DCC/FAI Development Officer Finglas – Paul Whelan

Drop In Sessions

FAI Development Officer runs a drop in for boys aged between 9 – 12 years every Monday from    4pm – 6pm in Rivermount Hall.  15 – 20 boys attend each week.

FAI Development Officer runs a drop in for girls aged between 9 – 12 years every Tuesday in DCC all weather pitches.  15 – 20 girls attend each week.

FAI Development Officer runs an after school drop in for girls aged between 12 – 15 every Thursday in St Michaels School Hall.  20 – 30 girls attend each week.

FAI / DCC Halloween Activity

FAI Development Officer in conjunction with DCC staff and Finglas Community Gardaí took part in a Halloween Night Festival and Firework display. The festival was held in DCC Leisure Centre. FAI Development Officer set up an inflatable shooting target area where children and adults could test their soccer skills and receive some prizes for their efforts. This event proved to be very popular and also very well attended.

Coach Education

FAI Development Officer delivered two soccer coaching courses in the Finglas area. These grassroots Kick Start 1 + 2 Coaching Courses are designed to give local coaches the knowledge and experience of how to coach children in a fun and enjoyable environment from the ages 6yrs – 9yrs and 9yrs – 12yrs. The Kick Start 1 was delivered on 13th November in the Finglas Celtic FC new clubhouse. 22 coaches attended. The Kick Start 2 was delivered from 3rd – 5th December in the Leisure Point Fitness Centre. 40 coaches attended. All participants successfully completed both courses.

Late Night League

FAI Development Officer  in conjunction with Finglas Youth Resource Centre, The Den, Outreach and Finglas Community Gardaí held a five week Futsal Late Night League for youths 16yrs – 21yrs. The competition was held each Friday night in November from 9pm – 11pm in Rivermount Hall, Finglas South.  The outcome from the competition was that two teams from Finglas qualified to play in a Citywide Late Night League Finals which was held in Sacred Heart FC, Killinarden, Tallaght. This event proved to be a very worthwhile and successful initiative. Going forward it will hopefully be used as a means of keeping young adults occupied and off the streets on a Friday night. The results already show a decrease in the number of Garda call outs for anti social behaviour on Friday nights during the times that the leagues are running.

FARE Week Intercultural Programme.

Football Against Racism in Europe Week took place between 11th – 18th October. Throughout this week hundreds of events took place across Europe to create awareness of Racism in Football and also how to deal with Racism if you encounter it. FAI Development Officer delivered 4  ‘Show Racism The Red Card’ presentations to 120 pupils of St Canices boys and girls primary schools.  60 boys and 60 girls participated in both classroom and outdoor soccer related activities.

Intercultural Programme

The My Club after school programme is one of the main national participation programmes developed by the FAI’s Intercultural Football Programme and delivered by FAI Football in the Community Development Officers. Targeted at increasing extra-curricular physical activity for children aged 6-13yrs whilst also encouraging, mentoring and supporting interested parents/guardians to get involved as volunteer soccer leaders. The programme ran each Monday for 6 weeks after-school. The overall objective is to support greater participation of children and adults from all backgrounds in physical activity through football, with a special focus on achieving increased participation of children and adults from ethnic minority backgrounds. The programme was rolled out in conjunction with Mother of Divine Grace Primary School and Willows FC. 60 – 70 boys and girls took part. 3 volunteer parents also came on board to help with the coaching of the children.

Upcoming events

Social Inclusion.

FAI Development Officer plans to commence two more afterschool Drop Ins for boys aged between 9yrs – 12yrs and 12yrs – 15yrs. The Drop Ins will take place on Wednesdays and Fridays in DCC All Weather Pitches between 4pm – 6pm. The objective is to bring the boys and girls from the various Drop Ins around the Finglas area together on a regular basis to play against each other and hopefully make new friends.

FAI Development Officer plans to run a Late Night League in the first quarter of 2011 for males aged between 16yrs – 21yrs. The league will take place over five Friday nights from 10pm until 12 midnight. This event has proved very successful in the past as a tool to prevent anti social behaviour in the area. The event will be funded through RAPID.

Coach Education

FAI Development Officer plans to deliver 3  Grassroots Coaching Courses to aspiring coaches from the local community. The courses are listed as follows:

Kick Start 1 Coaching Course. Designed for people who coach children 6yrs – 9yrs

Kick Start 2 Coaching Course. Designed for people who coach children 9yrs – 12yrs

Small Sided Game Workshop. Designed for people who coach 7+ 9 a side games.

Contact: Paul Whelan – 086 0441004