On Tuesday 26th November, the P7 class were very fortunate to attend a coaching day organised by Ulster Rugby and their sponsors at Kingspan Stadium, Belfast. The children and staff had to rise early for a 8.00 am start and we took the bus to Belfast, excited for the day ahead. When we arrived at the Kingspan Stadium, we saw the pitches and waited for what to do next. We were then sent out to the 3G pitch where the children were coached by a range of coaches, both male and female. They passed on their expertise to the class and had a number of rugby games set up for the pupils. The weather wasn't too kind to us but all the children enjoyed their experience with the Ulster coaches. Back inside, we dried ourselves off and there were 3 Ulster and international players awaiting us. These were Jordi Murphy (Ireland), Will Addison (Ireland) and Louis Ludik (South Africa). They spent time with the children, giving out signatures and then taking part in a Q and A session. The Ulster rugby coach (Dan McFarland) was also present as well. They were fantastic with the children and many questions were asked. One thing the children took away from the players was that, to succeed or to do well at anything, two traits help: enjoyment and hard work! It's the same with any walk in life and it was great to see the professionals tell us that too. The P7 class then got further photos with the players and we even made an appearance on UTV that night! Not a bad day! Just as we are about to depart, one of Ulster's current big game players (John Cooney) called in and signed jerseys for the kids. We then headed for home and were back in time for 3pm. A day we all will remember fondly and one we were lucky to be part of. A big thanks to Ulster and Kingspan for looking after us, particularly Bernie McAdam who informed us about the competition and supplied us with an Ulster jersey to get signed for the Xmas raffle. Watch out for that! Thank you to the parents who had the kids in punctually so we could get away at 8am! It's not easy getting up that early but it was worth it. The children also got a snack pack lunch bag from Kingspan and some Ulster Rugby rulers. Photos from the day are shown below:
