Extra-Curricular Activities

Boys of around twelve enter St. Mary's and leave as young men of seventeen or eighteen. It is the duty of our school to nurture them through the immensely important years of adolescence. It is not an option, therefore, to merely treat them as a collection of intellects; to teach them Maths, Science, English and History; while neglecting their physical, emotional, aesthetic, cultural and spiritual needs. To meet these diverse and complex requirements St. Mary's prides itself on the richness of the extra-curricular programme which has always been on offer in the school.

In keeping with the old Greek belief that healthy bodies contribute to healthy minds, St. Mary's gives a very high priority to the role of sport in the school. Within the curriculum this is reflected by the fact that two full time P.E. teachers are employed to provide that subject to all the students in our care. But over and above this, students are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of voluntary sporting activities. Gaelic football, Soccer, Rugby, Athletics and basketball are the sports most prominently catered for in the school at present.

We are very proud of the role we played in nurturing the talents of our most illustrious past-pupils: Bobby O'Malley, Bernard Flynne, John McDermott, Colin Kelly and Eugene Judge in Gaelic Football; Shane Horgan, Niall Ronan and Mark McHugh in Rugby; Olympians Colin Lowthe, Damien McKenna, Patrick Holmes, Joey McGrane and Barry Delaney. But we are equally proud of the contribution that involvement in school sports has played in the personal development of countless other alumni of St. Mary's. Self discipline, loyalty, team spirit, and learning to cope equally with victory or defeat; are no small part of a young person's maturing process.

None of this would be possible without the enormous generosity of those teachers who volunteer their own name to train these sportsmen and organise the various events. Nearly half of the current staff of the school are involved in some form of extra-curricular activity. Without this commitment and the active support of the management of the school, the educational experience of our students would be much poorer.