Ballina children to serve as mascots at Europa League Final
The 11 mascots from Culleens National School in Ballina who will take part in the pre-match ceremony at the UEFA Europa League Final in Dublin tomorrow (Wednesday).
A group of lucky children from a Ballina primary school will serve as mascots for this Wednesday’s UEFA Europa League Final, taking place in Dublin.
The 11 youngsters from Culleens National School will travel to the Aviva Stadium and will have the honour of accompanying the players of finalists Bayer Leverkusen from Germany and Atalanta from Italy out onto the pitch in front of a crowd of more than 50,000 spectators, including their parents and teachers, before kickoff.
The opportunity comes as part of the Rio Ferdinand Foundation’s collaboration with the UEFA Foundation for Children in Connacht and Ulster during the past four years. The Foundation have been working in the Ballina area and the former Manchester United star paid a visit to Ballina Town FC in March.
Culleens NS principal Sinead Caffrey said excitement levels have been sky high in the school for the past few weeks.
“It’s not every day that a school can say they have pupils representing them on an international sporting stage and excitement around Culleens NS is at fever pitch. Our mascots have been spending the week researching the teams and their players. They even know who the referee will be.
“This is an experience the children, their families and the whole Culleens School Community will remember and treasure for many, many years.”
CEO of the Rio Ferdinand Foundation Gary Stannett said they were grateful to Culleens for the support they had given the Foundation in Ballina and were delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to them.
“Culleens school has always supported us in allowing their pupils to take part in tournaments as part of a practical assessment on those courses. It’s fantastic that we can now recognise that support by offering this opportunity for Culleens pupils to be mascots at one of the biggest European games of the season here in Dublin and I look forward to hearing their experiences after the game.”
There will also be 11 young people from the Sport Against Racism Ireland project in Dublin taking to the field as mascots for the game.
The match kicks off at 8pm and will be broadcast live on Virgin Media Two with coverage starting at 7pm.
