Issue link: http://digitaleditions.uberflip.com/i/1141648
Portlaoise FEATURE students. The school was situated in the centre of the town and with the growing population and the number of students each year on the rise, facilities across all facets of the school were diminishing. This didn't hinder participation in any sport. Facilities didn't affect the passion and drive from likes of the great Pat Critchely amongst others. I was encouraged to join the football team along with my fellow club members, this gave us the opportunity to represent our school players from other parishes. We trained in the old Portlaoise GAA fortress beside O' Moore Park, a 20 minute walk from the school, this journey quickly turned into a 10 minute warm up jog carrying our gear. From memory, we played for fun in first and second year and with little or no success at any level. 2011 came, and the school made a well-deserved move to the Borris road to become neighbours with our good friends in the CBS. With over 10 basketball courts on site, a full size GAA and soccer pitch and state of the art hall and gym facilities, it was the place of dreams for school kids. This move came with some timely additions to the staff. One teacher already had a couple of All Ireland medals would go on to win a sensational and record breaking 10 All Ireland Senior football medals for Cork. It was none other than Geraldine O' Flynn. Geraldine was quick to get involved in the existing school teams but All Irelands and success wasn't on our radar when playing. We never talked about getting to finals or being successful, it was about togging out and enjoying ourselves.. and getting out of class of course. Little by little, Geraldine changed the culture of sport in the school. She had a vision and introduced a structure and purpose to everything we did. Training begun to make sense, comradery and morale was building. Every girl in the school wanted to play and train The SCOIL CHRÍOST RÍ This Page Clockwise from Top: 1 Captain Erone Fitzpatrick lifts with the cup after the Lidl All-Ireland PPS Senior A Final between Loreto, and Scoil Chríost Rí. 2 Geraldine O'Flynn. 3 Erone Fitzpatrick at the Lidl All Ireland Post Primary Schools Finals launch, Croke Park of RISE ince winning the Post Primary Schools Senior 'A' final in March of this year, the phenomenal success of Scoil Chríost Rí has been well documented. This was a momentous day in both the LGFA and the academic calendar of the school. In 7 years the school has contested 5 All Ireland Finals between junior and senior across the C, B and A grade. An outstanding achievement for any school or county at any level. The story behind this success has only been touched on by a few, and the contributions extend further than anyone could imagine. In 2009, I joined the school along with over 100 eager first year S