SAN FRANCISCO 2008

42nd International Children's Games

On Wednesday 9th July a bit of history was made when 8 players from the Cork Womens and Schoolgirls Soccer League embarked on a trip of their lifetime. They flew out from Cork to attend the 42nd International Games that are being held this year in San Francisco. The tournament is running from the 10th to 15th July. The invitation was send to the League via the City Council which in turn had received the invitation due to the fact that Cork is twinned with San Francisco.The International Games are held every year in a different venue and are endorsed by the International Olympic Committee. 1800 athletes from 54 countries will be competing in different sporting events and developing friendships. There will be an Education programme that will allow the athletes from across the world to engage in dialogue via the Internet using translation software, this is designed to help participants understand life beyond their home, classroom and athletic fields. A festival village will feature dance, music, art and authentic traditional foods from around the world. I

Competition

The girls got their tournament off to a flyer on Friday with an 8 - 2 win over US opposition, Rochester. This was followed on Saturday by two more victories. Firstly they defeated San Francisco 4 - 1 and followed up this with a 9 - 0 victory over another US side, Contra Costa to win their group comfortably.

In the Semi-Final they powered their way to a 7 - 1 win over Group A runners up Los Gatos from California to set up a Final encounter against another Californian side San Mateo. Unfortunately luck was against them as they went down 3 - 2 but it was a magnificent tournament for the girls and for Ber, Marie and Deirdre.

The 8 players and 3 delegates from the League and parents met with the Lord Mayor Brian Birmingham as he wished the players the very best of luck with their trip. Players that are paricipating Sinead Duggan, Laura Lynch, Denise O'Sullivan, Kelly Sugrue, Rebecca Kearney, Amy Wilson, Leanne Mullins and Jayne O'Leary. League delegates are Deirdre Kearney and Marie O'Leary and Coach, Ber Cahill.

At 12 noon on July 14th in the Negoesco Field at the University of San Francisco, history was made for the Cork Women's & Schoolgirl's League as Coach Ber Cahill and 8 girls, Sinead Duggan, Rebecca Kearney, Laura Lynch, Leanne Mullins, Jayne O'Leary, Denise O'Sullivan, Kelly Sugrue and Amy Wilson lined out for Cork in the final of the 42nd International Children's Games against San Mateo of California.

This game was going to be tough as each team had topped their respective groups with 3 wins out of 3. Cork started the brighter and when they were awarded a corner, Becky Kearney sent in a ball that Jayne O'Leary had no hesitation in sending to the back of the San Mateo net. This shook the Californian side as they had never trailed in any game in this tournament and it sent them on a mission to equalise. Cork midfielders, Denis O'Sullivan and Leanne Mullins were kept busy and a solid defence from Laura Lynch and Kelly Sugrue kept San Mateo at bay until minutes before the break when a long strike gave keeper Amy Wilson no chance.

The second half began with both sides going from end to end but San Mateo grabbed their chance half way through the half to take the lead. A resilient Cork side were still not ready to give up without a fight and were rewarded when Becky Kearney lobbed the keeper from well out the field to tie the game at 2 - 2. At this stage, anybody watching the game would have felt that it was going to be Cork's day especially when in the dying moments San Mateo scored what they thought was the winner only to have it ruled offside. And so it went to extra time where niggling injuries and tiredness began to have an effect on the gallant Cork outfit. But they battled on and and the game continued with both sides coming close to scoring. Becky Kearney came close on two occasions, one with a delicate lob that just went over the crossbar and another that hit the upright. At the other end, Kelly Sugrue made a superb tackle on a San Mateo player who was aiming in on goal. The ball fell to another forward only to be pushed off the line by Amy Wilson but it came out to another San Mateo player who looked like she was about to score but this time it was LeanneMullins on the goaline who cleared the danger.

This was nail biting football and the crowd were loving every minute of it. Finally the whistle blew for the end of the game and it was now down to penalty kicks. Unfortunately lady luck deserted the girls in this lottery and to say these girls were distraught would be an understatement as the tears flowed freely. But the tears from the Irish community who came to support the girls were tears of pride. Many a grown men and women who had spent the past 30 years and more in San Francisco came over to the girls aftewards and told them how proud they were of their magnificent performance and what an achievement they had accomplished. As one representative of the Cork/San Francisco twinning committee told us afterwards. "We were so delighted that Cork were sending a team to be represented at these games. This is the icing on the cake for them to get a medal as well. They have no idea how proud the Irish over here are of their achievement.

In time the girls will realise what they have achieved. They will realise that this was not just about football but about being ambassadors for their City and Country. They will look back at the reception they were given at the United Irish Cultural Centre by the San Francisco / Cork Sister City Committee. Chairperson, Diarmuid Philpott presented all the girls with Certificates of Recognition from Assembly woman Fiona Ma. There was a reception at the Irish Consulate where the view from the 33rd floor was breathtaking.

The other memories of this Tournament will be 1) the team from Tralee that we supported and they in turn supported us. It isn't too often that we will get a Cork jersey on a Kerry body. 2) The Medical Tent. We seemed to have spent a lot of time there and Doctor Marion who we adopted as our team doctor, ended up coming to every game. 3) Sinead, our goalkeeper, who got injured in the very first match but never complained once.4) Deirdre Kearney, who nearly resident at the A&E Unit. 5) The friends they made from so many cities. 6) The Jerseyst hey swapped and the Pinst hey traded. 6) The invitations to other countries and tournaments and 7) how everybody loves the Irish!!

Many many thanks must go to the Cork City Council who issued the invitation and sponsored us and Gaisce, the President's Award, who supported this venture. It was a trip of a lifetime for all involved.

Report from Marie O'Leary.