Sporting Success
‘Learning from Each Other’ – since 1994
In our founding year in Murlough House, Jeanette McConnell, and often Thelma Walker, ensured we kept fit with cross country runs throughout the nature reserve, and the croquet lawn served as a reasonable soccer pitch.
But our Open Day that year didn’t just attract new students, Rory Friel came along to let us know he would be applying from Hazelwood Integrated College for our first head of boys’ PE post. And apply he did, successfully.
This was the start of the Rory years. Our school was very small, just over sixty students in year 9 and just under in year 8. Fortunately, Rory’s specialism was cross country and athletics and he set about establishing a sporting tradition of success, as well as ensuring that team sports were fully covered in the curriculum.
From the outset, our boys experienced mountaineering, orienteering, swimming, badminton, basketball etc. as well as rugby, gaelic and soccer and a wholeschool Sports Day.
It didn’t take long for the tradition of success to be established. Martin Sherry was our first Ulster high jump champion, and that was in 1997, just one year after Rory’s arrival. The tradition of success in track and field was continued when Callum Halsey lifted an All Ireland gold in the high jump. Callum won a Sports Personality Award for his sustained achievement.
In the same year, Orla O’Connor lifted an Ulster bronze in shot putt. Success continued across the generations, with Ryan McTeer following in Martin and Callum’s footsteps, winning the All Ireland high jump Gold.
Sarah McGlynn followed in Orla’s footsteps, taking All Ireland Gold in shot putt, and competing in the Sainsbury’s games at Loughborough University.
Individual success is wonderful, but cross country gave us the opportunity for team success, and many a squad found success in Down and Ulster Cross County Championships. Rory’s after school runs kept all our athletes match ready throughout the year, whether for cross country or for summer term track and field.
Small though we were, Rory ensured that team sports had equal attention throughout the year, with teams competing in local and district competition. One of the challenges of an Integrated school in its early days is always the challenge of covering the full range of sports from both Northern Irish traditions, and those, such as soccer and basketball, which have always been played across the community. In order to ensure that the growing number of Integrated post primary schools would have regular sporting competition, Rory founded the Shimna Cup. As the network of Integrated schools expanded, Rory ensured that first round matches were played both East and West of the Bann. The final at Shimna the year that Rory had the whole school out singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, was the most memorable.
Many of Rory’s Shimna students continued their supporting success begun through his inspiration. David O’Flaherty has run successfully for Newcastle Athletics Club. James Magee found success with Newcastle Football Club, Ben Cullen won a soccer scholarship to St Scholastica’s University in Duluth. At home Ben had played for Glenavon, Linfield, Distillery and NI Schoolboys. He was named Male Athlete of the Year at St Scholastica’s. He settled in Duluth and went on to play very successfully for Duluth FC.
Joanne Mills was coached by Rory to success as Ulster champion, and continued her successful athletics career both at Birmingham University and back home again in Northern Ireland. Joanne, James Magee and Chris Hanna continued to spread Rory’s inspiration when they returned to Shimna, Joanne to teach maths, James ICT and Sport Studies and Chris to teach PE.
As Shimna’s numbers grew, our students went on to extend the winning streak Rory established into a wide range of sports. Rory himself retired from Shimna, as he had planned, at fifty five, to concentrate exclusively on coaching athletics.
