The 2014 HSE Community Games was launched earlier this week by local musician and former Games participant Bressie.
At the launch in Athlone Castle Gerard Davenport, president of Community Games, presented Bressie with a Community Games gold medal to reward him for all he has done over the years in encouraging people to be more active in their daily lives and also for helping to put the spotlight on mental health.
Speaking at the event Bressie said: “When I took part in the Community Games I loved the feeling of representing my local town and area and it always gave me such motivation to do well. I was a competitive young fella!”
He also gave some great tips to the young participants on how best to keep active: “Find a sport you love. There are so many sports and just because your friends may love rugby or soccer you don’t have to play it. Life is too short to do something you don’t enjoy and when there is so much choice there is no reason to not give everything a shot.”
With such focus on finding the right balance in life, Bressie spoke about the link between physical activity, eating well, and feeling good about yourself. “As you grow older this link becomes much clearer. Sport has a profound impact on your mental health and when you are happy in body and mind, you have more confidence and this all filters down into your private and professional life.”
The HSE Community Games has teamed up this year with Healthy Ireland, the new national initiative that is promoting health and wellbeing throughout the country.
This year has been a very busy year for the 600 areas involved in HSE Community Games - there will be over 8,000 children from all over Ireland participating over two weekends in August (August 15-17 and 22-24 ) in AIT.
For more information log on to www.communitygames.ie
