Education

Extra Curricular Activities Eurofoot Soccer Community Action Form & Fusion

Extra Curricular Activities

At Ballincollig Community School a wide range of extra curricular activities including gaelic football, tag rugby, hurling, camogie, soccer, orienteering, basketball, table tennis, athletics, golf and pitch and putt were enjoyed by students during the year. Last year's highlights include victories by First Year Girls in the Cork County Camogie Blitz.
The Boys Basketball teams had an outstanding year of achievements with victories in the First Year, Second Year, Under 16 and Under 19 Cork Boys Basketball Leagues. The Boys Under 19 team reached the All- Finals Cup and League Finals while the Boys Under 16 team captured the All Ireland Basketball League Title. In pitch and putt the Girls team captured the Cork County Pitch and Putt title. In table tennis the Boys Under13 and Under 15 won Munster titles. Individual achievements included Jane Lucey's victory in the butterfly event at the Munster Swimming Championships.
Patrick Cronin was chosen as a member of the Cork County Minor Hurling Panel. Valerie Leahy was winner of the Girls 2002 National Juvenile Pitch and Putt stroke competition. Kevin Doyle was chosen as a member of Munster Youths Rugby Panel and Keith Crowley came fourth in the Youths Munster Golf Championship and sixth in the Youths Connacht Golf Championship and has been chosen for Munster Youths team to play in the Interprovincial Golf Championship at Lahinch, September 24 - 26.

Eurofoot Soccer

The involvement of Ballincollig Community School in the annual Eurofoot Soccer competition dates back to its beginnings in 1990. At that time the local people in the small French village of Vigneux De Bretagne came up with the idea of holding an annual soccer tournament for a selection of French teams and one team from each EU country. Their intention was to bring young people from around Europe together through sport. One of the organisers made contact with one of the French teachers in our school and so it was that, by chance, the involvement of Ballincollig Community School began in a venture that has been the highlight of their time in school for many of the boys who have participated. The team is coached each year by the Physical Education teacher, and to date 224 pupils have made the trip to France over the 14 years that Ballincollig Community School has been involved.
The boys are hosted by local French families for the weekend and the families always speak highly of the friendship and good humour of the Irish boys. Such has been the friendship that has grown between the people of Vigneux and ourselves that the mayor of Vigneux made a presentation of the medal of the village to our school this year as we are the only team who have participated in every tournament since its beginning. We even made the local and regional newspapers this year as a result of this.
Though our students always win many admirers for their attitude and their skill and application on the pitch, they fully realise that winning the tournament is not a realistic possibility when competing against the youths teams of FC Nantes, Wolverhampton Schools and Madrid for example. Our students enjoy the whole experience of participating and competing against the future Beckhams, Zidanes and Rauls of European football. The pupils in the original competitions were drawn from 2nd year in the school but in recent years the tournament has involved mainly 4th years as the organisers have raised the age limit. The whole tournament is run with an emphasis on enjoyment and fair play - so much so that one of the most prestigious trophies presented during the prize giving is for the team that best exemplifies these qualities.
We have been fortunate enough to win that on two occasions. We have finished as low as 32nd on one occasion in the tournament and as high as 9th among the 32 teams that participate. The over-riding memory for our pupils is not where we finish, however, but the friendships that are forged each year and the overall experience of participating in a tournament that has grown from small beginnings to become a significant date in the calendar of many top quality European soccer teams.
Vive l'Eurofoot!!

Community Action

The warm and friendly atmosphere that exists in the Ballincollig Community School is best illustrated by the caring attitude which students show in supporting a wide variety of charity events throughout 2002-2003.
Fundraising for a variety of causes including Guide Dogs For Blind, the West Gate Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul, Concern, Trocaire, Goal, Romanian, Belarussian and Russian Orphanages, Amnesty International, Chernobyl Children's Trust and the Special Olympics collected 10,000 euro.
The most spectacular fundraising event was a Fashion Show in aid of St. Vincent de Paul Society organised by Transition and Fifth year pupils. It was ably run by the student body and generously assisted by the teachers. While the aim was to raise funds, the show proved so much more than that! It was a great night of entertainment and fun.

Form & Fusion

The nationally acclaimed Form and Fusion Design Awards competition originated in Ballincollig Community School when Art Teachers Aidine O' Reilly, with the assistance of Agnes Gormley held the first futuristic fashion show in 1998. Six costumes made and modelled by students of Ballincolling Community School were displayed in the inaugural show. From its origin the philosophy of the competition was to encourage environmental awareness through artistic creativity.
To emphasize this approach the costumes involved are made entirely of recycled materials. In the second and third year of the competition Ballincollig Community School continued to host the show. As the competition grew to national importance it attracted major sponsorship and has been held at the Green Hills Arena, Millstreet, Co. Cork for the last three years. Last year the competition attracted almost 1000 entries from 365 schools, from which thirty-five costumes were chosen as finalists.
Liadain Murphy who modelled 'Beira Queen of Winter' represented Ballincollig Community School at this year's Coca-Cola Form and Fusion Design Awards show before 3000 people packed into the arena.