Gavin who had already made a name for himself in the athletic field competing at Long Jump, High Jump and short distances has gone through vigorous trials over the past number of weeks. The thirty two counties of Ireland were involved with over six thousand children and the best seven has been picked to compete in Paris in late Summer. Sixteen Nations including Brazil will be involved with over 500 of the world's best young soccer players.

This is a great achievement for the young Valley lad who started his soccer career in the Lifford & District League. A student at Gleneely National School Gavin plays for his local soccer club Curragh Athletic. Great praise is given to his coaches Eunan Brolly and Eunan Hannigan who do much work for the develeopment of sport in the community and am sure are very proud now to see the success of Gavin. Also his school principal Rosemary Duffy at Gleneely NS who has always been very involved in sport will be very proud of this success which is a very timely boost for the school as it celebrates the opening of their new school .

Of course Gavin has no lack of encouragement as his family is steeped in a history of sport. His grandfather John was Donegal champion at High Jump and part of the Finn Valley AC committee in the early days. His father Sean won Irish National Decathlons on a number of occasions and was also Irish record holder, making him one of the Irish all times greats. At present Sean is part of the juvenile coaching squad at Finn Valley.

This is a very exciting period for Gavin who is a very committed athletic who trains diligently at Finn Valley. One of the factors noticed when he went for the trials was his great level of fitness and flexibility. Finn Valley are delighted with his selection and wish Gavin the best of luck

Finn Valley Walkers Travel to Leamington Spa

A number of Finn Valley athletes are travelling to Leamington Spa this weekend.

Jeff and Ivonne Cassin will be taking part in the 20K grand prix series and the club wish them both the best of luck.

Juvenile Nikki Alcorn will be competing in the U17 girls 5000m while Maeve Culhane and Shauna Kelly will be competing in the 3000m. This will be a great experience for the girls and we all wish them the best of luck.

A busy competition period is now awaiting with local primary school sports the first of the competitions.

14 and 15th May Local primary school sports will be taking place at Finn Valley

4th June Finn Valley staging the County Final of the Primary School Sports. It is hoped that school around the County will hold their area finals has usual and send their winner to the County Final.

For dates of competitions and all Finn Valley news etc. you can check Finn Valley web page finnvalleyac.com.

Events calendar

If we are to publish a competition calendar, we need to know about the events. Promoters and organisers should email details of events to:

events@finnvalleyac.com

If possible, please include at least: date, exact time, venue -- and, for events like sports and road races, please give brief directions.