The 10th edition of the PEXpo, sponsored by Dare to Believe & PTSB was a massive success. Over 180 Physical Education & Wellbeing themed student-projects from approximately 800 students from all over the country were on display. The event was held at the National Indoor Arena and the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown for the first time and it proved to the perfect setting to showcase the excellence on display.
Watch the highlights:
Dublin schoolboy Finn Crinion, a student at Coláiste Eoin in Booterstown, took a record four awards as well as winning the overall junior award. Crinion’s project called ‘Solasglas – Ar nós na solas!’ which looked at the the use of pacing lights in athletics, finished tops in the Technology and Media category, also winning and special Sport for Business prize and the Dare to Believe award.
Best overall award in the senior category went to Aoife O’Keefe, Molly Collins, Faithleann Sommers from St Brigid’s Presentation School, Killarney for a project called ‘Sport Behind Bars’ which looked at impact of a regular exercise programme on prisoners in Limerick jail. (FULL RESULTS BELOW”)
In addition to the projects over 13 sport federations showed up with interactive sporting booths to engage students, teachers and spectators to challenge themselves and have fun. Dare to Believe Olympic ambassadors Shane O’Donoghue (hockey) and Ellen Walshe (swimming) were in attendance and spoke on stage sharing their inspirational Olympic journey stories while breakdancer Leon Dwyer and freestyle footballer Sam Madden wowed the crowds with their incredible skills. Students had the opportunity to sign the “Dare to Believe” wall that will go into the Team Ireland Olympic Athlete Village in Paris and for fun they could take photo’s with the Olympic Champion Kellie Harrington cut-out.
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Full Report:
DUBLIN SCHOOLBOY TAKES FOUR AWARDS AT DARE TO BELIEVE PTSB PExpo ‘24
Dublin schoolboy Finn Crinion, a student at Coláiste Eoin in Booterstown, took a record four awards at the Dare to Believe PTSB 10th annual PExpo’ 24 held in the at National Indoor Arena, Abbotstown, Dublin on Thursday (May 2).
As well as winning the overall junior award, Crinion’s project called ‘Solasglas – Ar nós na solas!’ which looked at the the use of pacing lights in athletics, finished tops in the Technology and Media category, also winning and special Sport for Business prize and the Dare to Believe award.
With the standard of projects higher than ever, Dublin schools did well to pick up a number of category prizes.
A much-coveted accolade at PEXpo is the Peer Award, chosen by students themselves. Winners this year were Ben Finn and Sheridan Daly from Árdscoil Rís, Griffith Avenue, Dublin for their project called ‘Nutrition for Sports Performance: What You Need to Know’ which looked at whether the supplement creatine could help increase strength and power in women football players.
Daly and Sheridan enlisted the help of the Mayo women’s football team for a survey putting half on creatine and half not. The results were impressive — a 13% increase in power for the group taking creatine after a few months. ‘However, you can’t overdo it, and you must stay well hydrated,’ they warned.
Aoife Curley and Paula Hernandez Lopez from Loreto Balbriggan took the top senior prize in the Physical, Psychological and Tactical Demands of Performance for a project called ‘SupPORTing your Mental Health’.
In the Nutrition and Diet category, Lucy Nguyen, Matipa Mangwende, Chidema Okwara of Donahies CS took the junior prize for their project ‘Just Eat Less’.
Winning special award in both the STEM and Sport for Business sections for their development of an ingenious flexible shin guard were Pauline Knief and Kinsco Neumann from Sutton park School.
Best overall award in the senior category went to Aoife O’Keefe, Molly Collins, Faithleann Sommers from St Brigid’s Presentation School, Killarney for a project called ‘Sport Behind Bars’ which looked at impact of a regular exercise programme on prisoners in Limerick jail.
As well as PTSB Dare to Believe and the Physical Education Association of Ireland, other supporters of PExpo ’24 include Sport Ireland, Active Cities, Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing, South Dublin County Sport Partnership, Leave No Trace, and DCU Sport.
PExpo, developed in association with the Physical Education Association of Ireland, was first held at Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun in 2015 and moved to DCU in 2018, where it remained until this year’s move to the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown.
For more information go to www.pexpoireland.com
Dare to Believe PTSB 10th PExpo Winners (24)
Overall –
Senior: St Brigid’s Presentation School, Killarney (Aoife O’Keefe, Molly Collins, Faithleann Sommers). ‘Sport Behind Bars’
Junior: Coláiste Eoin (Fionn Crinion) ‘Solasglas – Ar nós na solas!’
Categories (11):
Physical, Psychological and Tactical Demands of Performance (37) –
Senior: Loreto Balbriggan (Aoife Curley, Shona Farrell) ‘The Mental Game’
Junior: St Patrick’s College, Dungannon, Co Tyrone (Conor Taggert, Thomas Loughran). ‘Speed 3: What Makes Athletes Perform Best’
Power of Sport (culture, history and inclusion) (26)-
Senior: St Brigid’s Presentation School, Killarney (Aoife O’Keefe, Molly Collins, Faithleann O’Callaghan). ‘Sport Behind Bars’
Junior: Kinsale Community School (Claire Linehan) ‘An Investigation Into Why Women’s Sport Takes Runner-Up Place’.
Well-being (physical, mental and social) (24) –
Senior: Kinsale Community College (Alison Dennehy, Catherine Murphy) ‘Analysis of How Different Support Structures Affect Adolescence’
Junior: Kinsale Community College (Ronan Moloney) ‘Physical and Mental Benefits of Plyometrics on a Sports Team’
Technology and Media (13) –
Senior: Coláiste Mhuire, Ennis, Co Clare (Amy Hennessy, Gemma Hassett) ‘Femflex – the Future of Injury Prevention’
Junior: Coláiste Eoin (Fionn Crinion) ‘Solasglas – Ar nós na solas!’
Nutrition and Diet (10) –
Senior: Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee, Co Kerry (Kalyani Praveen, Vanessa Anthony) ‘Are you PRO-biotic or NO-biotic?’
Junior: Donahies CS (Lucy Nguyen, Matipa Mangwende, Chidimma Okwara) ‘Just Eat Less’
My Favourite Olympian (first years only) (28)
Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun, Dublin (Abigail Benson, Taylor Waldron) ‘Coco Gauff’
Special awards (11):
Best New School
De La Salle Waterford (Joe Griffen, Noah C Whealan, Darragh Cunningham) ‘Food Traffic Light System’.
Best project in Irish
Senior: Gairmscoil Chu Uladh, Fintown, Co Donegal (Chloe Moy, Eimear Molly, Eirin Boyle, Lauren Carroll, Meghan McGlynn) ‘The Prevalence of Knee Injuries in Female Athletes in Teams’
Junior: Coláiste Eoin (Fionn Crinion) ‘Solasglas – Ar nós na solas!’
Women in Sport
Coláiste Naomh Cormac, Kilcormac, Co Offaly (Abby Hollywood, Aoife Egan, Blaithin Dooley, Lucy Fitzerald, Sinead Gleeson). ‘How the Menstrual Cycle Affects Performance in Female Athletes’.
Sport for Business
Senior (two awards): Coláiste Mhuire, Ennis, Co Clare (Amy Hennessy, Gemma Hassett) ‘FemFlex: The Future of Injury Prevention’; Sutton Park School, Dublin (Pauline Knief, Kinsco Neumann) ‘Strikesock 360’
Junior: Coláiste Eoin (Fionn Crinion) ‘Solasglas – Ar nós na solas!’
Outdoor Sport Award
St Brigid’s Presentation Killarney, Co Kerry (Isabelle O’Callaghan) ‘Back on the Horse’
STEM Award
Sutton Park School, Dublin (Pauline Knief, Kinsco Neumann) ‘Strikesock 360’
Dare to Believe Award
Coláiste Eoin (Fionn Crinion) ‘Solasglas – Ar nós na solas!’
Peer Award
Árdscoil Rís, Griffith Avenue, Dublin (Ben Finn, Sheridan Daly) ‘Nutrition for Sports Performance: What You Need to Know’