The Republic of Ireland U17 Women’s soccer squad has got off to a winning start in Belarus at the three match qualifying tournament for next summer’s European Championship finals.
They beat the host nation 3-0 in Minsk and now face a Georgia side who were beaten 11-0 by Finland in their opening game.  This match takes place on Wednesday.
The team is made up of players drawn from clubs in Dublin, Cork , Wexford, Kerry, Mayo, Antrim, Waterford and Minnesota.
The Boys U17 team is in qualifying action today with a game against Macedonia in Skopje.  Theirs is a similar round robin qualifying phase in which they drew with Sweden 1-1 in the opening game, the same score as in the other match between Macedonia and Romania.
A third team that has booked a place for a major finals next summer is the Irish Men’s deaf team.  They showed the way for our senior players with a penalties victory over Germany in which they came from behind to draw 1-1 and held on through extra time to force a shootout, despite being down to ten men.
Irish Keeper Roy Keating saved the second German penalty but all five Irish marksmen made sure of theirs and they will now play at next summer’s Deaflympics to be held in Bulgaria.
Sponsorship of representative teams can yield great benefit for companies as part of staff motivation, awareness among tight communities and credit in the broader population when qualification is secured for a major event.
The Irish Men’s Deaf team is sponsored by Bewley’s Hotel at Dublin Airport.
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