Gaelscoil Bhaile Brigin takes part in Euroball
Bealtaine 26, 2014
Using the powerful unifying force that can be sport, a school in Balbriggan has worked with schools in several other countries around Europe to invent a new ball game and the culmination of this two-year project has ended with a tournament in the new sport in Galway.
Over the last two years, Gaeilscoil Bhaile Brigín has been involved along with a school in Loughrea as the Irish representatives on a Europe-wide exchange scheme that has come up with a new sport called Euroball.
The Balbriggan school has been involved in all kinds of educational, sporting and cultural exchanges over the last two years with schools in Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Spain and Croatia and according to school principal, Clodagh Ní Mhaoilchiaráin, the whole experience has been invaluable for both the students and the teaching staff at the school.
She said: ‘It absolutely has been worthwhile. It’s provides us with an opportunity to visit other schools in other countries and have teachers share their expertise and learn from each other and to educate the students on the cultural and linguistic differences between the different countries.’
Out of all of this co-operation has come the sport of Euroball, a ball sport that combines elements of all kinds of other ball sports like soccer, volleyball, Gaelic Football and even Aussie Rules. The sport is all-inclusive and provides for not only cross-cultural participation but also allows boys and girls to compete on a level playing field and also able-bodied competitors alongside disabled team-mates.
As the school principal spoke to the Fingal Independent last week, the Balbriggan school had hosted their foreign visitors before they all set off for Galway to compete against each other in the final climactic tournament of Euroball.
It is a two-year Comenius project, funded by Leargas and it has involved the entire school in Balbriggan in one way or another and contributed to a huge amount of awareness and new understanding of their European neighbours.
Congratulations goes to everyone at the school involved in the project for a very successful and educational couple of years and the new sport it has given to the world.
John Manning, Fingal Independent
