Carrickfergus Knights & South Kildare Soldiers shared victory in the IAFA’s first U19 Youth Kitted Blitz in Carrickfergus on Sunday 15th December. All four participating teams equiped themselves well in what would have been the first ever competitive kitted action for the majority of players on all teams. The tournament was played using DV8s development rule and it’s principal aim was the development of the participants skills and experience. All teams played two blitz games.

All games were close with Carrickfergus edging Craigavon in the opening game. South Kildare edged Drogheda in the second game.  Both the final and third place play-offs were tied games – overtime was not played.

Results:

Final:

South Kildare Soldiers v Carrickfergus Knights – tied game.

Craigavon Cowboys v Drogheda Lightning – tied game.

Semi-Finals:

Carrickfergus Knights beat Craigavon Cowboys

South Kildare Soldiers beat Drogheda Lightning

The contribution of the Irish American Football Association (IAFA) to The Gathering has been rewarded by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, who has awarded the IAFA a certificate recognising it’s valuable contribution  The contributions of Maurice Cosgrave, Alan Orr and Cillian Smith were also individually recognised in a similar manner.

The IAFA hosted visiting teams from UK, Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands during 2013 as part of its programme of The Gathering Dublin events including The Gathering Bowl and the EFAF Atlantic Cup. Each of these events attracted 100’s of participants and supporters from overseas, generating 1,000s of bednights for the tourism industry thus contributing to the Irish economy.

A spokesman for the IAFA said: ” We are delighted that the President has chosen to recognise our contribution to The Gathering. This is award  pays tribute to all the IAFA members who volunteered their time and effort and without whom these events could not take place.”