Fingal County Council and FAI launch fourth year of TY Football Development Course

Fingal County Council and the Football Association of Ireland have launched the fourth year of the Transition Year Football Development Course which gives participants an opportunity to meet their educational requirements while developing football skills. 

The 2019 - 20 programme was officially launched by Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Eoghan O’Brien and Fingal County Council’s Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly, in the company of former Republic of Ireland senior international Andy Reid and under 19s international team manager Tom Mohan at Corduff Community Centre today. 

Over the course of the 2019-20 schoolyear, the 25 Transition Year students participating in the programme will mix academic subjects such as Maths and English with a range of football coaching courses and modules in Fitness Instruction, Media Skills and Personal Development as well football training and strength and conditioning work. In addition, the participants will undertake an ITEC Fitness Instructors Course delivered by Litton Lane Fitness Training. They will also return to their local primary school one day a week to work with teachers in the delivery of physical education and gain valuable work experience. 

“Participants from the last three programmes were given the opportunity to immerse themselves in football for a year while also meeting their educational needs.

Following its success, the programme will be delivered for a fourth year, it is designed to allow the students to commit to the development of their football skills as well as engaging with their communities without compromising their education,” said course co-ordinator, and co-funded FAI Development Officer with Fingal County Council, Denis Hyland.

The programme is being jointly delivered by Fingal County Council’s Sports Office and the Football Association of Ireland with assistance from Empower Blanchardstown.

The Mayor of Fingal Cllr Eoghan O’Brien praised the programme saying: “Fingal County Council’s partnership with the FAI has proven hugely beneficial to our residents once again. Education and sport are both demanding and important to young people. I’m delighted to see the implementation of a programme that allows participants to pursue their passion without sacrificing their educational opportunities.” 

Fingal County Council Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly welcomed the students to this, fourth year of the TY Football Development Course saying: “The programme has shown the benefits that can be reaped when there is investment put into the young people of Fingal. Not only are they developing the skills to balance sport with education, they are given the opportunity to engage with the community through weekly work experience which, as we have seen, contributes positively to their overall personal development.” 

The course is run with the support of Empower Blanchardstown and Sport Ireland. These previous courses were extermely well-attended and recorded an impresssive average attendance rate of 95% throughout  the school year.  

Marion Brown, Principal Sports Officer with Fingal County Council said: “The success of this project has attracted a lot of positive attention from other local authorities who would also be hugely interested in delivering it to students in their area. I’m confident that the work, preparation and experience brought to this project by Fingal County Council’s Sports Office and the FAI will deliver another beneficial course for the programme’s participants”.