WHEN THE STUDENTS of O’Fiaich College, a mixed co-educational school in Dundalk, were presented with a challenge to partake in a Sky Sports initiative by one of their physical education teachers, they could hardly have anticipated the journey they’ve since embarked on.
Less than three months after commencing the Living for Sport programme, O’Fiaich were last week presented with the Project of the Year award at the broadcaster’s London studios, beating off competition from over 1,700 schools from the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The programme, which was launched in England over a decade ago and is part of the Sky Academy, uses sport to help boost participant’s confidence, change behaviours and improve life skills.
At a time when Ireland is in the throes of an obesity epidemic, their story is more irrefutable evidence that striking the right balance between academic work and exercise is paramount for the health – both mental and physical – of this country’s teenagers.
While the issue of physical education has been at the forefront of the government’s education agenda for some time now, very little has been done to address the fact Ireland designates less time a week to PE than any other European country.
As he noticed a swell in the numbers of his students lacking motivation and self-belief and an increase in behavioural problems, Brendan O’Malley, who is one of two PE teachers at O’Fiaich College, decided something needed to be done so he registered the school for the Living for Sport programme.
“We challenged all the students to compete to win a place on the Sky Sports team,” he explained to The42. “They were judged on criteria such as being on time for class, showing respect, wearing the correct uniform and assisting others.
“Working with each of the class tutors, one outstanding student from each class was selected but that was the hardest part of the whole thing.”
Each week, the students would participate in a different sporting workshop delivered by a local agency or club. The task of each of the class representatives was to then relay the information to their peers to ensure the whole school were involved.
“This opened up so many opportunities to all the students because they then had details for all these new clubs in the community after getting the chance to try out each of the sports.”
The concept is remarkably simple yet the students’ involvement and enthusiasm throughout was unprecedented compared with any previous extra-curricular activity the school had carried out.
By the end of the 10 week project, all 19 participating students had improved their attendance and have since steered clear of any kind of misbehaviour. While sport is used as the platform, the emphasis of the programme is to help young people develop valuable life skills that will assist them in and outside of school, now and into the future.
“We’re not trying to create the next Katie Taylor or Brian O’Driscoll,” Mark Deering, the Director of Corporate Affairs for Sky Ireland, tells The42. “There is of course an element of athletic development but it is as much about giving teenagers aged between 11 and 17 the confidence, self-belief and motivation to go on and achieve great things in whatever walk of life.”
“We’re committed to helping the next generation and our target is to have one third of all secondary schools in Ireland involved in this programme by next year. It’s an ambitious target but the results have shown we’re doing something right.”
O’Fiaich College are just one of 175 schools across Ireland benefiting from the free initiative which has been running here for two years. Modern Pentathlete Natalya Coyle paid several visits to Dundalk throughout the programme as a mentor and alongside a judging panel nominated their project for the overall award.
“We were told around three weeks ago that we would be flown out for the awards,” O’Malley continued. “We had no idea we had won but then I got an email to tell us to watch the announcement on Sky Sports News HQ.
“We arranged for it to be shown in school gym on front of the whole school. It was a complete shock and the students were overwhelmed. With over 1,700 schools running the project, winning the overall award was truly amazing.
The 19 students, their teacher and Coyle were guests on Sky Sports’ Game Changers show and were then invited onto Soccer AM where they received their trophy from Queens Park Rangers striker Charlie Austin.
“Being treated to a full days visit to the Sky Studios was a once in a lifetime opportunity. This highlights the hard work and effort shown by all students and proves that effort and positive attitude, results in success,” he added.
“The group of students are an amazing bunch of young people and we have had many memorable experiences throughout this project and the award tops off an unforgettable year.”
If there was ever a tale which underlined the power of sport, comradery and self-belief then O’Fiaich College have undoubtedly written it but you get the feeling this is just the start of a new chapter for them and their students.
If you know a school interested in registering for the Sky Sports Living for Sport programme, all the relevant information can be found on their website here.
