Tummery FC and Omagh RFC, along with Community Sports Development Officers from the Irish FA, Ulster GAA and Ulster Rugby delivered a cross-community ‘Club Development Sport for Peace Day’ on Friday 23
rd November at Crawford’s Lane Playing Fields, home of Tummery Athletic FC.
The objective of the Club Development Sport for Peace Days, which are PEACE IV funded, is an initiative from club/community partnerships (cross-community, cross-border, cross-cultural) that will deliver a peace and reconciliation focused event in their area.
The aims of this event were to:
- Promote positive values
- Provide opportunities for social contact with people from different backgrounds
- Promote mutual understanding
- Promote peace in divided communities
- Develop sport specific skills and knowledge
75 children from 3 local Primary Schools (St. Dympna’s PS, Drumlish PS and Tummery PS) attended the event.
The children were mixed with others from different community backgrounds and received fun, safe and inclusive coaching from Tummery Athletic FC, Omagh RFC and Ulster GAA coaches, played matches in the 3 sports and had lots of fun using our ‘Sport Uniting Communities’ inflatables.
Participants got an opportunity to play a sport that they may not have played before and to interact and build relationships with other children from a different community background.
Feedback from the event was extremely positive. Anthony Garrity, Youth Coach of Tummery Athletic FC said:
"The kids enjoyed a fantastic day with great coaching on a sunny morning. Tummery Athletic were given the opportunity to showcase our club and facilities to young children from different backgrounds, who possibly would not have been aware of the club. A big thank you to everyone involved in making the event a success, especially Omagh RFC for sending two excellent coaches to promote their sport and their club. Also to Gerry McCullagh, a current senior player at the club and youth coach, who was a big help with the coaching and opening of the club facilities on the day."
Click here to find our more about the ‘Sport Uniting Communities’ project.
