The athletics season is in full swing with plenty of events to choose from over the early months of the year. The club took a huge contingent to the Raheny 5 mile and we were well represented at the 10 mile road races in both Trim and Dungarvan. The Lusk vest was also spotted at the Seville Half Marathon and the Donadea 50k. Our Juvenile athletes have been in indoor action and training at the hub has been spiced up with the 6 week winter 3k league. Well done to all and we look forward to the brighter evenings as summer approaches.

Robyn was in fine form at the Dublin Juvenile Championships.

Saturday 8th February was a big day for Team LSA last month with four athletes competing in the National 50Km Championships at the 15th Donadea 50k. Conditions were a little bit challenging, but it did not stop Team LSA. Eimear Caulfield was LSA’s first female runner to compete in this Championship along with Dino Higgins, Stephan Bueck and Stephen Brennan. Alongside them was an unbelievable crew of supporters on the day!

We are extremely proud of all our members who were involved: from Eimear the first LSA finisher to the support crew who motivated everyone through to the finish line.

For anyone who aspires to running something a little shorter, we have just commenced a new Couch to 5k program - ideal for the complete beginner or those who are returning to running after injury or time out. This seven week program involves committing to running three days per week: Monday and Wednesday at 7pm at Donabate Portrane Community Centre and Saturdays at Donabate Park Run.
Meanwhile, our older Juveniles have had some great success at the recent Leinster Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships: Sinead Farrell progresses to All-Ireland Championships. She was an impressive third scorer on the winning Senior Girls Team. Reuben Capocci qualified for All-Ireland Championships in the Intermediate Boys event, with James Keegan and Leon Capocci both impressing in Senior and Minor Boys respectively.

We’ve had some great success at the recent Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championships in Abbotstown: James Keegan and Reuben Capocci took the title of Dublin 800m Champion at Under 18 and Under 17 respectively. They now progress to the National Championships in Athlone later this month with Liam Handley (Shot Putt), Lea Hubert (High Jump). Reuben also competes in the U17 1500m after his second-place finish in Dublin.

Congratulations to all our athletes and their coaches for their hard work and dedication.
Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA on our website and social media pages!

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/
Twitter https://twitter.com/LSARunning
https://lambaysportsathletics.ie/
Adult memberships queries: lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com
Little Athletics and Juvenile athletes (7-18) : lsajuvenilereg@gmail.com

We kicked off 2025 with lots of new coloured belts following our Winter Grading Examinations. All students are now working on the next steps of their skills development to improve their karate basics and are learning their new Kata which will be needed for the next examination.

We also had our traditional invitational class with our students’ parents. Parents come along and tried karate beside their child and had lots of fun. It gives Parents a great idea of what their children are learning and, in some cases, encourages a Parent to join our club to learn Karate for themselves.

We hosted JKS Ireland Instructor training and Open Squad Training session recently. These proved to be very enjoyable sessions with the next ones planned for February.

We are proud to announce that we are the host club for the JKS Ireland Open Championship 2025 which will be held in February 2025. Planning and organising is underway and their will be a wide range of events to cater for beginners, novices, and more advanced students. The Championship is open to Shotokan clubs nationally and we hare hoping for a good turnout.

We are looking forward to a full and busy schedule for 2025. Along with our regular classes, we will have Competitions, Squad training sessions and visits from Japanese Karate Instructors to help us in our training. We also have the European Karate Championships to look forward to in September 2025
Our membership is growing but we are still looking for new members to join us (Children, Young People & Adults). Contact Dermot on 087-8073885 for details on how to join. You can also contact us on Facebook: JKS Swords Karate Club or on Instagram: @jks_swords_karate_club

Huge congratulations to our U16 Girls Basketball team who came out on top as the best team in Ireland when they were crowned All Ireland Champions, U16 Division A after a thrilling final against St Mary’s, Mallow in the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght yesterday.

The girls were amazing throughout the game and held a strong St Mary’s team to a 41-33 win.
Special word of thanks to their Head Coach, Christian McDonnell who has worked so hard for the girls. Christian is a former MCS Student who also won some All-Ireland medals in school!

We could not be prouder of the girls for their achievement!

To read a full write-up of the match from Basketball Ireland and a gallery of photos taken by our Malahide CS’s roving photographer, Dan Clohessy (6th Year) visit www.ireland.basketball.com.

A warm welcome to the new members that have joined the club in recent weeks. Some have already been in race action wearing the club colours. It was great to see a good turnout at a wet and muddy St Anne’s park for the Dublin Master’s Cross Country.

The Lusk 4 mile is only a few weeks away so if you’re not helping out on the day make sure that you’ve purchased your race entry as the event sold out last year. It’s on Sunday 2nd March at 3pm.

There’s great news on our athletics facilities. We are delighted to announce that Lusk AC has received notification from Bord Pleanala on the decision to grant planning permission for the Sports Hub development; including an 8 lane athletics track. All going to plan this should be constructed and open in 2026.

LSA saw 2024 close with record membership of over 500 adult and juvenile athletes. We aim to be a club for all the community, from age 8 and upwards, in a variety of athletics disciplines. So whether you’re starting out in your athletics journey, or you are a seasoned competitor, we would love to have you join us. We have adult groups for a range of abilities and interests.

Our full Juvenile athletics training program resumed last month as athletes returned to regular sessions preparing for the upcoming indoor season. Membership fees are now due for all of our returning athletes and we look forward to working with your child in 2025.

Our weekly Juvenile training sessions are as follows: - Monday:- S&C DPCC - athletes born 2014 (Under 12 & up)Thursday: - Thursday training at DPCC Astro Pitch 6-7 pm: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 7-8 pm: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 & Fit for Youth.

Friday - National Indoor Arena 6-7:15pm Development group training at NIA - Under 12 and up
Saturday - XC group training Meeting @ 2:30 pm at Newbridge Demesne - Under 12 and up
Indoor competition kicks off with the Dublin Championships and Spraoi Games which will be held throughout January and February at the National Indoor Arena (NIA), Abbottstown.

Details of all upcoming competitions were circulated by our competition secretary through our Club social media parent groups. If your child wishes to join our club please contact our Juvenile Registrar, Jennifer Tanner @ lsajuvenilereg@gmail.com. (please note there may be waiting lists in place for some groups.

We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our Program Managers, coaches and volunteers who continue to work with our Juvenile section and make it the great success it is.
Adult memberships queries: lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com. Little Athletics and Juvenile athletes (7-18) :lsajuvenilereg@gmail.com

The start of the New Year brought exciting achievements for Takemusu Aikido Society, as two major milestones were reached during an international seminar held in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 2nd to 5th January. This gathering of Aikido practitioners from across Europe included over 50 participants from Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, France, Germany, Ireland, and beyond.

The seminar was led by Ulf Evenås Sensei, a revered figure in the Aikido world and he was awarded the rank of 8th dan, the highest possible grade, reflecting his extraordinary contributions to Aikido’s development as a martial art and way of life.

The seminar unfolded against a backdrop of wintry beauty. Sweden welcomed the Irish visitors, Raman Bekarevich and Jan Toth, with cold winds and bare landscapes. However, overnight snow transformed Gothenburg into a winter wonderland, adding a magical touch to the experience.

The culmination of the seminar was the dan grading examinations, a rigorous test of skill and dedication. Candidates were evaluated not only on their technical proficiency but also on their understanding of Aikido’s principles. These gradings represent years of consistent practice and embody the art’s values of discipline, harmony, and resilience.

For Takemusu Aikido Society, the seminar brought two proud moments. Raman Bekarevich, the head instructor, was awarded the rank of 4th dan. This rank signifies the pinnacle of technical mastery in Aikido, requiring the ability to perform all techniques with exceptional precision and fluidity. Beyond this rank, Aikido practitioners are no longer tested on technical skills; instead, they are recognised for their contributions to the art and their role in guiding others.

Another significant milestone was achieved by Jan, an assistant instructor at the club, who earned his Shodan (1st-degree black belt). This achievement was particularly meaningful as it marked the first black belt awarded to a student of Raman Bekarevich and a historic moment for the Takemusu Aikido Society. Jan’s success symbolises the dedication and strength of the club’s teaching and its commitment to fostering the growth of its members.

You too can become part of this story. Takemusu Aikido Society offers regular classes open to everyone, including complete beginners who are curious to try something new. Classes are held every Sunday in Balbriggan and on Mondays and Wednesdays in Dublin. To start your journey, visit www.aiki.ie or email at info@aiki.ie.

2024 will go down as one of the best years the club has had since COVID.

Along with our regular weekly schedule of classes, we also found time to fit in monthly Squad training sessions to prepare members of JKS Ireland for the World Karate Championships which were held in Japan in July 2024. Along with this we also crammed in multiple fund-raising activities to help fund the cost of travelling to the World Championships.

We had a total of five members selected as part of the twenty strong Irish team trained and guided by Dermot Sensei 7th Dan JKS for these World Championships and it was a fantastic experience for everyone who travelled.

We hosted several JKS Ireland National Training events with visiting JKS Japan Instructors. We had a visit from Toyama Sensei in January. We had our annual seminar with World Chief Instructor Kagawa Shihan 9th Dan JKS in May and in October Yamaguchi Sensei visited at the beginning of the month, with Watanabe Sensei visiting at the end. All these Japanese Instructors delivered exciting and dynamic sessions, inspiring attendees to develop their Karate Skills further.

We participated in several competitions during the year, Piltown Open Championships, The Kanazawa Cup, the ONAKAI National Kata Championships and the Murakami Open Sheild. We had a mixture of participants at each event, some novices, and some more experienced competitors. We did well at each bringing home medals and competition experience to the club.

We held two club gradings, in early July and mid-December, where club members showed off what they have been studying during the year and all members who took the grading examinations progressed to their next coloured belt.

2025 promises to be another exciting year for the club as we prepare to take part in the European Karate Championships in Denmark in September. We will have our usual schedule of classes plus additional Squad training sessions, and we will have more visits from Japanese Instructors to help us in our training.
Our membership is growing but we are still looking for new members (Children, Young People & Adults). Contact Dermot on 087-8073885 for details on how to join. You can also contact us on Facebook: JKS Swords Karate Club or on Instagram: @jks_swords_karate_club

Recently at Junsa Taekwondo we held our annual belt grading and graduation

When you start taekwondo, you start as a white belt and as time progresses and you learn new skills and new Poomsae’s (a set of moves that must be performed as part of your training) that range from basic to advanced. We use the grading system to set our students goals and improve their skills.

The grading is full of many different aspects so that if one individual is not as good at one skill but is better in other aspects, then this can give them a great sense of accomplishment.

St. Maurs GAA club in Rush has announced Carroll Estates as the headline sponsor for its ball wall and skills area, which is being upgraded to include a 3G surface, new fencing and improved lighting. With over 1,300 members, 40 juvenile teams, 16 adult teams and an All-Stars section for young adults with special needs, the ball wall is a vital resource for every player to sharpen speed, agility, footwork and hand-eye co-ordination.

To celebrate the sponsorship, Roisin Carroll, director of Carroll Estates visited the club on Sat 7 December to unveil the new wall ball mural commissioned from local artist Sheena Joyce and Darragh Mulryan of Darragh Signs.

Club treasurer Peter Monks said “The Carroll Estates sponsorship is key for St Maurs as it will enable us to fund the upgrade of our vital ball wall area, and we aim to have the project completed by summer 2025. This forms the last infrastructure phase in our development plan, ‘Create the Future’, which was launched in 2018 and sets the club on a good path towards our centenary in 2028.”

It also marks the beginning of an eight-year partnership between the club and the company. To support the amazing work of the staff and volunteers at St. Maurs, Carroll Estates will be providing a ‘Local Hero of the Month’ prize of a €100 One4all voucher to a deserving winner picked by the club in January 2025.
Carroll Estates, which is celebrating 50 years in business, will be building homes in the Rush area over the next eight years. Roisin Carroll, director of Carroll Estates, said, “We are delighted to partner with St. Maurs GAA, a cornerstone of the Rush and Loughshinny communities, as they continue to inspire and empower people of all ages through sport. Supporting the development of the ball wall and skills area aligns with our commitment to fostering community growth and well-being.

The club, which was founded in 1928, has doubled in size over the past ten years as its local catchment area of Rush and Loughshinny continues to grow and also provides playing facilities for five local schools. Recent achievements for the club in 2024 include winning the Dublin Men’s Under 21 Football Championship, ladies football played at Division 1 level, and becoming the crowned champions in the Camogie Intermediate 2 category.

The club was recently honoured at a ceremony in Croke Park on Saturday 9 November 2024 as one of 90 Green Clubs across Ireland taking sustainability action for the club and community.