18 May Sport Mad Sisters of Ulidia Integrated College
Three sport-mad sisters of Ulidia Integrated College are set for a busy summer.
The three Maguires, Anna (18), Enya (15) and Erin (13) have tried their hand at a number of sports including netball, hockey and judo but their preferred specialist sport is basketball.
All three have been through a highly competitive trial and selection process against the best players in their age groups in Ireland, in order to win the opportunity to represent their country at international level. Anna is one of the most seasoned Irish international basketball players in her u18 age group, having 31 international caps to her name. Anna will be travelling to France in June to compete in an international tournament in preparation for her third European Championships which will take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in late July.
Enya, has 19 international caps and was a member of the History Making Ireland U16 women’s team that finished 7th in the European Championships in Macedonia last summer. This was the highest ever finish of an Irish team. Enya will be heading to her second European Championships in August in Romania. Both Anna and Enya were part of the Ulidia Integrated College U19 girls team that helped win the school’s first ever National Cup in January.
The youngest sibling, Erin, not to be outdone, was selected for the Ireland U15 women’s squad a year before her time! She made her international debut for Ireland just two weeks ago in a victory against Scotland. This past week Erin, who is also part of Athletics Northern Ireland Rising Stars programme, represented the school in the Ulster Schools Districts championships coming away with gold in both the 100m sprint; running a personal best of 13.23secs and the High Jump also with a personal best of 145cm, which puts her through to the Ulster Schools Track and Field Championship finals.
All this doesn’t come easy as the Maguire girls have to make significant commitments in the evenings and at weekends as they follow intense training and preparation programmes which requires them to travel to training sessions all over Ireland. It appears however that their hard work does pay off! Principal, Eugene Martin and the staff of Ulidia Integrated College would like to congratulate the girls on their current achievements and wish them every success in their future sporting events during the summer months of 2016.