Sport in Virginia College
Physical Education and Future Leaders Programme
Virginia College has a proud sporting tradition and was selected as the first school in Cavan to offer Leaving Certificate Physical Education as an exam subject. We are also one of the first schools to run the TY GAA Future Leaders programme which is very current in the use of e-portfolio and certified modules. At Junior cycle level all students undertake the physical education short course and are assessed on this as part of their Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement.
Sport Facilities
In recent times we have refurbished our sports hall floor, revamped our fitness suite as well as new soccer goals for outside and erecting ball stop nets on our sports field. Our Sports Development Committee have been an integral part of these enhancements along with McEvoy’s Supervalu and Donoghues Coaches. We are enjoying these enhanced facilities and providing sporting opportunities for all our students.
We are extremely lucky to have many students and teachers representing their clubs, county, province, and country in their sporting area. We are also very proud to say that many teachers get involved with extra-curricular Sport, fostering great relationships with students as a result.
Basketball
Virginia College made basketball history in being the first school to win three consecutive All-Ireland titles progressing from grade C, B and A respectively. Our school has been competing at the highest division, (‘A’ for girls and ‘B’ for boys) winning numerous North-East Regional titles each year, including our senior boys last year. Our main sporting highlight last year was our U16 girls being crowned All-Ireland ‘A’ League champions following on from their U-15 All-Ireland ‘A’ National Cup title the previous year. To add to this tremendous accolade, coach, and teacher Miss Ní Chearra was recognised as Basketball Ireland School’s Female Coach of the Year 2020 for her successes. We also had all four of our junior boys’ and girls' teams through to the North-East Regional finals but unfortunately, we never got playing last year due to COVID-19.
GAA
In boys and girls Gaelic football, we compete in Ulster Colleges competitions having previously won Ulster and All-Ireland titles in Vocational Schools competitions. Last year our senior boys team won the Markey Cup Ulster title and only missed out on a place in the All-Ireland final by a single point. Similarly, our U16 girls won the Ulster C title and were busy training for an All-Ireland semi-final when COVID-19 restrictions cancelled the competition. At local level last year, our senior and u16 boys’ teams won their respective County Championships and u14’s were awaiting their final.
Soccer
We compete in soccer at regional and ulster level. In the past few years, we have had representatives on the Ulster School’s soccer team and the Irish team, with one of our current students gaining the Ireland captain’s armband last year.
Handball
We compete in Ulster School’s One-Wall handball annually and have had two ulster team titles in recent years. We host regional and ulster one-wall competitions due to the uniqueness of having four courts. Last year two of our students won the U15 School’s All-Ireland Doubles title in 40x20 handball which was a fantastic achievement.
Athletics
In athletics, annually, we compete in two cross-country championships and the County Track and Field Championships. As a school we have a large degree of success and have been the holders of the ‘Best Overall School’ trophy at County athletics for the last number of years.
We compete in County and Ulster Athletics with a large degree of success and have been the holders of the County Schools Athletic Championship for a few years. We also have had a Junior World Champion in para-powerlifting and at present we have many students and teachers representing their clubs, county, province, and country in GAA, Rugby, Soccer, Karate, Powerlifting and Basketball.
Sports Development Committee
Our Sports Development Committee have been an integral part of these enhancements along with our main sponsors Donoghues Coaches, Mc Evoy’s Supervalu and Riverfront Hotel. We are enjoying these enhanced facilities and providing sporting opportunities for all our students.