Naomh Éanna organised an event called 'Éanna's Everywhere' at the weekend.
By Cian O’Connell
Entering secondary school brings different feelings. The excitement of a new adventure; the fear of the unknown.
Progressive Antrim club Naomh Éanna, though, recently held an event to help younger club members adequately deal with the transition.
At the weekend Éanna’s Everywhere was held, an event where older teenagers provided assistance and advice for those entering first year in various schools in Antrim. Carmel Uí Dhomnaill, Naomh Éanna’s Healthy Clubs officer, explains how it unfolded. “It first came about at the start of the year, myself and the rest of the Healthy Club committee were just brainstorming about what we could do through the year,” she explains.
“We were thinking about what could be done outside of sport and matches and training etc. throughout the club. We are quite a large club; we are probably one of the bigger clubs in Antrim. We've a large membership, we also have a lot of families involved. You might have several siblings across age groups.
“One of the committee members said that for those starting secondary school, maybe we should do something, to introduce them to older club mates in the same school.”
An idea was planted ensuring in recent weeks plenty of planning and plotting took place. “So, from that, over the summer we were talking about it, and we thought it would be good to get them together, to try to make it happen,” she adds.
“We organised it then with the club, they were so good. Our committee is so receptive to anything that enriches the whole community, not just about what is on the pitch.
“We organised the sports hall, we got together with the coaches, and put together a little form for parents to say what school they go to and which year, whether they'd be a first year going in or whether they'd be acting as an older mentor on the day.
“We were conscious of trying to make sure that everybody going into first year had somebody from their school. Some schools are maybe better represented in the club than others.”
Students from seven schools attended Éanna’s Everywhere with Carmel Uí Dhomnaill delighted with the response. “We were lucky, we asked our older ages was there anybody in some of the schools to be a buddy or a mentor to these new children,” she says.
“Fair play to all of the older teenagers, from second year and above, they stepped up. They came along, they gave great advice to their younger clubmates. The whole point of it is that your club is almost like your other family.”
Club matters deeply. Being empathetic and understanding others counts for so much. “You play for your school, but you'll always come back to your club,” she adds. “We need to look after each other. This helped the younger ones, if they get stuck, they can speak to older teenagers in the club, they know who they are now.
Students attending seven different school attended the Éanna's Everywhere event.
“Likewise, if one of our older teenagers notices one of the first years looking worried, lost or struggling in some way, that they can approach them to see if they are okay, to see if they need a hand. That was the whole premise behind it, we bribed them with pizza, which helped. We were very lucky that a local restaurant donated some pizzas.”
Coaches involved in Naomh Éanna were key contributors too. “Again, volunteers helped on the day, we have such a great community, with coaches too,” she adds.
“They were there on the day, to make sure everybody was settled and okay. They helped kick off the conversation too, they were all in a room, looking at each other.
“So, the coaches asked what advice would you have wanted somebody to give to you going into first year. Those kind of questions got the conversations going. It was fantastic, we had nearly 90 in total on the day, it was just brilliant.”
It is crucial to help others, to provide support. “That is it, exactly,” Carmel Uí Dhomnaill replies. “I had a bit of a vested interest, as did a couple of the others on the Healthy Club Committee.
“We have children going into secondary school this year, my daughter is very lucky, she has her older brother in the school she is going to. So, she already has a face or two that she knows.
“Other children maybe only children or the oldest in their family going to a new school. Maybe, there isn't too many from their class going on to the same school.
“This means that even if there is only one or two people that they know, they know that they aren't on their own.”
Switching to secondary school is undoubtedly a big change for young people. So, Naomh Éanna merely wanted to demonstrate that others can help. “It wasn't necessarily big worries that the first years had, it was things like what they'd do if they got lost or if they forget their homework or PE kit, different things,” she says.
“The older ones were able to say then, if this happens you go to the office or you might need to talk to your form teacher. Those little niggly worries, they were able to completely put them to bed for the first years which meant this week, whatever day they are going to start in their new school, that they don't have those little things hanging over them.
“Through the year if anything comes up that they need help with, they know that person, and they can ask them for help.”
It is always available.