The members of Junsa Taekwondo continue in their Martial Arts activities going into the summer on a high after a very eventful springtime.

While the students continue to attend their training in their quest for Martial Arts perfection, some of the group members were also busy in action over the past number of weeks.

Club members entered the recent TI development Poomsae tournament and there were some very proud moments for the club when Ellen heavily impressed the judges and narrowly missed out on a medal in her very first Poomsae tournament. The club and head coach Stuart Russell were trilled when Ellen got the opportunity to train with the Irish National Poomsae Squad at the event!

Junsa Taekwondo are focused on offering a safe and family-oriented Martial Arts experience for students of all ages, young & old.

Junsa Taekwondo train on a regular basis in Lusk Scout Halll – for more information please email: stuartpatrickrussell@gmail.com.

It’s been an exciting time in the last month or so with our athletes completing marathons and half marathons in Boston, London, Connemara, Limerick and Belfast. It’s not all about the longer distances though and the club encourages participation in everything from sprints to hurdles as well as hill and mountain running. We have great coaches who are helping our athletes to hone their skills at a range of track and field events. Well done to all who have competed so far this year and good luck to everyone for the remainder of the season. Registration for our Summer Camp in August is now open.

St. Mary’s Baton Twirlers have had a productive and impactful first quarter of the year with 12 athletes qualifying at the ABTI National Trials to be part of a 46-strong Irish Squad that will compete in the EFBT European Championships in Czech Republic in July.

The club also hosted a Thrive Connect Cafe facilitated by Aoife from Thrive Balbriggan in the Bracken Court Hotel. “It was lovely for different generations from the club to get together and discuss the importance of girls and women to be involved and stay in sports. There were also discussions on issues around the fast pace of changes in technology for the older generation. Thanks to Fingal Community Development Office for supporting this event for International Women’s Day,” a spokesperson for the club said.

Additionally, coaches from the club were present at the launch of Fingal County Council’s guide to becoming an anti-racism organisation and they took some time to chat with Deputy Mayor of Fingal Councillor Grainne Maguire.

The club stated its commitment to not only excel in their sport but also engage in meaningful discussions and community initiatives reflects the values of teamwork, leadership, and social awareness within the organisation.

We had a busy month with regular training taking place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays along with a fundraising Bag Pack, competing in the Piltown Open Championships in Clonmel and Squad training with JKS Ireland. Our fundraising Bag Pack took place in Dunne’s/JCs in Swords. The purpose of the fundraiser was to raise funds for our students who are going to Japan in July to compete in the JKS World Karate Championships. We had two teams who volunteered for this fundraiser, and they spent Friday evening and all-day Saturday packing groceries for the customers of Dunne’s/JCs. We would like to thank the customers who supported us so magnificently in this fund raiser as we raised over €2000 for our students going to Japan. We hosted JKS Ireland Squad training in Applewood Community Centre this month. Our focus is getting our students ready to compete on the world stage at the World Championships and we covered Kihon, Kata and Kumite as well pushing hard on our general fitness levels. We travelled to Clonmel to compete in the annual Piltown Open Karate Championships. It was a long day as this is an extremely popular competition, but our Squad did very well taking home a number of prizes on the day. Danny, Lola, and Sophia each took third place in Kata while Sophia also took home third place in her kumite section. This is great preparation for the World Championships and our next competition is in early July, a week before we travel. We hosted JKS Ireland Brown & Black Belt training, as well as JKS Ireland Squad training in preparation for the World Championships. Finally, Ava Kane was presented with her Shodan (1 st Black Belt) Diploma and Darragh O’Sullivan was presented with his Nidan (2nd Black Belt) Diploma this month. Our Club is always looking for new members (Children, Young People & Adults). Contact Dermot on 087-8073885 for details on how to join our club. You can also contact us on Facebook: JKS Swords Karate Club or on Instagram: @jks_swords_karate_club

Currently the club are seeking an experienced person for the role of Bar Manager. There is an excellent package for the right applicant. We are seeking an energetic, enthusiastic Bar Manager. Please call Marian 0876819540 or email. We are also building teams at present. if you are interested in getting involved in playing Gaelic football, come along for a really fun filled football hour every Thursday and also Saturday. Finally, congratulations to Mary who came in to collect her winnings from our club lottery. She was joined by family and friends on the evening. Happy spending Mary and folks please remember our lottery finances our club and your support is most welcome.

iSecure Swords Thunder took on St Paul’s Killarney on Saturday 13th April as both teams returned to National Basketball Arena or the Div1 League Trophy Final and took home the Trophy. With a Tip Off at 5.45pm there was nothing between the teams at the end of the third quarter with the scoreboard reading 16 -16. The end-to-end plays continued and there still remained parity at the end of the second quarter at 34- 34. After half time the Thunder girls upped their game and went ahead for the first time in the game which left the third quarter scoreline at 54-47. St Pauls fought hard to even the scoring but the Thunder wre not to be bested on the day and came away 69 -63 winners as the new Division 1 Trophy winners. Congratulations to the team and their coaches and mentors.

We recently attended a tournament in Dublin which saw our younger students showing of their sparring skills, while not complete beginners the nerves still showed a little, but they overcame their fears to show exactly what they are capable of.

At Junsa, we believe that gradually introducing our students to the competition side of our Olympic sport is the key. Working alongside other clubs from Taekwondo Ireland we can run tournaments for all levels, from introductory level right up to international level athletes. Please have a look at our up-and-coming young athletes.

Club members were thrilled to hear the news that we are a step closer to having an 8 lane athletics track to train and compete on. After many years of working with Fingal County Council and our neighbouring sports clubs in Lusk we can see light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you to our club’s committee who have worked long and hard in pursuit of athletic facilities in Lusk. Congratulations to our recent Fit4Life group who graduated with the Windmill 5k at Garristown. Watch out for a new group starting in September. The club had over 60 athletes in action at the Windmill 10k which also included the truly wonderful Dublin 10k championships. It was a successful day with a huge haul of medals being won in age and team categories.

Lambay Sports and Athletics is an Athletics club for all the Community, taking our name from the wonderful views of Lambay Island. On 26th May we will host the third edition of our 4 Mile Road race. LSA members volunteer with race organisation and we hope to welcome participants from all over Dublin and beyond to the roads of our beautiful environment. In the last month LSA members have been participating in events around the country and internationally. The LSA Community showed the power of support in an epic ultra marathon fundraiser in Newbridge Park. Our ever-popular club member Paudie Byrne ran 65km by completing 22 laps of Newbridge Park, with the support of a huge team from the LSA Events committee and our various training groups. The sun shone as Paudie completed his final laps, over €7100 (at the time of going to press) for the Cystic Fibrosis Ireland 65 Roses campaign. Dara Carr and Michal Kowalski represented Ireland in the European Masters Athletics Championships Indoors in Torún, Poland. Dara is a sprinter, and the powerhouse behind much of our club, especially our Little Athletics programme and Summer Camp. Dara was part of two Bronze medal winning relay teams in her age category: Women’s 4 x 200m and Mixed 4 x 200m. Meanwhile on the roads, our members had a great outing at the Bohermeen Half Marathon. This was followed by Leinster Senior medals and Dublin Masters Gold at the 10 mile Championships event at the Battle of Clontarf for our women’s team (Eimear Caulfield, Sinead Kiernan and Mary McNamara) on Easter Monday. The following week our Masters Men’s team (Shane O’Farrell, Keith Byrne, Fintan Counihan, Ken Spratt) won Gold in the Dublin 10km Championships at the Garristown Windmill run. Next it is our turn to host a road race - please join us at the scenic LSA 4 mile race on Sunday 26th May 2024. We always welcome new members and volunteers. If you would like to get involved please contact us - details below: Adult memberships queries please contact lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com Little Athletics and Juvenile athletes (from age 7-18) please contact lsajuvenilereg@gmail.com Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA on our social media pages!

Donabate Basketball celebrated our league win with the U14’s boys team.

We swapped the basketball for a spot of bowling. A truly Great evening was had by one and all. We continue with our training for next season over the coming weeks with some friendly games set on the calendar. We are delighted to have U14 Div 2 team and U15 Div 1 team for next season. The boys and girls academy is also in operation. Training takes place in DP Community Centre evenings and weekends. So, if you are interested in joining us please make contact: Our Key Contacts: Paul Mitchell – Club Secretary, U17 Girls - Con O’Leary & Alan Proctor – Coaches of Under 14 & 15 Boys Marie O’Leary – Child Protection Officer - Frank Koenicke & Serge Nyange – Boys Academy Coaches - Sophie Mitchell & Katelyn Byrne– Girls Academy Coaches. We urge any people living locally to contact us if they have interest in getting their children involved or volunteering to help with coaching. Contact can be made in DPCC where there are information boards that have relevant contact information.