Sorry Dublin fans, but you just can’t compete with those wee’uns from O’Donovan Rossa GAC Magherafelt.
Fair play to Thomas Niblock of the BBC for giving up his time, and name, for this wonderful idea.
Getting youngsters involved and invested in their local GAA team often needs a bit of inventiveness. Sure, scores of young children love getting out and kicking the ball around but there are so many other rival sports, activities and, sometimes, in-activities vying for their attention.
So you have to credit Derry club O’Donovan Rossa for producing this engaging Team of the Year piece that is brilliantly encouraging the next generation to play the game.
Niblock kicks off by naming some of the leading Team of the Year contenders, such as Dublin and Slaughtneil, before revealing the Rossa Óg Under-6s have only gone and scooped the main prize.
“It’s been a wonderful season, a great year, you’ve learned so much, listened to your coaches and you’ve achieved just about everything you have wanted to achieve in this season.”
The good news, he adds, is that the 2018 season is just around the corner. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve played Gaelic football before, it doesn’t matter if your family have even played Gaelic football before, the new season begins on January 14th.”
With a class production like this doing the rounds in Derry, we wouldn’t be surprised if this encouraged a few more children in the area to give GAA a go in 2018.
Top work all round.
