Odhran & Ben Selected For SBYL Select Team
Odhran Kavanagh and Ben Sheilds have played for St Marys since they were six years of age. Next year will be their 9th season at St Marys Fc. They have been teammates ever since and have played for the same team throughout.
Odhran and Ben have both developed over the last few years and this season has been their best yet. The lads play for the 2008s Athletic team and they are having a great season. The 2008s Athletic are one of the top teams in the south Belfast youth League. They play in the premier division of the SBYL. The success of the team has not gone unnoticed and representatives from the league have watched some of their games including their recent Cup Final.
The 2008s Athletic team have a strong squad of players and have great coaches too. This is reflected on how the team have progressed season by season. Based on the quality of the team a number of the boys were invited to the trials for the SBYL select team. The trials took place over three sessions at Avoneil leisure centre in early April. It was disappointing that more of our boys didn’t make the final squad of 18.
Looking ahead the boys will be training with the squad three times a week when the season ends. This is to prepare for the Kennedy cup where the team will travel to limerick for six days in Mid June. Following this the boys will head to Milton Keynes in October for a tournament and next year they will head to Spain for another tournament.
A great opportunity for the boys to enhance and develop their skills and be ambassadors for the club. We wish the lads all the best in the future with the select team and their sporting journies. We want to thank the coaches for doing a fantastic job with the players growth , collectively. The commitment and effort put in by all the coaches shines through on moments like this. Hard work always pays off. Well done to all.