"The Rising Stars - Fingallians Girls Gaelic Football Festival"
Saturday, August 18th 11am - 4pm,

Fingallians GAA, North County Dublin's oldest Gaelic Football is delighted to announce the "Fingallians Gaelic Football Festival"" for Juvenile Girls teams on August 18th from 11am - 4pm. This celebration of Gaelic football for Under 10 Girls involves teams from across Leinster, with 150 children taking part along with their mentors, parents and families. This annual event was last held in Fingallians in the 1980's and with its revival it promises to be a very enjoyable and successful day of sport.
Ladies Gaelic Football is the fastest growing participation sport in Ireland, and one at which Fingallians have been very successful at in all age levels in recent years. There are currently three players on the senior Dublin Ladies team. The Fingallians Gaelic Football Festival has been organised by the club to foster and develop the Juvenile teams by inviting "Under 10" teams from around Leinster to participate in a day-long event. Two teams from Fingallians will take part with a further nine teams from 4 counties taking part including Wicklow, Meath and Louth.

As well as football, there will be a number of other activities organised during the day, including coaching sessions for participating teams from some of Fingallians' own Senior Dublin Ladies footballers.
For many years, up to the 1980s, Fingallians GAA club ran a very successful Annual Football Festival, with clubs participating from across Fingal. For future years, it is planned that this renewal of the festival will be extended to include football, camogie and hurling, and other underage teams from not only Leinster but other provinces also. With 150 children participating this year, along with their mentors, parents and families, this is a significant undertaking for Fingallians GAA Club, involving the organisation of matches, logistics, catering, and other facilities.
Fingallians' chairman John McGee commented "As a club we are making a significant investment in this Féile to ensure that it becomes an established event on the Ladies Gaelic calendar. The amount of energy, goodwill and enthusiasm that we are receiving has been no surprise; the benefits of sport for young girls are well recognised, and days such as this serve to publicise and increase those benefits. We wholeheartedly encourage, and extend an open invitation to, children and their parents from Swords and the surrounding areas to come down on the day and support the teams. It will be a great day and with each year it will go from strength to strength".

Dublin Football Star, All-Star and Fingallians player Amy McGuiness commented "Having played at the highest levels for my club and county, I'm familiar with the level of commitment and effort needed to succeed at sport, and the huge amount of enjoyment to be gained from it. I see these Under 10 girls putting in the effort every week, training and playing, and know they will reap the benefits in years to come, not just as footballers, but in their development as young ladies. The Fingallians Gaelic Football Festival is another step in that development."

Dublin Football Star, All-Star and Fingallians player Paul Flynn commented "As someone who started playing football with Fingallians at the age of 5 in the Academy, I know just how important it is to encourage participation in sport at under age level. I'm looking forward to this football festival, to see the future stars of Ladies Gaelic football in action, not just for Dublin but for the other counties taking part as well."