Gibney in the swing for New Jersey

Navan teenager Bryan Gibney (14) was this week packing his suitcase and golf clubs for a trans-Atlantic flight to the USA as the first Meath teenager to be selected for the First Tee of Ireland team. Gibney and his 11 colleagues will be competing for the Barclays Cup Tri-Match, which is a multi-format matchplay competition, at Plainfield Country Club, New Jersey from Saturday to Monday and will be returning to Ireland next Tuesday. The Irish team will be playing their US counterparts from Massachusetts and New York in a tri-match tournament in a competition modelled on the Ryder Cup. The team competitions will be played on Saturday and Sunday with the individual round on Monday. Also accompanying the Navan teenager will be his mother, Kathleen, who is also looking forward to the trip, Jenny Darcy from the School Completion Programme and John Warren, chief executive of The First Tee, Ireland. The First Tee is an education programme that is taught through the game of golf and the project in Meath has been going for two years now with great success. The First Tee of Ireland promotes character development and life-enhancing values, through the game of golf and is aimed at young people who may, or may not, have a background in the game. The First Tee works with golf courses, driving ranges and pitch and putt venues at various locations around Ireland, including Northern Ireland and in Meath, Navan Golf Club were enthusiastic partners from the outset. Last month, Navan Golf Club made a special presentation to Gibney to recognise his achievement in selection and others who were present to support the occasion included Mayor of Navan Joe Reilly, David McCaffrey (Meath Local Sports Partnership) and Eoin Ryan (Navan Golf Club). Navan School Completion Programme co-ordinator Darcy, who is based at Beaufort College, Navan, is delighted with the success of the programme. "This programme is in six schools and Bryan started with us two years ago," she told the Meath Chronicle. "The idea is that the skills they learn in golf can be used outside of the game, it can be applied in the classroom around areas like anger management, taking your time, relaxation, manners, confidence-building. "I suppose Bryan's selection reflects well on Navan Golf Club also, but there is also the wider impact in that other young people can see that it is possible to achieve at a high level," she concluded The Barclays Cup Tri-Match 2007 match was staged at the Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey and the 2008 event was held in Boston. The Barclays Cup Tri-Match is a multi-format matchplay competition where players are awarded points based on their golf play as well as on an integrated life skills portion. Teams consist of eight boys and four girls between the ages of 12 and 18. The First Tee of Ireland team is: Bryan Gibney (age 14) Navan Golf Club; Evanagh Murcutt (12) St Margaret's; Donal O'Keeffe (14) K Club; James O'Meara (16) Co Tipperary; Pauric Toal (15) Fintona GC; James Kavanagh (15) and Elizabeth Kent (13) both Faithlegg; Ghislaine Murphy (15) Druid's Glen; Ciaran McDonlad (15) Greystones Driving Range; Ryan O'Mahony (13) Mahon; Andrew O'Flynn (18), Ashleigh Leslie (13) both Rathbane.