Anna Livia flows beautifully!

The Dublin City Council/ Football Association of Ireland Anna Livia Cup, which is now in its second year, is a Futsal competition for 13-year-old boys and girls devised by the Football Association of Ireland in conjunction with Dublin City Council’s Sport and Leisure Services Section. Futsal is the official UEFA and FIFA version of 5 a side football and is the world’s fastest growing indoor sport.

This year’s competition began in October 2007 with 111 boys’ teams and 33 girls’ teams participating. Over sixteen weeks, this new exciting competition ran throughout Dublin City and played a huge part in building teamwork and confidence amongst the participants.

The focus of the competition was to get more young people playing soccer while promoting good sportsmanship and fair play. The roles played by FAI/ DCC Football Development Officers supported by the Sports Development Officers were crucial to the implementation of the programme. A novel idea of introducing bonus points to reward good behaviour by each participant proved highly popular and contributed greatly to the smooth running and success of the competition.

Sunday 3rd February 2008 at ALSAA Sports Complex, Dublin Airport saw the climax of this year’s boy’s competiton when the final 12 teams battled it out to become the second Anna Livia Champions and book an all expenses trip to see Manchester United Play Aston Villa at Old Trafford this March, courtesy of the competition sponsor Whartons Travel.

A round robin league system resulted in the top teams progressing into the quarter -finals. The standard of play was exceptionally high and the games tight, the bonus point system employed throughout the tournament for good sportsmanship in every game proved crucial in defining where each team finished in their respective groups.

Pearse Street, O Devaney Gardens and Finglas West made the early running in the group stages but all slipped up when the competition arrived at the knockout stages. Cabra and Finglas East lost two closely fought semi-finals leaving Inchicore and Corduff to battle it out for the winners prize.

Inchicore took an early 2-0 lead in the final but were unable to hold on when Corduff scored two in quick succession to bring the final into an exciting penalty shoot-out. Corduff held their nerve taking the game 3-2 on penalties and with it the trip of a lifetime.

The day was a huge success and the cooperation between FAI and DCC Development officers ensured everyone had an enjoyable day.

FAI Development Officer, Gerry Reardon commented:
“This competition was the culmination of intensive work within inner city communities over the last three months by FAI / DCC Football Development Officers which began with a huge entry of 111 boys and over 30 girls inner city teams. When you consider that almost half of the children involved in this competition do not play regularly for a club, it’s very satisfying to think that you can coordinate an activity for them, which is very attractive and holds their attention. The other spin off is that many of the children playing who are not involved with local football clubs eventually go on to join one in their local area. It’s very satisfying to think that your efforts may have been instrumental in them doing just that”

Futsal National Coordinator, Derek O’Neill said:
“No doubt this partnership between the FAI and Dublin City Council is a very special and positive association. From a community development point of view, the Football Development Officers are making a big impact. From a Futsal development point of view, I’ve no doubt that it’s these kids they are working regularly with from Dublin’s heartland will play a huge part in the future of Futsal in Ireland. From what I’ve seen today, I’m very encouraged. Some of those kids will definitely pull on an Irish Futsal shirt in the future.”

The girl’s finals takes place this week on Sunday, February 10th at Cabra Sports Complex (1 – 4 pm) with teams competing from Hardwicke St, Grenville St, Cabra, Kilbarrack, Inchicore, Donore, St.Teresas Gardens, Oliver Bond, Upper Ballyfermot, Corduff and Cherry Orchard.

For further information regarding the Anna Livia Futsal Programme please contact:
Derek O’Neill
National Futsal Coordinator
E.mail: derek.oneill@fai.ie

Bruce McDevitt
Sports Development Officer
E.Mail:bruce.mcdevitt@dublincity.ie







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com