There are a number of solo sports here at St. Fintan’s High School that help compliment our team sports to create a strong sporting community within the school. These solo sports cater mostly to athletes who compete in these disciplines outside of school and gives them an opportunity to represent the school in their chosen sport. These sports include Squash, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Golf, Sailing, Athletics (including both Track & Field and Cross Country) Judo and Boxing. Although all of the above are considered as individual sports there is a also a strong team element to each of these sports in school competitions. Below is an outline of some of the recent successes in these sports: Squash: We have had huge success in Squash in recent years mainly due to the great work being done by Eoin Ryan in Sutton Lawn Tennis Club. We have won All-Ireland titles at the highest level in U15, U17 and U19 for each of the last 3 years on top of numerous other All-Ireland titles over the last decade. Badminton: All three of our badminton teams (minor, junior, senior) are competing well in Leinster Division 2. This is testament to the great work being done by Ms. Kelly over the last couple of years. Tennis: All three of our tennis teams (minor, junior, senior) are also competing well in Leinster Division 2 in recent times. Last year our Junior team won the Leinster Division 2 title while this year both the Minor and Senior teams were unlucky to lose out in their respective Division 2 finals. Ms. Garry has done huge work over the last couple of years to raise the profile of tennis in the school. Table Tennis: Under the guidance of Mr. Bennett the table tennis team have shown a great work ethic and enthusiasm over the last few years and are now once again competing in Division 2 across all age grades. Golf: We have a number of excellent golfers in the school competing at the highest level of schools golf. Sailing: We have had some good success in sailing in recent times winning the All Ireland schools competition in both 2014 and 2016. There are some great sailors in the school who compete with local clubs. Athletics: The school has a long tradition of competing at both provincial and national level across various athletics events. Each year the school wins multiple titles both on the track and in the field. This is no doubt due to the hard work done by Paddy Noonan and Kay Bannon. Boxing: Boxing is one of our newest solo sports in the school. This year we had 10 Transition Year students who completed the ‘Boxing in the Community’ program and as a result competed in the National Boxing Stadium in a schools TY competition. Judo: Judo is the newest solo sport to be introduced into the school sports program. After only 6 weeks of training some of our TY students managed to come away from the National Schools Judo Championships with 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.

Our school provides a wide range of opportunities for students to participate in team sports. There are 7 main team sports which include – Gaelic Football, Hurling, Soccer, Rugby, Basketball, Spikeball and Frisbee. Within these 7 team sports we field 22 teams which allows a huge number of students to benefit from the positive aspects of involvement in team sports. Teamwork, problem solving, resilience and developing social skills are all areas that are prominent within a team sport environment. These areas help to compliment life inside the classroom and it is our belief that they can develop our students in a holistic manner. Over the years our teams have had many successes. Some of our recent highlights include: Hurling – 2017/18 Senior Dublin B & Leinster C  winners and All- Ireland Runners up. Dublin Hurling school of the year 2018. Gaelic Football – Senior A Runners up 2017 and 2018. Rugby – Qualified for Leinster Senior Cup in 2017 and 2018. A historic achievement and the only public school to do so. Soccer – Dublin North Champions and Metro Cup winners 2018. Spikeball – 1st and 2nd year Dublin winners 2018. Basketball – A long history of successes at Dublin and All-Ireland level under the tutelage of basketball legend Jerome Westbrooks who coaches our teams. 1st and 2nd year Plate finalists 2018. Frisbee – Dublin winners at senior level and All -Ireland Finalists for the last three years 2015-18. Overall, success is not only judged by winning competitions though. The value placed upon participation and striving to give your best effort is what is encouraged in St.Fintan’s. Several well-known sporting stars have gone on to great successes in the careers but it is a love of sport and a desire to compete to the best of your ability that is held in the highest regard within our school.

Hurling Our hurling teams competed in the top divisions once again this season at all levels showing level of quality amongst our students. Our U14’s had a good campaign and competed in the Leinster A competition. This experience will stand to them for the future. Our U16’s had a mixed campaign in terms of results but had a good win over St.Aidan’s and have a lot of players who are still underage next season. Our U18’s also had a mixed campaign after returning to the A division this season after a hugely successful year last year. We defeated Benildus and St.Aidan’s on our way to a semi-final match against Colaiste Eoin where we fell short. On a side note, three of our students, Jack Fagan, Liam Dunne and John Sammon were members of the victorious North Dublin Colleges Hurling team who won the Leinster championship. A fantastic achievement by these lads. Finally, the school won Dublin Hurling school of the year for 2017/18 which was a fantastic achievement to celebrate for students and teachers involved in the game. Gaelic Football Our Gaelic football teams also competed at the highest level in all grades this season. Highlight of the year was our Senior team reaching their second Dublin A final in succession after some great performances in the group stages with a win over Maynooth and an exciting draw against Benildus. Unfortunately we lost out on the day to a very strong Ard Scoil Ris team. Our U16 team beat St.Aidan’s and lost out narrowly to Lucan CBS and Ard Scoil Ris. They missed out on qualification from the group unfortunately. Our U14 team competed in a new Leinster tournament this year and had the chance to play against some of the top schools in the province. This experience will no doubt stand to them in the future. Our 1st year team are just beginning their knock out competition now and it will be good for many of them to get a chance to wear the Fintan’s jersey for the first time. Soccer Senior soccer had a mixed season with some brilliant victories over Belvedere, St.David’s, Castleknock and Benildus over the course of their campaign. The team reached the semi-finals of the Joe McGrath Shield where they lost a thrilling game 2-1 to Belvedere. Rugby Our Senior rugby team again produced a tremendous year by qualifying for the Leinster Senior cup for the second year in succession. Unfortunately, we were beaten by a strong Pres Bray team on the day. The team also reached the quarter final of the league and finished the season on a high with a victory in the Fr Hampson Plate final which means the team is ranked 9th overall in Leinster. So, the progress continues and well done to all the players and management who put in a huge effort. Our Junior team have made good progress over the season and have reached the final of the Duff Shield which is due to be played in the coming weeks. Our 1 st year rugby team ad good wins over St.Paul’s, Chanel and St.Patrick’s Navan. They have shown great commitment to their training and hopefully they can bring this excellent attitude into next year. Golf Our Senior golf team enjoyed great wins over Castleknock College and St.Paul’s during their brief season. They lost out to eventual group winners Ard Scoil Ris by a single hole. This team may only have a small number of players but they are extremely talented and dedicated to their sport. Frisbee Our Senior Frisbee team continued their great run of form in both Dublin and All-Ireland competitions this season. They defeated Gonzaga in the Dublin final for the third year in a row and then lost narrowly to the same team in the All-Ireland final. These students show great commitment to playing the sport and Mr O’Neill trains this group several times a week which highlights the popularity of the sport in the School. Racquet sports Tennis – Our tennis teams have had an excellent campaign so far with all teams unbeaten. There have been wins at Minor level over Belvedere, King’s Hospital. At Junior level we have beaten Belvedere and St.Michael’s and are on course to qualify from the group. Finally, our Senior team have had good wins over Blackrock and Gonzaga and should progress to the knockout stages of the league. Table Tennis – In table tennis our senior and junior teams enjoyed mixed results throughout the season. Our senior team had some memorable trips to Monkstown and Westmeath but unfortunately did not make the knockout stage of their competition. Our Junior team also had an up and down season but will hope to progress next year after gaining good experience this term. Squash – Our U15, U17 and U19 teams all won their respective All Ireland titles in Galway last week and continue to excel. Thanks to Eoin Ryan and Sutton LTC who do so much great work with our students. Badminton – Our U14s were in Division 1 and competed very well throughout. They were knocked out at the semi-final stage. Our U16s had one excellent victory over Wesley College but failed to get past the group stages. Finally, our U19 team competed very well at Division 1 level this year but unfortunately did not make it out of their group. Badminton club each week is run by Ms.Kelly and has allowed many students to try the game out this year. Athletics The highlight of the winter term in Athletics was the annual trip to Duffel, Belgium which is organised by Paddy Noonan. Current 3rd year student, James Hyland produced a fine performance to finish 6 th overall. The focus over the last few months has switched to track and field. Michael Farrelly and Sean L’Estrange have led the way with this team and in line for an international call up. Many students who have never taken part in athletics have participated this year which is great