Huge turn-out for soccer camps

Following from the impressive performance of the Cavan squad in the Kennedy Cup tournament in Limerick, the local underage soccer scene has been buzzing recently with the staging of the National Irish Bank Summer Soccer Schools around the county. 'The summer camps are all over Ireland and we have six of them in Cavan this year,' explained FAI Regional Development Officer Tom Mohan. 'We had one in Breifne College last week, we had 100 kids attending it and we have another in Cootehill this week with 52 at it and we"re running one, a RAPID camp at Tullacmongan in Cavan Town, from 10-14 August. 'Another camp we are going to have is Ballyjamesduff, and there will be another in Kingscourt. Mohan has been at the coalface of the impressive growth of the game in this county over the past number of years, a period which has seen a massive, improvement in standards, highlighted by the selection of local pair Jonathan Leddy and Caolan Reilly for the Irish Under 15 squad. The summer camps are seen as an integral part of the strategy of spreading soccer by targeting juvenile players. 'It"s going very, very well,' says former League of Ireland player Mohan of the summer camp scheme. 'The Emerging Talent programme in general is going well and the club structure is getting stronger all the time. The participation levels are increasing every year, which also helps the camps 'We have a co-ordinator in each venue. The co-ordinator in Cootehill is John Sherlock, Breifne College one was Brian Smith, Martin Kiernan is Ballyjamesduff, Dominic Sheenan is Kingscourt. Most of the clubs that have their own grounds have been involved as venues and we have been tapping into their facilities.' The numbers attending have been impressive, too. 'We have 100 in Ballyjamesduff and we have 19 on the goalkeeping camp on 25-26 July, but we would like more so anyone who is interested in that should get in touch. • If you are interested in attending a NIB soccer camp, particularly the goalkeeping camp in Cootehill, call 1890653653.