Community Games: 3,500 kids arrive for weekend of fun at University of Limerick

OVER 3,500 children took part in the Aldi Community Games festival in Limerick at the weekend, and what a weekend it was.

The weather was sensational and the medals were plentiful, as children from all over Ireland pushed themselves to the limit.

The first round of the Community Games national finals took place at the University of Limerick, which was transformed into an Olympic Village for the weekend.

Over 900 medals were given out to the winners and runners-up at the games, which is only the first of two national festivals to take place there this summer.

“It was a fantastic weekend, the whole festival atmosphere was just electric. We had so many counties staying on campus, which took us back to the days when we would have stayed in Mosney,” said Bernie Brennan, the PR director of Community Games.

“We had over 500 families who stayed on campus. It was one of the big advantages of having it in UL. And it was so safe, the areas around the campus were brilliant for the kids, there was great freedom for them to get out and about. Aldi had a sports hub, and there were so many things going on there for the children, so even the kids that weren’t participating in the games, there were loads of things going on for them, too,” she said.

This year was the second to be sponsored by Aldi, a partnership which offered a significant boost to an organisation propped up by local volunteers around the country.

And it was the first year that the national finals were held at UL, its home now until 2020.

“The whole campus in Limerick is ideal, it means that everything, from soccer to rugby to basketball to swimming, everything is on campus, so we’re not going off campus. At some of the other games, we had to go off campus for swimming events and that, but obviously the pool in UL is amazing,” said Bernie.

Last weekend was mostly for the indoor sports and activities. Some, you would expect, like basketball, indoor soccer and swimming. But other activities, like handwriting, debating, model making, chess and art, prove there really is something for everyone at the Community Games.

“We had a team who provided loads of different activities throughout the weekend. There was a disco on Saturday night for all the children that were there, and that was held outside the Stables. The children had a ball. But for the whole weekend, the weather made it; we were so lucky with how fantastic it was,” she said.

“We couldn’t do it without our volunteers - they are the backbone of the Community Games - and we couldn’t thank UL enough, they just came on board and nothing was a problem to them. Paul O’Connell is the Aldi Community Games ambassador, and he was with us on Saturday, and of course the kids were in their element to meet him,” said Bernie.

And although it’s all over for the activities enjoyed over the weekend, kids from around the country will be back in August for the second of the summer festivals, which will host the majority of the outdoor games.