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Football at LFI is finding its feet and taking off!
Since the year 2000 (yes, already!!!) and the inaugural friendly between LFI and St. Kilian’s in May to mark the secondary school’s official move to Clonskeagh, football under Mikaël Allain in the primary and secondary school hasn’t stopped growing or bringing happiness to those taking part.
A happy few find themselves today wearing the Ireland colours for the women’s team and the men’s under-21s and we proudly salute them (http://www.toutlemondesenfoot.fr/interview-2/tlmsf-interviewe-neil-farrugia-franco-irlandais-et-international-u19/; http://www.toutlemondesenfoot.fr/tlmsf/actu-2/tlmsf-interviewe-chloe-mustaki-internationale-irlandaise-passee-par-les-girondins-de-bordeaux/), but many more will simply remember the comradeship and sharing in an environment that was always respectful, tolerant and caring.
A World Cup tradition going back years…
In June 2010 when football at LFI was ten years old, a valiant under-13s mixed team of boys and girls from LFI and St Kilian’s won the first World Cup for French Schools Abroad in Johannesburg (South Africa) – a surprising victory given the strength of the opposition which was based on a team spirit strong enough to move mountains!
In June 2014 in Brasilia (Brazil) their successors, a mixed under-14s team of the same composition as in 2010 snatched a fantastic 6th place, only losing by tiny margins to the finalists and competition winners.
In February 2020, a new generation will try to ‘bring the Cup back home’ after 10 years of exile! The ‘real’ French team took 20 years to win it, so we know how to be patient.
12 happy boys chosen from CM2, 6th and 5th class are starting on an epic 11 week preparation to rival their glorious elders and write their own sporting history…
Today, football at LFI is:
- 100 primary school players
- 70 secondary school players
…that is one third of the entire school!
- Two training sessions a week in the primary school on Mondays and Fridays for each age group (GS/CP, CE1/CE2, CM1/CM2)
- One training session per age group in the secondary school on Tuesday and Thursday
- And, for the first time in the short history of LFI football, we have teams in the Metropolitan Division 3 League and Cup for boys (U14/U17/U19) and in the East Wicklow/South Dublin League and Cup for girls (U19).
A first year in 2019/2020 to get to know the demands of competitive school football (“to cut our teeth”) and patiently establish our game principles…hoping to grow a bit more in 2020/2021 with, you never know, a boys U15 team and another girls team…