Garda team braced for Eircom League challenge
The Garda international soccer squad will compete head to head with an Eircom league team for the first time next year.
They will take on Bray Wanderers for a charity match in March ahead of qualifiers for the 2010 European Police Championships.
Funds raised from the clash will be donated to Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, and a leading charity in the north Wicklow Town.
Garda Richard Garvey, Garda Soccer Club secretary, said the match marked a significant moment in the club’s history.
“It is a big occasion for us,” Mr Garvey said.
“They’re doing it as a big community project, and I’m involved in community policing myself. From that end it will be worthwhile.”
Inspector Noreen McBrien, Bray garda station, said the venture was being rolled-out to boost relations between the community, young people and the gardai.
“While everyone is welcome to attend, the target audience for this match is secondary school pupils,” Insp McBrien said.
“In order to encourage the support of young people for this event, transition year students are being asked to carry out the promotion and marketing of this match within their schools.
“We want to do it to promote the link between the guards, community, young people and the club and to further that as part of our community engagement,” Insp McBrien said.
The Garda international side is made up of 20 of the force’s top players from across the island.
They will play the Italian police team in April and later the Czech force in their bid to qualify for the 2010 European Police Championships in Athens.
The squad have qualified for the championship before, reaching the semi-finals in 2006.
The charity match will be held on March 3 in Carlisle Grounds in Bray, with tickets priced at €5.
Separate fundraising ventures are to be held at schools including penalty shoot-outs with a Bray Wanderers player.
Funds will be donated to Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin and the Open Door Project, Bray.
It provides facilities and activities for adults with physical disabilities as a result of multiple sclerosis, stroke, motor neurone disease, spina bifida and road accidents.
Entertainment will also be provided by the Garda band, while a special commemorative brochure will also be published.
Insp McBrien said they are hoping the clash will raise more than €20,000.
