Kerry students take top award at Dare to Believe PExpo' 25
A busy, busy day at the NIA, Abbotstown
Students from CBS The Green, Tralee, in Co Kerry took the top senior award at the 11th annual Dare to Believe PExpo held at the National Indoor Arena, at Abbotstown on Thursday (April 10).
Karl Cronin, and Philip Brosnan’s project on ‘The Benefits of Sports on Neurodivergent People’ also won the top prize in the Well-being, Physical, Mental and Social category as well as a special STEM award.
Winning the overall junior award was Tate Tamkin Beddy of Blackrock College in Co Dublin for a project on ‘How the Loft of a Golf Club affects a Golf Ball’. Beddy’s project also came out tops in the Physical, Psychological and Tactical Demands of Performance category.
A Kerry school took a second award in the Olympic Ideals and Values category, where Yvonne Finnegan, Tommy O’Connor, Abbie O’Leary from Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, in Rathmore were the winners for a project on ‘Social and Economic Impact on a Nation Hosting an Olympics’.
Prizes were awarded in eight categories with a further eight special awards.
Taking an impressive three awards was the Loreto school from Balbriggan. Lucy O’Brien, Phoebe Macken, Aoibhinn Malone took a senior award for their study of the impact of sleep on recovery, while Lily Russell and Mya Lynch won the Young Coach Award for a project on burn-out. In the diet and nutrition category, Gemma Curran and Molly O’Toole were the winners for a study of the diet of champions called ‘Plate to Performance’.
Mount Temple and St Joseph’s Portrane won two awards apiece. For Mount Temple, Dylan Leggatte won the Sport for Business award for his ‘AI-powered analysis of water polo match sheet for player use’, while Aoibheann Ryan took a junior award for her examination of taekwon-do for young people.
Winners for St Joseph’s were Doireann McGuinness and Caoimhe Burns, who took the inaugural award for their Personal Physical Activity Programme which is now part of the second year curriculum. Their school-mates Sarah McKeown, Chloe Greene and Molly Carty came out on top for an intriguing study of pink Himalayan salt as a possible key to preventing muscle fatigue.
Delighted to receive the Best New School award was Educate Together Galway with the school submitting a number of projects. Taking the prestigious Peer Award was Katie Carey of St Wolstan’s, in Celbridge, Co Kildare for a study of women and girls in Irish football
Visitors to Dare to Believe PExpo ’25 included double Olympic boxing champion Kellie Harrington, Olympic Rower, Philip Doyle and Paralympian Orla Comerford. A number of sporting bodies, and businesses related to sport also attended.
Awards -
Overall:
Senior - ‘The Benefits of Sports on Neurodivergent People’, Karl Cronin, Philip Brosnan (CBS The Green, Tralee, Co Kerry).
Junior - ‘How the Loft of a Golf Club affects a Golf Ball’, Tate Tamkin Beddy (Blackrock College, Co Dublin)
Category awards (8):
Physical, Psychological and Tactical Demands of Performance
Junior: How the Loft of a Golf Club affects a Golf Ball’, Tate Tamkin Beddy (Blackrock College, Co Dublin)
Senior: ‘Impact of Sleep and Recovery’, Lucy O’Brien, Phoebe Macken, Aoibhinn Malone (Loreto Balbriggan, Co Dublin)
Power of Sport
Junior: ‘Taekwon-do Kidz’ Aoibheann Ryan (Mount Temple, Dublin)
Senior: ‘Understanding Co-operation Ireland Through Sport’, Emily Whelan Ward (Trinity CS, Ballymun, Dublin)
Well-being, Physical, Mental and Social
Junior: “A nursing home residents health’, Anabella Joseph (Colaiste Muire Crosshaven, Co Cork)
Senior: The Benefits of Sports on Neurodivergent People Karl Cronin, Philip Brosnan, CBS The Green, Tralee
Technology and Media
Junior: ‘E-Sport vs. Physical Sport’, Lucy Nguyen, Mia Murphy, Matipa Mangwende (Donahies CS, Dublin)
Senior: ‘Cúl-Play’, Thaddeus McCarthy (Dunshaughlin Community College, Co Meath)
Nutrition and Diet
Junior: ‘Pink Himalayan Salt: The Key to Muscle Fatigue Prevention?’, Sarah McKeown, Chloe Greene, Molly Carty (St. Joseph's Secondary School Portrane, Co Dublin)
Senior: ‘Plate to performance’, Gemma Curran, Molly O’Toole (Loreto Balbriggan)
Olympic Ideals and Values
Senior: ‘Social and Economic Impacts on a Nation Hosting an Olympics’, Yvonne Finnegan, Tommy O’Connor, Abbie O’Leary (Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, Rathmore, Co Kerry).
Personal Physical Activity Programme (2nd Year CBA) - “Developing a Fitness Strategy with Test-Driven Goals’, Doireann McGuinness, Caoimhe Burns (St. Joseph's Secondary School, Portrane, Co Dublin)
My favourite Olympian (1st years only) - ‘Katie Ledecky’, Cadhla O’Connor (St Wolstan’s,Celbridge, Co Kildare)
Special Awards (9):
Best New School - Galway Educate Together
Best Project in Irish - ‘Demands Pregnancy has on woman's sporting careers’, Aibhe Nic a Bhaird (Gairmscoil Chú Uladh, Donegal)
Women in Sport - ‘Rhythm and Results’, Orla Brennan, Sara Guzovski, Caoimhe Kealy (Presentation,Loughboy Co Kilkenny
Sport for Business - ‘AI-powered analysis of water polo match sheet for player use’,
Dylan Leggatte (Mount Temple, Dublin)
Peer Award - ‘Girls and women's football in Ireland, the past, present and future’, Katie Carey (St Wolstan’s, Celbridge, Co Kildare
STEM Award - The Benefits of Sports on Neurodivergent People Karl Cronin, Philip Brosnan, CBS The Green, Tralee
Young Coach Award - ‘Burnout without a doubt’, Lilly Russell, Mya Lynch (Loreto, Balbriggan, Co Dublin).
As well as Dare to Believe and the Physical Education Association of Ireland, other supporters of PExpo included Allianz, Sport Ireland, Active Cities, Leave No Trace, Sport for Business, Juand Trinity Comprehensive School.
Note:
PExpo, developed in association with the Physical Education Association of Ireland, was first held in 2015 giving secondary school students the opportunity to show off their knowledge of sport, physical fitness and related topics at an annual exhibition - and to win valuable prizes.
PExpo’s principal aim is to promote a better understanding of PE, sport, fitness and health among second level school students. With obesity levels skyrocketing, ‘lifestyle’ illnesses putting severe pressure on hospitals, and youngsters spending far too much time scrolling through screens, the need to promote improved fitness in all our citizens is increasingly urgent.
Modelled on the Young Scientists and other similar exhibitions, PExpo invites students to undertake projects on topics that showcase their knowledge of the science behind sport and related subjects, including diet, psychology and technology. These projects are then submitted for judging at the annual PExpo.
PExpo moved to DCU in 2018, and in 2024, with the support of title sponsor Dare to Believe, it took place for the first time, at the National Indoor Arena, Abbotstown. PExpo ‘26 will take place in the spring of next year. Teachers - keep an eye on the website!
For further information, contact Paddy O’Reilly at 086 1743836. Or see www.pexpoireland.com
More PExpo pics at www.flickr.com/lindie