Let the games begin!

A cohort of keen and competitive children across Ireland will be challenging one another in their respective skills this summer, ranging from swim strokes to paint strokes to tennis strokes.

Initially founded in 1967 to provide young people with lively and productive opportunities, the Community Games, now called the Aldi Community Games following a three-year sponsorship deal, attracts over 160,000 children aged 6-16 every year and around 20,000 volunteers in about 575 areas throughout 28 counties.

Individual participants must first compete at an area, then at county and sometimes at provincial level, in order to qualify for the National Festival which will see around 7,000 children contesting this year.

Discussing the friendly rivalry, Community Games President Gerry Davenport says, “the competition element is always there” but “you don’t have to be brilliant”.

“Sometimes the happier children are the ones knocked out in the first round,” he says, adding that the games are really about encouraging people to participate, to join local clubs and above all giving children an opportunity and so “a chance from the start”.

Although not everyone can be a winner, the Community Games, Gerry stresses, is more focused on promoting “comradery among children” and gaining friendships.

Developments

Speaking about the ongoing developments of the Games, Gerry says, “we also have handwriting, debating and quizzes”, continuing, “you don’t have to be a talented sportsperson – there’s something for everyone”. No matter what activity or sport you do with the Aldi Community Games, being healthy and active is the ultimate end goal because no gold medal can compare with creating lifelong healthy habits.

The games, which have been integral to both Irish athletic and civic life for 50 years, were founded by Dubliner Joe Connolly (1922-2008) as a response to the lacunae of sporting and leisure activities for young people in 1960s Dublin. Being a young parent in his adopted home of Walkinstown, his concern for the few recreational facilities in the estate inspired him to form a committee of like-minded people dedicated to expressing communal interests as well as alerting the Government to the need to rectify athletic amenities of which many young children had been deprived.

The first Dublin finals took place in the John F. Kennedy Stadium, now the National Athletics Stadium in Santry in 1967, and 50 years on the Community Games is celebrating its special Jubilee Year back in Dublin where it all first began, less than 15 kilometres away in the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus in Abbotstown.

“It’s an exciting time, I think we’re going the right way. Aldi has seen some good in us – the three-year sponsorship is a great deal to bring the Games forward,” Gerry says. “I’m proud. Joe (the founder) wouldn’t have thought how well it would have grown.”

At the first part of Games 2017 National Festival in May, over 2,800 participants competed for titles across a wide range of sporting and cultural activities, including unorthodox events like Spike Ball as well as chess and debating.

Speaking at the launch John Byrne, Community Games CEO, said: “2017 is a milestone for Community Games, marking 50 years of sport, culture, fun and friendly rivalry for those that have participated.

“The focus of Community Games has always been geared to providing our young people a pathway to a healthy and active lifestyle promoted by a cohort of hardworking and dedicated volunteers.”

Finbar McCarthy, Group Buying Director of Aldi Ireland added: “There has been a strong tradition of young people across towns and villages taking part in Community Games, and this year is particularly special.”

Further competitions for the National Festival will be taking place from August 18-20.

Over its five decades more than five million people have taken part in the Community Games, some of whom have become Ireland’s top athletes and icons, such as 1984 Olympic silver medallist John Treacy or former Ireland international soccer star Niall Quinn.

These national heroes began their career through the Games and so are inspirational figures in the eyes of these aspiring children.

“They’re for people to look up to,” Gerry says, “to look at what they’ve achieved.” The heroes are not celebrities with a passive interest in the games, rather at “every opportunity they get, they do promote it”, he adds. The eclectic mix of heroes including Saoirse Ronan, Joanna Cooper and Darren Frehill among others, is a testimony to the steadfast influence of the Community Games in Irish culture.

Platform

Although these heroes are able to enhance the platform for children to engage in activities, the actual success of the Community Games rests upon its 20,000 annual volunteers.

“The role of the volunteer is paramount to the success of the organisation”, Gerry says.

“We are deeply indebted to those people who have kept the Community Games alive by giving their time generously.”

Lisa Marie McCooley, a primary school teacher from Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan has been a longstanding volunteer, after having competed in the games as a child. Praising her experience of it, she said that she has made many “bonds” and gained confidence in engaging with the youth.

The children, too, she adds, also make life-long friends, and learn about the importance of taking part. “It’s not always about winning,” Lisa says, “it’s also about having fun.”

Mick England from Co. Tipperary, who volunteered as a finish judge and is now co-ordinating javelin and ball throw, adds that the Community Games is a family event, which his children have all be involved in, with many of them even competing at national finals. Two positive aspects of the games stand out for him, namely the “immense” friendships that can be made, and also the fruitful productivity and opportunities children gain from playing sports.

Motivation

Not only can competitors draw motivation from these volunteers, but this year the Community Games is encouraging parents to support their child’s participation in their chosen activity.

The campaign entitled ‘It’s our game not yours’, which was launched by the Child Protection in Sport Unit in Britain, ensures that young people can be fully involved in sport without enduring the negative behaviour of some parents in junior sport.

Alongside this campaign, the Community Games is also supporting the No Hate Speech Movement, a Europe-wide initiative which Ireland joined last year. The movement addresses online hate speech which has become a major form of human rights abuse, with serious consequences for people both online and offline. Young people are especially prone to this problem, at times becoming victims or targets, as well as active and passive agents.

For Gerry Davenport these types of initiatives, combined with the ubiquity of cross-county participation, means that the Community Games is succeeding in its goal of being an “inclusive organisation”, resulting in an increasing number of people participating in the last few years, following a slump in attendees.

“It’s a harder fight to keep the children attracted,” Gerry says, adding that in order to continually reinvigorate the Community Games across Ireland, innovation and renewal is vital.

“You can’t stand still,” he says, “you can’t get left behind – keep moving forward.”