DLSP To Host Largest Under-7 Sporting Event
The seventh annual Kieran Burke Under-7 Rugby Festival will take place at Kirwan Park, home of De La Salle Palmerston, on Sunday, January 30. David Lillis of DLSP gives us all the details.
The Kieran Burke Perpetual Trophy was set up in honour of one of De La Salle Palmerston’s youngest and most enthusiastic players, Kieran Burke, who died of leukaemia in January 2004, aged just six.
The tournament was devised by DLSP and in conjunction with the Burke family, the inaugural tournament was held in January 2005.
Since then, it has grown into the largest Under-7 sporting event in the country, with over 1,000 children attending last year’s tournament.
2011 will be the tournament’s seventh year and the huge interest in applications to date indicate that interest from teams wanting to participate will again ensure that over 1,000 kids will participate.
The huge success of the tournament and its invaluable contribution to the development of rugby at such a young age in Leinster has seen the Leinster Branch incorporating it into their calendar and also providing their full support and services where required to the tournament.
A complete non-profit event, its concept is to enable this age group to compete in a safe event and in a sporting environment suitable for their stage of development.
Excess proceeds and donations given on the day go to the Children’s Cancer Fund at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin.
Anyone involved in coaching our youngest sporting enthusiasts will appreciate that getting them running in the right direction and staying between the lines is often a breakthrough for the coaches at this age level! They also love the build-up to and participation in an event of this nature.
But there was no suitable event prior to the Kieran Burke Rugby Festival. This event is a great chance for the teams to show their skills. It is also important as it gets coaches networking, leading to future fixtures for the young players.
The event attracts a very large crowd of players and coaches and plenty of support for the teams from the parents.
On Sunday, January 30, DLSP FC will exclusively reserve the use of their 16-acre site and facilities at Kirwan Park for what has become one of the most important events on their club calendar.
The organisers expect the tournament to run at maximum capacity in 2011 with 23 clubs already registered to participate.
The tournament starts at 10am on Sunday, January 30 at DLSP FC’s home grounds of Kirwan Park in Kilternan, County Dublin.
Further information is available from:
David Hicks, 0872565656 or david.hicks@themeatfactoryoutlet.com
Michael Nugent, 0876804221 or michael.nugent@bmw.ie .
Karl Burke, 0852536620 or karlgburke@eircom.net
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