Buncrana and Glenswilly were presented with the silverware at the recent Donegal Animal Hospital sponsored Under 9 and Under 11 Finals held at The Scarvey in Buncrana.
But the real winners once again were Childhood Cancer Foundation who were delighted when local representative Maura Toner was presented with a cheque for €1,500 being the total proceeds raised from the tournaments in which a total of twelve clubs participated.
CLG Bord Inis Eoghain staged the tournaments for a second year running in aid of Childhood Cancer Foundation and the finals night, which took place on the last weekend in September, was another wonderful occasion for everyone, bringing to an end Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the Light It Up Gold campaign which runs annually in September.
The invitation tournaments at U9 & U11 level, which ran concurrently over an eight-week period from August and into September saw visiting clubs Glenswilly, St Eunans, Steelstown Brian Ogs and Doire Trasna join the eight Inishowen clubs in two groups of six with the top two in each group qualifying for the semi-finals.
In a gala finals night played under floodlights at The Scarvey before a very large crowd, the young boys from host club Buncrana retained their Under 9 title, which they won in the first year as they just got the better of a very talented Glenswilly side in a close contest.
There was great anticipation on the terraces as the Buncrana Accordion Band led the teams out for the Under 11 Final between Malin and Glenswilly and not even Michael Murphy who was in attendance to support the rising stars from Glen, could have been disappointed at the intensity and standard of football on display in what a great advertisement for underage football in Donegal.
In a thrilling contest between two highly talented and committed sides, which went right to the wire, the Glenswilly boys edged home by a single point much to the delight of their big travelling support.
Overall, it was another fantastic ending to a great tournament, kindly sponsored once again by Donegal Animal Hospital which saw almost 500 boys and girls play their part in raising awareness of Childhood Cancer and also raising funds to help with the great work being carried out by volunteers of the Charity.
Childhood Cancer Foundation (CCF) comprises volunteer parents whose children are in remission from various childhood cancers. Through the generosity of donors and work of our volunteers, we are funding play services on St John’s paediatric cancer day unit at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin.
CCF is also funding a medical research project in conjunction with UCD School of Nursing and St John’s Ward investigating the benefits of complementary therapy for children in active treatment for cancer. CCF also funds the internationally recognised Beads of Courage™ which is an arts in medicine programme provided to children with cancer and helps them to understand and cope with their cancer diagnosis. This programme has been wholehearted embraced by the children, their families and the medical staff at St John’s Ward.
CCF will continue to run awareness campaigns including Light It Up Gold. It also promotes the recognition of the gold ribbon as the symbol of childhood cancer. We are advocating for the development of peer-to-peer support for parents and improved services for children with cancer and their families in the New National Cancer Strategy 2016-2025. The charity is also hosting the Parents and Survivors Track (Childhood Cancer International) of the 48th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) Dublin 19th to 22nd October 2016.
