As we welcome back children to our school tomorrow we reflect on another marvelous summer for the  boys and girls from Emo. In June the boys and girls rounders teams won their respective Cumann na mBunscol finals. It was only the start of a rounders summer never to be forgotten . On June 23rd, the U14 Mixed Team competed in the All-Ireland U14 Mixed Féile Finals in The Heath. This was a very experienced team and they did not disappoint on the day, easily winning all their group matches and semi-final. The final was a much closer affair, with the team taking on The Heath. Fortunately, Emo came out on top on a score of 23-19 with Brochan O’Reilly captaining the team on the day. Emo: U14 Mixed Team All-Ireland Féile Champions More success followed on June 30th in Ballymahon, Co. Longford, where the U13 All-Ireland National Féile Finals took place. The U13 Girls were the first to claim All-Ireland success. This was a fantastic achievement for the girls as they had only seven on their team competing against teams of nine all day. The girls easily defeated each team they met and defeated Easkey from Sligo in the final with the score being 7-4 to Emo with a bat in hand. This girls’ team captained by Ciara Crowley only conceded 8 scores throughout the day while scoring a total of 76 with most teams batting out and conceding defeat before the end of the games. Emo: U13 Girls All-Ireland National Féile Champions  Shortly after the girls’ victory, the U13 boys defeated The Heath in the U13 Final. The boys’ games were much closer throughout the day but at the same time Emo were never under any serious pressure. The final was a real cracker of a game with outstanding fielding and batting by both teams. Towards the end of the game, Emo, captained by David Costello finally pulled clear to win on a score line of 28-17 with a bat in hand. Emo: U13 Boys All-Ireland National Féile Champions The boys and girls are very lucky to have such a dedicated and knowledgeable coach and manager in Emo N.S. teacher , Michael Slevin . He works tirelessly to promote the game among the children in the school and the success of the rounders’ teams can be attributed directly to his efforts . Michael had this to say about the success : ” Regardless of all their success,  the boys and girls involved in the above teams represented Emo GAA and Emo NS admirably. They always played in a sporting manner and were courteous to all officials involved in the matches and this is very important to us in Emo . A few past pupils came back to play on the teams and hopefully, next year, many more will come back too as most of them will still be U14. Our parents are also hugely supportive , driving to all parts with the children and doing whatever they can to help out “. Congrats to the following players : Chloe Keenan, Gráinne Keogh, Ava O’Connor, Alice Kerins , Anna Hannlon , Niamh Conroy , Fred Kerins, Aaron Whelan , Brochan O’Reilly , Seán Downey , David Costelloe , Eddie McEvoy , Caoimhe Dooley , Saoirse Booth , Ciara Crowley , Seán Devitt, Eddie McEvoy ,Finn Hanneffy , Daniel Taylor , Rory Hand, Jim Gleeson , David Costelloe, Mikey Fennelly .