News

140 Sport Scholarships Awarded to Elite Athletes in DCU

140 sport scholarships were announced at a ceremony in The Helix, DCU on Tuesday the 22nd of November 2011. World University Games athletes Niall Wynn (Swimming), Karl Burdis (Swimming), Kourosh Foroughi (Athletics), Brian Gregan (Athletics) & Laura Reynolds (Athletics) joined students from twenty sports to receive scholarships that give them access to financial and academic support, accommodation, athlete education and top class high performance training and fitness testing.

Sport scholarships were first introduced in 1996 in the form of GAA sport scholarships. The programme has expanded greatly in recent years with the launch of the DCU Sports Academy in 2006.

DCU is committed to supporting the holistic development of their elite athletes and their increasing need to successfully balance both academic and sporting commitment. The programmes are athlete led whereby support is tailored to the individual needs of the athlete. DCU offers top class facilities and support services for athletes to successfully train and develop during their chosen programme of study.

Whilst the Secretary of DCU, Martin Conry congratulated the students on their recent achievements, Yvonne McGowan, Senior Sports Development Officer, Enda Fitzpatrick Director of the Athletics Academy and Fran Butler Soccer Development Officer announced this year's sport scholarship athletes. In congratulating the Sports Scholars on their awards Yvonne McGowan told athletes that: 'your achievements make an invaluable contribution to DCU sports clubs, Irish sport, and also your own personal development as athletes and students. Through your respective sports you are exposing yourself to opportunities outside academia to gain many key skills both on and off the playing fields as outlined in the new DCU Generation 21 initiative that includes: Creative & Enterprising and Solution Oriented - as you develop Sports Clubs in DCU, Active Leaders - as you captain your sports team and hold committee positions on your sports clubs, Committed to Continuous Learning - as you constantly review and evaluate your training and competitions'.

Two Cadbury's GAA Scholarships were also awarded in recognition of the sporting potential of u21 footballers attending various universities. This was announced by Enda Fitzpatrick and presented by Diarmaid Walsh on behalf of Cadburys to Jack McCarron, Monaghan & Ciaran Cafferky, Roscommon.