DCU students to line out for Ireland in Euro Powerchair Football Cup

Dublin City University students Aoife McNicholl and Patrick Flanagan are, this month, representing Ireland in the first ever European Powerchair Football Nations Cup. Aoife, who is going into second year in DCU’s Psychology course, is from Portlaoise while Patrick, a Kerry native, is currently working on his thesis project for his MsC in Multimedia having already completed a degree in Communication Studies at the University.

The competition, which is due to be held in the University of Limerick sports arena, will feature teams from England, France, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland as well as the Ireland team that Aoife and Patrick are members of.

The Nations Cup will be a competition in its own right for the title of European Nations Champions but it will also be a European zone qualifying tournament for the World Cup in 2015 in Brazil with the top five placed teams qualifying.

Powerchair football is one of the fastest growing disability sports in the world and allows people who are power wheelchair users to participate in the sport. Powerchair football came into existence in the late 1970s but has only been played in Ireland since 2003. Games are contested by teams of four players who, over the course of two 20 minute halves of action, push or strike an oversized football around a court, attempting to outscore their opponents in the same way as mainstream football.

Originally, powerchair football was played sporadically at tournaments organised by Muscular Dystrophy Ireland (MDI) before the FAI’s ‘Football for All’ programme and the setting up of the Association of Irish Powerchair Football (AIPF) in 2009.

There are currently six operational clubs in Ireland including Patrick’s club Kingdom Rebels and Midlands United, for whom Aoife plays.

Patrick and Aoife have also been pivotal in the organisation of a new powerchair team in DCU and are currently looking for people, both students and non-students of DCU to get involved and play with the side. To get involved, get in touch with Patrick Flanagan by email: padjoeflanagan@gmail.com.