A round-up of the club’s community activity during the month of June.

Dundalk Schoolboys League 2010 Squad
We welcomed the Dundalk Schoolboys League 2010 squad – pictured above – and their coaches to Oriel Park on Friday, June 28th. They won the Kennedy Trophy in Limerick recently. Congratulations to all involved.

Participants in the FAI Late Night League (Mid-Louth Ardee) pictured with Sgt Andrew Barron and Niall Keenan (An Garda Síochána), Aoife Burns (Dundalk FC) and Niall Newberry (Mid-Louth Youth Service)

FAI Late Night League (Mid-Louth Ardee)
More than 100 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 participate in the Late Night League, which runs twice a year in Ardee throughout May and November. It also runs in Dundalk during the same months.

A diversionary initiative that was first introduced in various locations across Dublin in 2008, the programme intends to engage young people at peak anti-social hours and provide them with an opportunity to socialise and play football in a safe environment.

In addition, it aims to deconstruct barriers between young people and members of An Garda Síochána, as well as strengthen bonds within participating communities.

Although open to all, participation is primarily geared towards ‘at-risk’ young people for them to positively engage with members of An Garda Síochána and local youth workers.

Dundalk FC Down Syndrome Futsal Team
Dundalk FC was one of seven League of Ireland clubs to take part in the very first League of Ireland Down Syndrome Futal tournament, along with Shelbourne, Cork City, Harps, Wexford FC, Bohemians and Sligo Rovers.

The Lilywhites team won all three of their group games, and their semi-final with Sligo Rovers, before finishing a brilliant tournament as runners-up to Finn Harps.

With Gormanston native, and former Dundalk midfielder Greg Sloggett watching on, the Lilywhites were pooled into group one alongside Bohemians, Wexford and Cork City and they topped the section with a 100% record.

A brilliant hat-trick from David O’Hare and goals from Kevin Trainer, Jamie Linden and Conor McGuinness (2) got Dundalk off to a flying start with a 7-2 win over Bohemians in their first outing.

They followed that up with a 5-2 win over Wexford; goals from Michéal McCloy and a brace apiece from Jonathan Evans and Jamie Linden, before they secured their place in the knockout stages with a 2-1 win over Cork City, with Trainer scoring both goals. 

The lads received a great reception when they were presented to the Oriel Park crowd during the half-time interval of the game with Sligo Rovers.

Dundalk FSR Officer Aoife Burns with students from Redeemer Girls NS

Redeemer Girls NS Active Week
As part of the Redeemer Girls’ National School Active Week, Dundalk FC FSR Officer Aoife Burns went down to the school to hold a football session with the girls. 

The girls participated in a few team-building activities where they had to work together to complete the tasks in a fun way. 

Aoife introduced them to futsal and the rules of the game and they played a few games of five-a-side. Great fun was had by all!

FSR Training
Dundalk FC FSR Officer Aoife Burns travelled to Glasgow along with six other LOI Community/FSR Officers for training with Celtic FC Foundation and SPLF trust, learning about how we can utilise our club and football as a tool for good for the community.

MU14 Bucket Collection
The Dundalk FC MU14 academy team held a bucket collection before the game with Waterford FC to raise funds for their trip to the QPR Tournament. We would like to thank you all for the generous donations.

The Bellurgan United Girls U10 team

HT Mini Games
We welcomed Bellurgan United’s U10 girls’ team to Oriel Park to take part in our HT Mini Games and act as flagbearers.

Summer Camp Crest Competition
The club recently ran a competition amongst local schools to design a crest for the upcoming Dundalk FC Summer Camps. 

The entries were so good that we found it hard to pick one winner so we went with four runners-up, Ava, Junior, Summer and Edward who each won a place on the camps and one overall winner, Dearbha, who won a Dundalk FC goodie bag, a signed ball and a place on the camps. 

Well done to all five for their brilliant artwork!

Louth FAI Schools Primary Nine-A-Side Blitz
The League of Ireland may have been on the mid-season break but there was still plenty of football on show at Oriel Park as Dundalk FC played host to the summer edition of the Louth FAI Schools Primary Nine-A-Side Blitz on June 18th.

While participation and enjoyment were central tenets, the winter version of the blitz was competitive with schools from all areas of the county taking part in qualifying rounds before the finals were held at Oriel Park in December.

The summer edition took a non-competitive angle and, once again, schools from every corner of the county were represented with Cartown NS, Aston Village Educate Together, Scoil Mhuire Kilkerley, Faughart CNS, Redeemer Girls, Scoil Bhríde Dunleer, Tallanstown NS and Scoil Phádraig Naofa Kilcurry all taking part.

Organised by the Louth FAI Schools Primary Nine-A-Side committee, the games were played in great spirits with over 150 pupils getting the chance to play on the Oriel Park pitch. 

With the sun shining throughout the day, and an emphasis on fun and participation, the atmosphere was one of enjoyment and it was a fitting and fun way to end the first year of this new initiative with plans already underway for the 2024/25 school year.

John Mountney and Ryan O’Kane, pictured with students from Kilcurry NS as part of the Trí Little Birds School Football Programme

Trí Little Birds School Football Programme Meet and Greet
Our two pilot programmes for The Trí Little Birds School Football Programme are now complete with a total of 16 schools – some of them are pictured on the right – participating in the programme around Dundalk. 

The aim of the Trí Little Birds School Football Programme is to deliver an inclusive football programme focusing on the aspect that football is fun, promotes respect and understanding, promotes wellbeing and positive mental health and helps children learn important team-building skills that can then be applied to their classroom and other areas in their lives.

If you are a business or company and would like to get involved in this community initiative, please get in touch. If you are a primary school and would like to put your school forward for The Trí Little Birds School Football Programme for the 2024-2025 school year please contact aoife.burns@dundalkfc.com

DFC In The Community Volunteers
We are currently seeking volunteers for different community, climate action and sustainability initiatives. If you have an hour a week to spare and would like to get involved in DFC in the Community, please contact aoife.burns@dundalkfc.com