Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny travelled to Leah Victoria Park to visit the INTERSPORT Elverys FAI Summer Soccer Schools camp at Tullamore Town FC.

The Ireland manager took time out of his busy schedule ahead of the September UEFA Nations League matches against Scotland and Armenia, to pay a visit to the Midlands club and help train the children in the camp as well as pose for photos and sign autographs.

Over 130 children were in attendance at the Summer Soccer Schools camp which also had specialised Goalkeeper training, provided by Ciara Glackin, Ireland WU-19 goalkeeper, and a number of Ukrainian refugees attending.

"It's great to come down and meet so many young supporters at the camp, hearing all of the different names of who their favourite players are. It's brilliant to see so many kids taking part in the camps and to hear of so much interest in the national team," said Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny.

"All of the boys and girls getting out and playing football during the holidays is really important and to see them playing for so many different clubs in the area, not just Tullamore Town but Willow Park, Tullamore United and Frankfurt are some of the others I heard.

"I think the public really have a special connection with this current Irish team and especially the young generation. The children saying how players like Chiedozie Ogbene, Jason Knight, Josh Cullen, Gavin Bazunu and Caoimhin Kelleher are their favourite players shows that so delighted to come down to the Midlands today."

The INTERSPORT Elverys FAI Summer Soccer Schools have had an incredibly successful year with over 33,000 children in attendance across the country including over 6,000 girls, a record number, with the camps running until August 31st.

"We're delighted to welcome Stephen down to Offaly today for a fantastic camp at Tullamore Town FC," said FAI Development Officer Gary Seery.

"We've got over 130 kids signed up to the camp this week and a few weeks ago, we had over 180 children signed up here so our camps have been extremely successful in keeping children active in the summer holidays.

"It's been great to see the amount of children sign up to our specialised goalkeeper training as well and it was great for the children to meet the international manager, and everyone really appreciated his attendance today."

To book your place at an INTERSPORT Elverys FAI Summer Soccer School, visit http://summersoccerschools.ie/bookings