Longford Community Games looking forward to athletics county final on Sunday in Ballymahon
No sporting organisation was immune to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and during 2020 Longford Community Games ceased all activities in the interests of the safety of all participants and volunteers.
During lockdown and to recognise the trojan effort of frontline workers, Community Games officers presented a small gesture of appreciation to the staff of St Joseph’s Care Centre, Longford.
The pandemic presented the Community Games organisation with the opportunity to rejuvenate itself and for the first time, virtual events were staged in art and talent.
Longford Community Games representatives were successful winning four medals in these national ‘virtual’ events which received up to 250,000 views on social media, a truly remarkable achievement.
The first ever ‘zoom’ National Community Games AGM was held in May of 2021 with Longford to the fore on the newly elected board. Joe Fox was elected new Deputy President succeeding the late Tony Lee from Tuam, a great friend of Longford CG.
Shirley Maloney was reappointed as National secretary and Aoife Byrne from Legan was elected as NEAC director for the first time.
Longford Community Games have been looking forward to getting back to in-person events. The county committee met a number of times via Zoom and it was great to meet up last week for the first time in the stand in Leo Case Park, Ballymahon to plan the county final of athletics which takes place on Sunday, August 22 commencing at 10.30am.
Organisers are asking that only one parent accompany their children at this year’s final and no other supporters will attend in the interest of safety for everyone. The winners will represent Longford in the new regional event in Leixlip on September 11 - 12.
Team events are at an advanced stage and finals will take place in the next couple of weeks.
Great news for Longford is that the national finals of pitch & putt return to The Acres, Ballinalee on October 16 after a five year gap and hopefully Longford will host some Leinster events as well over the next few months.
None of this would be possible without sponsors, and Longford Community Games is grateful to Mullingar Credit Union and Longford County Council for their assistance.
Co Chairperson Joe Fox said, “Without their generosity, we could not continue as we have no outlet for funding our games in Longford this year due to the pandemic. I believe we have emerged from lockdown as a stronger and more determined organisation, and the county committee intend to keep Longford at the top of the Community Games ladder.”