Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for Stage Academy Newbridge as students triumph at National Community Games at the weekend

(Featured image: The u13 singing group winners Kela Henney, Lucy Murray, Brenna Moore, Katelyn Dennehy, Lilly Jo Cooke, Emma Hanrahan, Eabha Moore, Grace Kidd, Ava Kidd, Cadence Curren, Meabh Hartnett, Abbie Potts, Ava Hogan, and Sarah Moran)

By Kim O'Leary

It was certainly a very busy weekend for the students at Stage Academy Newbridge and their mentors as they participated in the Aldi National Community Games Finals at UL Limerick-with 41 medals brought back home to Newbridge!

The students competed in a wide variety of categories including dance, choir singing, group and solo dance, and solo singing with the finals taking place from Saturday 26th May until Sunday 27 May, 2018.

In a statement, dance instructors at Stage Academy Newbridge Paula Conlan and Brenda Malone congratulated their students, saying: “Congratulations to everyone who took part especially our little superstars and so proud of the fantastic job Katie and Niamh Conlan did in preparing this talent and giving so many kids this fantastic opportunity.”

Katie Conlan, who along with her sister Niamh Conlan, accompanied the students to the finals at UL over the weekend.

Speaking to KildareNow after the Community Games National Finals, Katie said: “They got on great, we were so delighted for them all! On the Saturday we had Ruby Maher compete in solo singing under 12 at just 9 years old and she came 3rd out of 23 acts. The under 12 group singing then came 2nd and the under 16 group singing came 4th! We also had dancers competing - Olivia Hyland came 4th in the under 12 solo dance, Ellen Dowse came 4th in the under 16 solo dance, and the under 16 group dance came 2nd with their performance of ‘Cats’.”

Meanwhile, they also had a busy day on Sunday as the under 13 choir came first out of 11 choirs, while talented drummer Jake Carrick won the under 16 solo music playing his own composition on the drums and the under 15 culture corner won the gold.

According to Katie, there were a total of 41 medals won (21 gold, 12 silver, 1 bronze and 7 4th place) marking a very successful experience for the Newbridge Stage Academy.

“We also had Cory Minahan represent Kildare in the under 16 solo singing, and Laura Jane Kaye in the under 12 solo music playing the tin whistle. There were up to 25 counties competing in most of the events so we were all delighted with the placings in so many talent events in UL,” explained Katie.

It’s clear that the talented students of Stage Academy Newbridge will continue to do well with a host of other events coming up this Summer with many students currently preparing to sit their music, speech & drama exams.