As some of Europe’ s finest are showing their footballing talent across the East and South East of the Country in the UEFA U17s Championship for the next two weeks.
Another established underage football event will once again be taking place in the West of Ireland next weekend , when the Banner County will once again play host to over 240 of the Country’s most talent U14 ( 2005 ) Born Players, all of whom will be looking to progress through the ranks and catch the eye in advance of the SFAI Kennedy Cup 2019.
The Clare Schoolboys/Girls Soccer League has launched its annual invitational CSSL Soccer Festival to be held across the County on Saturday and Sunday May 11th & 12th 2019
The event now in its 12th year, will see 15 Kennedy Cup Squads featuring 300 players participate in a series of games aimed at fine-tuning each league’s respective preparations for the annual SFAI Kennedy Cup at University of Limerick from June 11th to 16th
The CSSL Soccer Festival is now an established player development event in Irish underage football, and is in fact the largest event held in Preparation for the prestigious SFAI Kennedy Cup.
As ever the event sees a mix of Schoolboys Leagues from across the country taking part. Kilkenny will be making a welcome return to the event and will be joined by West Cork, West Waterford/East Cork & Clare who will be based at McDonagh Park Newmarket on Saturday with the action kicking off at 12noon.
The Lisdoonvarna Faillte Ltd Sports Complex will host Kerry, North Tipperary and Limerick Desmond Leagues with a 12noon kick off, and the Tulla Utd will play host to Roscommon, Athlone, Longford and Limerick County with the action kicking off at 12noon.
On Sunday, the Clare Squad will be based at the Tulla United, where they will meet visitors Mayo & Sligo/Leitrim. While McDonagh Park in Newmarket will welcome Limerick District, Carlow and South Tipperary for a series of matches . The Super Sunday Schedules kick off at 10am at each venue.
Speaking at the launch of this years event: FAI County Development Officer Denis Hynes stated: “The CSSL Soccer Festival event, has increased and grown in popularity since its inception, the event is now seen as an important part of the final preparations for each League for the Kennedy Cup itself. The event also is a great chance for players to play in a relaxed and pressure free manner, before they enter the demanding Kennedy Cup.”
“The event also showcases some of the excellent facilities that we have across Co Clare. The standard of facility and access to suitable accommodation in each region is also very important in making the event such a success.
The event is now established to such a level, that all games are monitored by FAI Emerging Talent Programme Technical Staff. The FAI are placing an ever increasing focus on player development, and the importance of events such as the CSSL Soccer Festival are key to allowing players to show their abilities. In fact several of the current Rep of Ireland U17 Squad taking part in the UEFA U17 Championship grace this event in 2016. For further details on the CSSL Soccer Festival can be found at www.cssl.ie
