< Previous© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 50 Students have also been offered book rec- ommendations, creative writing prompts and art projects to complete in free time. § DETSS Online Teaching and Learning: D rogheda Educate Together Second- ary School is con tinuing its excel- lence in teaching and learning during school closure, by teaching through Mi- crosoft OneNote. All students, teachers and parents have access to this education- al platform on their school iPads. Even extracurricular activities are still happening over OneNote. The school’s Wellbeing Warriors have sprung into ac- tion and are delivering daily suggests to students and teachers on how to man- age anxiety and stress in these uncertain times. Some activities suggested are yoga, meditation and recipe ideas! Teachers are delivering lessons via video and voice recordings and uploading exer- cises for students to complete at home. The collaboration space on this online plat- form, makes it possible to engage in group work and offers students a space to ask questions, even while working from home! © April 2020 The Meath Coaster 51 Arthritis Health nicanutrition@gmail.com I n honour of National Arthri- tis Week(April 20-24 th ) this month’s article is dedicated to Arthritis. It is estimated that over 900,000 people in Ireland are af- fected, making it the biggest cause of dis- ability. Arthritis causes inflammation of joints, causing pain, fatigue and immobility. It is viewed by some as a disease of the el- derly, but 1 in 1,200 children are affected. There are over 100 types of arthritis, the most common being osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and fibromyal- gia. OA is the most common type and af- fects women more than men, often after menopause. It usually develops gradually over several years and affects a number of different joints. Osteoarthritis used to be called ‘wear and tear’ arthritis - it is now known that age and use are not the only contributing factors with obesity, past in- jury and genetics all potentially playing a role. RA is an auto-immune condition, mean- ing that the immune system does not be- have as it should. Instead of protecting the body’s tissue, in RA the immune system attacks certain parts of the body, typi- cally the joints but other organs may be affected. Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain, aching and fatigue but unlike OA and RA, fibromyalgia affects the muscles, liga- ments and tendons rather than joints. It typically affects areas such as the limbs, neck and back. Medication is an important part of managing arthritis and any queries you may have regarding this should be discussed with your GP. However exercise and diet can be powerful tools in our artillery when managing arthritis: Exercise –as well as reducing pain and inflammation, exercise improves joint support and lubrication and helps control weight. Recommended low-impact forms of exercise include walking, swimming, yoga / pilates and cycling. Please note though that the wrong type of exercise may put strain on joints and dam- age them further. Speak to a physiothera- pist, who will work with you to develop an appropriate programme, depending on the type and severity of your arthritis and your general level of fitness. Diet - maintaining a healthy weight is of- ten the most effective dietary intervention to reduce symptoms of arthritis. If over- weight, even a small weight-loss can re- duce strain on hips, back, knees and feet. If underweight, a balanced diet can help overcome exhaustion and give your body the necessary strength and nutrition to get through a flare-up. An arthritis-friendly diet generally means eating less fat, less sugar, more fruit and vegetables, more oily fish and plenty of calcium and iron- rich foods. Anna Ryan, Dip. NT, DC, MNTOI, BAI, BA www.nicanutrition.ie nicanutrition@gmail.com© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 52 Online Therapy For Now By Em Ryan, Psychotherapist and Owner, Anam Cara Therapy I n current times, with a virus that has us self-isolating for our own good, on- line therapy can help. Ask yourself, “am I fearful, stressed, anxious, angry, sad, or traumatized by the Covid-19 virus’ effect on my life?” If the answer is “Yes”, then it may be time to reach out for professional counselling. You are not alone. Even as I write this, I can feel tension building in my own body as I endeavour to find a way to help you. It is fear that my words may not reach you or that my words go unread or are dis- missed. It is fear that I may contract the virus as some of my friends have. It is fear of the unknown. It is the uncertainty of what’s next. We are all feeling it, some to a greater or lesser degree. Know that I am here for you. And others, like me, can help too. There are counsellors and psycho- therapists who are well-trained and ready to help people find their way through life transitions. So, if you are ready to lean on into your self-healing and find a way through your anxious feelings, get in touch. In the mean- time, go ahead and do a little research on your own. We all have a bit more time on our hands now. There are several approaches to anxiety reduction. For example, CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique a.k.a. Tapping), Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Exposure Therapy and TRE (Tension Re- lease Exercises) to name a few. be your guide journey of self-reflection and self-heal- ing. Often, your presenting issue can be addressed within 3 or 4 sessions. Take a look at the Irish Association for Counsel- ling and Psychotherapy’s Directory to find a therapist that is qualified and insured to practice online. www.iacp.ie For a quick start to getting the help you need, try www.turn2me.ie . For residents of Ireland, you may engage in up to 8 online sessions for free. There may be a short waiting list as more people move online for counselling. Therapy delivered online via video is the gold standard as your therapist can hear what you say as well as see what you don’t say, via nonverbal cues. Online Counselling from your couch is convenient for stay at home parents, peo- ple working long hours, people living in remote areas, with mobility issues, and people who would rather not drive, take the bus, pay for parking, etc. There are only a few drawbacks to online counselling and that is related to ensuring you are in a private area (car, shed, etc.) so as to protect confidentiality. Online counselling is for mild to moderate men- Anam Cara Therapy Here for you. www.onlinetherapist.ie Mary “Em” Ryan Counsellor/Holistic Psychotherapist Shamanic Sound Healer anamcaratherapy@pm.me 083.859.9551 Offering online counselling© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 53 tal health issues as more severe situations may warrant interfacing with other pro- fessionals. Confidentiality is protected except where abuse is disclosed, past or present, or harm to self or others is disclosed. In such instances, confidentiality is waived in fa- vour of obtaining further assistance. I, myself, have been counselling teens and adults since 2003, in office and online. I am fully accredited and insured to prac- tice online and in office. We can meet via secure, encrypted video chat. Just down- load the VSee and Zoom Cloud Meetings app. Or, during the pandemic, regulations have eased temporarily and online coun- selling can currently be delivered over the phone, via WhatsApp or FaceTime. I also offer live chat/text counselling via the secure Signal app. I have affordable and convenient hours available each week with little or no wait to be seen. You can book in on my website: www.onlinethera- pist.ie or www.anamcaratherapy.com . Why wait? Be seen today. Be well. Stay healthy and strong. § Magnolia on the Beach H ere is a photo of Magnolia, taken on Laytown beach at the start of March by Bríd O’Neill of BON Photography. Brid has featured it on her Facebook www.facebook.com/BridONeillPhotos/ & Instagram photography pages. § STOP NO MORE CONSTRUCTION IN THIS AREA WITHOUT INFRA - STRUCTURE© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 54 www.instagram.com/eastmeathunited www.twitter.com/EastMeathUnitedwww.facebook.com/eastmeathunitedfc East Meath United Much More Important Than Football A few weeks ago, as a club, we had just got back to playing football on the back of four consecutive storms that had wreaked havoc to the football leagues, cup competitions and training schedules. Some teams had not played a competitive game since before Christmas. Our mem- bers were rightly excited to get playing the game. What happened next will stay with us forever, something much more important than football. Our lives and schedules turned upside down. The norm was no more. Gone was the mad rush to fill water bottles, find boots and get our children to training on time. Instead, keeping each other safe was our daily schedule and mission. Checking in on people by video, phoning people of- fering help to the vulnerable has become the new norm which has brought us all back to the most essential basics ever - caring, looking out for each other and keeping people safe. When will we get playing again? We don’t know, but what we do know is somethings are just much more important than foot- ball. To all our members and the greater com- munity our message to you is clear stay safe, and please do follow all HSE and Government guidelines The Coaching Corner, by Dave Gaffrey Make Defending Fashionable Again Grassroots football needs a defender to win the Ballon d'Or again soon so that young players can be reminded of the im- portance of having good players all-round the pitch. Van Dyke or de Ligt would have made worthy winners, both excellent players and great defenders. At a recent u10 game at one of our local clubs a player had scored 4 goals and the coach understandably asked the player to drop back to a defensive position. After the game the coach explained to me how © April 2020 The Meath Coaster 55 the player had at times broken into tears when asked to 'play at the back', a scene I've witnessed myself at first hand more than once. I grew up watching Baresi for Milan, McGrath for United, Hansen for Liver- pool. Koeman scored 193 goals for PSV and Barcelona from centre back. The re- cent documentary 'boys in green' remind- ed us of the great defenders who played with Ireland, Moran, Lawrenson, O'Leary, Irwin all top-flight players in England at the time. Our current captain Seamus Coleman is a fine player and role model for all our kids. We need to make our players aware of these great players and encourage them to play a while in defence. Good defending is a skill like all others and the best play- ers enjoy having the entire pitch in front of them. Defenders can still take corners, free kicks and penalties (Steve Bruce scored 12 in 1991). This reinforces the fact that they are still hugely important to the team. Defenders can be captain for the day and annual awards allow us to reward players who fulfilled several roles for the team, not just the top scorer. Clever training practices can make de- fending fun and rewarding and together we can make defenders fashionable again. Laytown & Bettystown Golf Club O n March 25 th 2020, due to worsening situation relating to the spread of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and following recommen- dations from the Golfing Union of Ire- land (GUI) and the Irish Ladies Golfing Union (ILGU) the golf course at Laytown & Bettystown Golf Club was closed to members and visitors with immediate ef- fect. Up to that point the club had been strictly following the advice and directives from the Government and Health Authorities in dealing with this crisis. Even though the clubhouse has been closed to players and visitors and com- petitive golf suspended for some time, members were still allowed to continue to play social golf while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Several additional safeguards were also introduced by the club to limit the risk of transmission of the virus. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible. Laytown & Bettystown Golf Club realise that the decision to close its facilities to members and guests is a difficult one to make, but right now, it is our shared re- sponsibility to prioritise the health of our local communities by working together to follow the respective Government guide- lines. In doing so, this will ensure that we get the opportunity to play the game that we all love as soon as it is safe to do so. § Home Exercise for Older People P hysical activity is the single most important thing that individuals can do to maintain their health, function and quality of life. See this link for some easy exercies you can do at home. www.meathsports.ie/ home-exercises-for-older-adults/© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 56 C2 General Stamullen F.C. Club news W e hope you are all keeping safe and healthy during these uncertain times with Covid 19 pandemic. We are all missing training and matches but are thankful for the change in weather which is allowing our players to practice outside. We have been running some challenges and competitions for our players to keep them busy and entertained during these strange times. We have been running the Stamullen top bin challenge over on our social media platforms and getting some amazing en- tries. Will will post details of the winner soon. This will all be over soon and we will get back to our beloved training and matches stronger than ever. In the meantime keep practicing social distance and washing your hands and of course your football skills. Stamullen FC girls At the end of February our girls from our u12,u13 and U14 teams were invited to be the half time entertainment for the Drogheda united v Longford game at Drogheda Stadium, the girls had a bril- liant time and did the club proud. Thanks to all the coaches and parents in-© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 57 volved in making this happen. Looking forward to more of this in the future. Colouring Competition winners We ran a St Patrick’s day colouring com- petition and had so many amazing entries. Our three winners were - Daniel Enright, Zoe Flynn and Saoirse McEvoy. Well done guys, super artists, we will be running an Easter colouring competition for our members very soon. Keep an eye on our social media platforms for more information. Club Contact Details: Email - stamullenfc@gmail.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/stamullenfc Club Secretary Marcus Kelly – 0851477825 Website – www.stamullenfc.com § © April 2020 The Meath Coaster 58 T hese are tricky times we find our- selves in. At these times it's great to be able to lace up the runners and run it off. Sadly we can't do this as freely as we’d like at the moment but we can ex- ercise within our 2km range, keeping all the professional advice about 'social dis- tancing' in mind. Exercise is important for body and mind, walking, having a jump in the trampoline, chasing the dog round the garden all count. Be kind to yourselves, remember what’s important and we’ll all be running freely before we know it. I would like to make special mention of our club members who are working in health- care, the Gardaí and emergency services, many more are out there working in various roles to allow life to continue as normally as possible. This must be an extremely stress- ful situation for you and your families, we think you're all amazing and thank you sin- cerely for all that you're doing. All sporting events have ground to a halt since the middle of March but we do have the events from earlier in the month to report on. Delighted to say that when we could run, all the local events were packed with Cilles AC runners, thrilled to be getting back into some Spring run- Cilles Athletic Club www.cillesac.ie www.facebook.com/CillesAC ning. We know that the good running days will return eventually, “this too shall pass” is something I’m hearing a lot and it’s per- fectly apt. We’re all pulling together as a community, looking out for each other and supporting each other where possible. Stay safe and well everyone. Meath Athletic Awards night Our wonderful juveniles were honoured at the Meath Athletics awards night in the Ardboyne on the 23 rd of Feb. Holly Bren- nan, Aaron Smith and Lauren Murphy all received recognition for wining national medals in 2019. Holly and Aaron also picked up awards for cross country ath- letes of the year for the u17 to u19 age groups. These awards recognise the hard work and dedication of our young athletes and their coaches, well done to you all. Lusk 4 Miler The Lusk four mile took place on the 1 st of March and saw Darren Corcoran, Una Munnelly and Tony O’Brien put in some super times. Holly and Aaron at schools All Ireland Cross Country Holly Brennan and Aaron Smith were in action at the schools all Ireland cross country on March 7 th . Aaron ran a blister- ing 20:13 over 6k to finish 25 th in a highly competitive senior boys race. Holly ran 14:05 over 3500m in the senior girls race and claimed 3 rd place with an extremely strong finish. Well done to you both. Aaron running in schools senior race© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 59 Cilles Ac at Parkrun Oldbridge We had a huge turnout on the 6 th of March at the Battle of the Boyne site. Parkrun under normal circumstances takes place every Saturday morning at various sites across the country. We’re lucky enough to have Parkrun right beside us in Oldbridge, Drogheda. This is a challenging course by anyone’s standards but the scenery, cama- raderie and bun in the coffee shop after- wards all make it worthwhile. We had 20 Cilles AC runners take part and all thor- oughly enjoyed it. Our Kenneth Doyle was 5 th home, with Anthony Lannon hot on his heels 2 seconds later to claim 6 th , Gavin Doyle was home moments later for 8 th . Brilliant running everyone! Carlingford Half Marathon The Carlingford half took place on the 6 th March. We always have a strong pres- ence at this run with it’s beautiful scenery. Donal Harrington 1.44. - Eloise Cowie. 1.54. - Olivia Cranny Bennett 2.03. - Richard Davis. 2.08. - Dawn Daly 2.10 - Fiona Mullen 2.15 - Claire Purtill 2.16 Bridget O’Brien 2.34 Cilles AC at Oldbridge parkrun Holly Brennan podium BronzeNext >