Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team have one more supporter at our WNT games as our new mascot, Cara, was introduced to Tallaght Stadium in November 2016!
The FAI ran a competition through social media and clubs asking supporters to create a mascot for the Women’s National Team.
The mascot won’t only be for the Women’s National Team but will also be involved in all FAI grassroots programmes such as Soccer Sisters to Schools to FIFA Live Your Goals festivals of footballs.
After an incredible amount of entries, we’ve chosen Cara as the winner. Cara Griffin, 14, penned the entry below with a fantastic story behind the new mascot Cara!
She wrote: “Cara the mascot, like myself, started playing soccer at age 5 and joined her local boy’s team where she discovered her love for soccer and loved learning new skills.
“She then joined the girl’s team in a village nearby and made loads of new friends. Her confidence grew and she built a great bond with her teammates.
“She looked forward to meeting her at ‘Soccer Sisters’ at the FAI Soccer Camps every summer. Soccer has given Cara a sense of belonging, a chance to meet new friends, a huge amount of skills, discipline and a lovely chance to travel to different places!”
The new mascot is being launched at the Basque Country game today so make sure you go up to Cara and welcome her to her first Women’s National Team game.
Women’s Football Co-ordinator Emma Martin said: “We were overwhelmed by the response to the mascot competition and the quality of the entries was excellent.
“We’d like to thank everyone who entered the competition but we had to have a winner. It was really difficult but for us, Cara had a fantastic back story and it is one which is relatable to a lot of young girls in the country.
“Cara played at our FAI Soccer Camps as well so I think a lot of the children who attend our matches will be able to relate to Cara in a great way and make her easily approachable.
“It’s a great move forward to have a mascot, not just for the Women’s National Team but also our ever-expanding grass-roots programme, and I’m sure the young children who attend our matches will enjoy our company.”
Cara will be making an appearance across many Grassroots programmes throughout the year. If your club is running an event for girl’s football, perhaps Cara will be able to pay a visit also. We cannot guarantee availability for all events but we’ll do our best to accommodate all requests. Email women@fai.ie
for more information.
#IRLWNT #COYGIG
