hearing community members came through the tournament, plus people from Europe & worldwide witnessed the games via the live streaming (internet). Congratulations to our Irish team that won the group after beating Cyprus & Poland and they will play in Bulgaria in November for the European Deaf Futsal Championships. They produced a top class display against them and I know the Irish supporters are looking forward to follow up again in Bulgaria. The Ladies futsal took their part on Saturday 1st March for their preparation, which they will play in Bulgaria as well. Seven people from the OC were the true support of this effort and did an extraordinary job coordinating this event – Jennifer Lynch: Ass. Coordinator; Lorelei Fox-Roberts: DSI Staff; Ciaran Moloney: Media; Ronan Lowry: Media; Sean Byrne: Transport coordinator; Stephen Finn: Irish Emerald Futsal; and Gerry Behan: Referee coordinator. In all, about 25 Volunteers worked tirelessly on VIP registration, refreshments, interpreting, clean-up, photography etc. throughout the tournament. I want to thank every one of these volunteers for the great help and providing the teams & supporters with much comfort during the tournament. One of the toughest jobs is the media. I can’t thank enough to Ciaran Moloney & Ronan Lowry enough for providing the before/ during/after match reports on the Irish Deaf Sports Facebook and the live streaming video to people who could not attend the tournament. Over 3,000 people witnessed the Facebook & DSI’s website live streaming throughout the tournament. I also want to thank the Arena Centre (NBA) for allowing us to use their sports hall and to the staff for all of their help over the course of the weekend. We had excellent support from other organisations for the tournament as well and I want to say thank you to:
St. Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys for the 8 & 18 seat buses; Dublin Deaf Association for the 18 seat bus; Irish Deaf Com for the 8 seat bus; FAI Football For All for the jerseys, balls & referees and Inspire Fitness Centre Cabra for the goal posts. I want to thank Deaf Sports Ireland’s old & interim committees and the EDSO observer, Daniel Cuennet (Switzerland) for their observer & support throughout the tournament. In furtherance to that, I wish to thank the EDSO for the support provided through grants for the tournament. One of the highlights of the weekend was the Irish supporters. No doubt the Irish Futsal team appreciate you and I hope you found the tournament very exciting. You were the best supporters and I want to say BIG BIG thank you.
- Coordinator Paul Ryder
42nd Inter-Provincial Championship Ladies’ Basketball:
In the 42nd Inter-Provincial Tournaments held in Deaf Village Ireland on the 19th of April 2014, the Leinster Ladies Basketball team took on the Munster Ladies in an exciting match.
The final score of the match was: Leinster: 40; Munster: 11.
All of the players performed well and it was a great match to watch, with a good turn out of spectators on the day.
42nd Inter-Provincial Championship Ladies’ Futsal:
Munster played Leinster in the Inter-Provincial Ladies’ futsal tournament. Both teams played well and fought hard throughout, with a final score of: Leinster:
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42nd Inter-Provincial Championship Men’s Football:
Munster Men’s team were crowned the Victors of the tournament, with Jason Maguire winning the award for player of the match in the final game.
Men’s Football:
Irish Deaf Channel Swimmers An Irish Deaf Channel Swimmer tells her story
Photographs courtesy of Irish Deaf Channel Swimmers
“… All this crazy idea began when I was walking up the highest mountain in Wales, with a Deaf organization from Ireland. Bernadette White was telling me about her father, who told her when she was a young child that she was a good swimmer and she would swim the English Channel one Day. Bernadette started to think about it again and asked me if I swam well. I said I was ok, but I wasn’t an international swimmer, but that I enjoyed swimming. She told me her story and asked would I swim a relay with her. I told her “Why not”, but at the same time, I thought it was a case of all talk and no action and thought no more about it. This was in April 2012. Bernadette contacted me again in November of the same year, asking me to find out more on how to go about it and find out if Deaf people were allowed to take part. I found the website CS&PF and contacted them about doing the channel swim. Bernadette got in touch with six other girls, four of whom were international swimmers and the rest is history. I set up a Facebook page and invited Dee Byrne Dunne, 53; Nora Duggan, 22; Patricia Heffernan, 51; Bridie Power, 51; Michelle McLaughlin, 46 and Bernadette White, 47. These women and myself, Lisa Finn Carroll, 44 made up the Irish Deaf Channel Swimmers team. We agreed to meet in Deaf Village Ireland every Wednesday for the next 18 months. We talked about how to get the ball rolling and suggested doing it for a charity, so we picked a charity close to our hearts- The Irish Deaf Women’s Group. The Irish Deaf Women’s Group(IDWG) are a voluntary non-profit organisation, funded entirely by membership contributions and fundraising events. The IDWG aims to provide information, events, workshops and services with an ISL interpreter for Deaf women all over Ireland. It is also a goal of the organisation to empower women through promoting them continuing their education using their preferred language- ISL and to reduce the social exclusion and barriers experienced by Deaf women around the country. Our team set out to raise €10,000, saying if we raised more then we would give the excess to St. Mary’s Heritage Centre. To prepare for the English Channel swim, we had to look into a lot of open sea races. We knew it would be hard because of Deaf access, but we had no choice but to enter the open sea races. It would help to build our confidence in the sea, as we never swam races in the sea before, only in pools. At the same time, we continued swimming in pools as part of our training and Deaf village Ireland let us swim for free in the pool every Wednesday until the Channel swim was over. When the sea races were over in early October, we continued to train in the sea every weekend without fail. We had a brilliant coach named Spitz. He was very tough on us and I’m glad he was because he explained to us about sea water: how tough it can get and he trained us for the worst. We trained with him one day a week. The sea started to get very cold as we continued our training, but strangely, the cold did not bother us. Because of weather conditions, there was a wait in Dover before we could begin the Channel swim, but at 4am on the 7 th of July, the cars were ready for us and our media guys arrived at the harbour, looking out for the boat we would be using called Anastasia. At 6.02am the swim started and it took us 14 hours to complete.
Irish Deaf Channel Swimmers An Irish Deaf Channel Swimmer tells her story
...It was a beautiful morning and the water was warm, but choppy as we had been told it would be. We didn’t care as we knew we were all strong swimmers, had trained and were ready for this. Dee said it was hard as she couldn’t get the rhythm and couldn’t see us on the boat because of the sun shined on her face. The hour was slow for her, but she got there. When her hour was up, Patricia was next. She was excited and had a grin permanently on her face from the minute she got into the water until she got out again. She said it was choppy. Her hour flew by and was up very fast. Next up was Nora, she swam so fast, she was like a torpedo at the beginning. The water was choppy but she enjoyed it. Time seemed to take forever to pass during her hour, but then it was up. Bridie got in and was nervous. The water was rough and it was tough hour for her. Michelle was next and the water started to calm down as we were nearly in France and she enjoyed her swim. I was in next and was really looking forward to it. I really enjoyed my swim, it was a bit choppy but we finally reached the French boarder. My time flew in and Bernadette was next. The water was getting calmer and warmer and the time was getting faster. It was the 7 th hour already! Bernadette enjoyed her swim. The water was getting nicer- calm and warmer and easier for us all to swim and enjoy it, a lot of small boats passed us and some jellyfish, but nothing scary. A Sea Lion swam with me. When Bernadette’s hour was up, two strong swimmers finished it off by reaching the shore of France. It looked like it took forever, but it was only a five minute swim. Finally, we could see Nora and Dee on land hugging each other and we started hugging and screaming that we made it on the boat. We made it in 14 hours, 10 minutes and 44 seconds with a team of seven women. We sailed back so happy and exhausted. The trip was three hours back to Dover Harbour and our supporters were waiting for us with champagne. We organised a lot of fundraisers like cake sales, movie nights etc. as the cost of taking part was very high: Membership for channel swim was over €500 each; the boat cost €3,000 plus training expenses. The next big day will be the 6th of September in Deaf Village Ireland, when 400 people will attend a hog roast and we will announce how much we raised! Before the swim we found out that we were the first Deaf Irish Women to ever swim the English Channel relay! And we have raised money for our charity and brought the Deaf community back together.”
Photographs courtesy of Irish Deaf Channel Swimmers
Lisa Finn Carroll
4th European Deaf Futsal Championships Team Selection
Deaf Sports Ireland are delighted to announce the final squad selection for the Irish Women’s Futsal team, who will be representing their country in the European Deaf Futsal Championships in Bulgaria this coming November (19th-29th).
Maura Jade Sarah Laura Natalie Genevieve Sarah Michelle Roisin Sabrina Carmel Laura Elizabeth
Moloney Kavanagh Lyons Clarke O'Brien McGirr Jacobs Ward Ormonde Hanley Duggan Fitzgerald Gamble
DSI would like to congratulate these women on their selection and wish them every success in the training that is a head of them and the competition itself
The women who have been selected are members of three of the Regional Deaf Sports Councils of Ireland: Connacht, Leinster and Munster. DSI will be behind theses players and supporting them along with their own Regional Councils.
Irish Deaf Golf World Deaf Golf Championships
Irish experience in Traverse City, the site of 10th World Deaf Golf Championship: After months of preparation and fundraising, we, the Irish Deaf Golf Union were able to send a team of one senior and five male players. They were: Reggie Carroll, Don Conway, Geoffrey McCormack, Philip Quearney, James Browne and Peter Dalton. We were not able to send a lady golfer or add on senior players to create a team. We have to do something about it. We had a manager, John Bosco Conama to take care of their golfing needs and we were fortunate to have two supporters (Catherine Carroll and Bernard O’Reilly) who came along as well. They acted as caddies. We arrived there on Wednesday, 9th of July and had a few practice rounds in order to get familiar with the golf courses. We also needed to be acclimatise ourselves with the very warm weather but it turned out that the weather was lovely and sunny hovering around 20C. The weather did not bother us. There were 110 players (men, seniors and ladies) coming from 14 different countries. Three of these countries sent individual players and were not in a position to send a team. Team competition was reduced to 11 countries. The Irish players did their best and Don Conway got the best Irish score. He bagged 75 in his final round. Other players had their ups and down. We came 9th out of 11 and had to be content with this standing. However the quality of golf had steadily improved over the years and there were six or so players playing off scratch or under. In order to reach this standard, you can be regarded as good as a golf professional. Jack Besley from Australia won the individual men’s as he was the only one who scored under 70 (68 in his final round). Patti Lopez (USA) won the ladies competition and she did one in a hole in her final round. She gave a truly impressive performance in her final round. Ken Hoffman (Canada) won the senior title as he took it in a three in a row. The USA had a clean sweep in all team competitions. The next world championship will be in Copenhagen in Denmark in July 2016 and after that, the championship will be held in Ireland. The Carton House will be the venue for the 12th World Deaf Golf Championship. We hope to set up an organising committee to work on this shortly and please let us know if you are interested to assist us in whatever way you can. -text courtesy of the Irish Deaf Golf Union
Photographs courtesy of Irish Deaf Golf Union
DSI Fundraisers Charity Poker Night
The Charity Poker Tournament organised by Ciaran Moloney last Friday evening was a great success. The proceeds of this event were in aid of Deaf Sports Ireland and were split between the pot and fundraising for the organisation. The Poker Night was held in Deaf Village Ireland and got a great turnout, with three tables of players entering the tournament. An impressive €465 was raised, €230 of which will go towards DSI. The top three winners were:
Nicholas Dowling €125 Jason Landers €75 Brian Connolly €40 DSI would like to thank Ciaran Moloney for his hard work and fundraising activity in aid of the Irish Men’s Football team.
World Cup Draw
Joey Watson organised a World Cup Draw which was hugely successful and very popular!! The winners were as follows: Maeve Dermody Ray Watson Eva and Oisin Smyth Gerard Dunne Lisa Harvey Luke Rankin Martin power Joe O’ Sullivan Robert Archer
Nora Duggan Rachael Bleakley Liam Breen Jaz Moloney Lolo Clarke Aidan McArdle Edmund Barrett Caroline Worthington
Thanks so much to Joey for all of his hard work in making this happen, these funds were also raised in aid of the Irish men’s football team.
Sports Introductions Try-A-Tri and Family Swim Bowling:
Deaf Sports Ireland held a Try-A-Tri Triathlon day in conjunction with Inspire Fitness Centre Cabra on Saturday the 19th of July. This event was open to people who were trying out a triathlon for the first time, or aiming to improve their time and supplement their training for those already involved in triathlons.
The Try-A-Tri took place in Deaf Village Ireland, from 11am to 1pm, followed by a swim for children and families.
The triathlon was only open to Men and Women over 18 years of age.
5 men and 8 ladies attended the event. There was a ladies’ section and a men’s section within the competition on the day. Everyone who took part did 8 lengths in a 25m pool, 8KM on the Spinning Bike and then a 1.2km run outdoors. The winner for men was Geoffrey Foy, and for the ladies was Christina Griffith. They all competed in the race strongly, so we will organise the next one for a date soon, maybe in the Autumn, so keep an eye out and get involved this time!
Up-coming Competitions Bowling:
The 7th International Deaf Bowls Championships will be held in Belfast from the 28th of August to the 9th of September. There are seven teams competing in this event at Belmont Bowling Club. Competition Schedule: 28th Aug
Players and Officials arrive
29th Aug
Team meetings and warm ups
30th Aug
31st Aug
1st Sep
2nd Sep
10am
Opening Ceremony
1.30pm
Warm ups
9am
Round 1: Men and Women Singles & Fours
12.45pm
Lunch
1.30pm
Round 1: Men and Women Pairs and Triples
9am
Round 2: Men and Women Singles & Fours
12.45pm
Lunch
1.30pm
Round 2: Men and Women Pairs & Triples
9am
Round 3: Men and Women Singles & Fours
12.45pm
Lunch
1.30pm
Round 3: Men and Women Pairs & Triples
3rd Sep 4th Sep
5th Sep
Rest Day; Outing 9am
Round 4: Men and Women Singles & Fours
12.45pm
Lunch
1.30pm
Round 4: Men and Women Pairs & Triples
9am
Round 5: Men and Women Singles & Fours
12.45pm
Lunch
1.30pm
Round 5: Men and Women Pairs & Triples
6th Sep 7th Sep
8th Sep
9th Sep
Rest Day; Outing 9am
Round 6: Men and Women Singles & Fours
12.45pm
Lunch
1.30pm
Round 6: Men and Women Pairs & Triples
9am
Round 7: Men and Women Singles & Fours
12.45pm
Lunch
1.30pm
Round 7: Men and Women Pairs & Triples
6pm
Award Ceremony & Closing Ceremony
10am
Federation AGM
6pm
Farewell Dinner
Up-coming Competitions 4th European Deaf Futsal Championships
The 4th European Deaf Futsal Championships will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria this November 19th-29th. Unfortunately, Ireland is not in a position to send a Men’s team, but there will be an Irish Women’s team entering the Championships. There will be 16 countries represented in the Men’s league and 14 countries in the Women’s. The draw for both categories was held on 19th of July. The results are below:
Men’s: Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Bulgaria
Russia
Ukraine
Turkey
Belgium
Netherlands
Denmark
Switzerland
Italy
Poland
Belarus
Israel
France
Croatia
Hungary
Moldova
Women’s: Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Denmark
Russia
Poland
Germany
England
Belgium
Norway
Sweden
Turkey
Ireland
Switzerland
Italy
Hungary
Spain
DSI News Welcoming New Staff
Deaf Sports Ireland are delighted to announce that Joey Watson will be joining the DSI team as the new Administrative Assistant. He will start in early August and will be working alongside the current staff and new Sports Programme Assistant (who will be announced soon).
We are delighted to have him on board and look forward to working with him throughout the coming year.
Call for Referees The 1st Deaf Volleyball Championships League will be held this year in Pesaro Italy and the organising committee are looking for volleyball referees for the duration of the competition. The tournament will run from the 10th-14th of December 2014. The Federazione Sport Sordi ITALIA(FSSI) have been selected as the organising group, working with a local Deaf sports club from Pesaro and they have released an outline of what they are seeking from referees.
Benefits of being a referee:
The OC will cover the cost of all accommodation and food; The OC will cover the €150 competition fee for referees; and Following the Deaf Volleyball Championship League, the referees will be considered for future tournaments, such as:
The 9th Deaf Volleyball Championships in Paris from the 1st-11th of July 2015 and more.
Requirements for being a referee:
Volleyball referees must cover the cost of their travel to Italy themselves; Anyone interested in applying to be a referee must subscribe to volleyball@edso.eu before October 15th 2014, including their
name, address, email address, date of birth and sex;
Chosen referees must bring their own equipment to the tournament; and A certificate showing ability to act as a volleyball referee must be provided before any applicant will be considered.
Call for Deaf Athletes to Model Photographer Johnny Corcoran is organising and shooting a calendar as a fundraiser for Deaf Sports Ireland. He is seeking Deaf athletes, male and female to model for the calendar. A number of people have registered their names for this, but more are still needed. If you are interested and would like to know more, email: Lorelei@deafsportsireland.com This calendar will contain photographs of various Deaf sports people/athletes playing their sport. DSI is inviting players from the following sports, but if you are involved in a sport that isn't listed and want to be involved please contact DSI anyway: Football Futsal Swimming Golf
Badminton Basketball Squash
If you are interested in being a part of this exciting project, and would like to know more, please email: Lorelei@deafsportsireland.com