Search for missing cup in Ballynahinch which rekindles old memories

6 July 2016

WHERE is the Sheena Pinion Cup? Perhaps it would be more pertinent to ask how many people, apart from senior citizens, in Ballynahinch and the surrounding area have even heard of it or what it was awarded for.

My understanding is that the trophy was donated in the early 1940s by a Ballynahinch bank official in memory of his daughter who had died young, and his wish was that pupils from primary schools in Ballynahinch and its environs should compete each year on the athletics field in an effort to win the cup. In those days there were many primary schools in the area, most of them affiliated to churches.

His wish was granted, and each year in June, just before the summer break, competitors and spectators, of which there were many, converged on a field near the quarry on the Belfast Road, Ballynahinch, for a day of athletic events such as sprints, middle distance events, long jump, triple jump, high jump and relay races.

Teams from each of the schools were arranged in order of age and competition was exceptionally keen because each school deemed it a great honour to win the trophy. For weeks in advance of the games, pupils in all the schools trained hard and set themselves tough targets in the hope of winning in their chosen events. In those days there were no distractions such as tablets, mobile phones or computers.

Judges on the day were teachers from the various schools, and some parents. Mr Paisley, head teacher of the school that was known locally as Bell’s, drove to the field in his little Austin 7 Ruby, and was joined by Jack McIlveen, head teacher of Ballymaglave primary, driving his 1936 Morris 8 with its sagging chassis. In those days, long before the advent of the MOT, a vehicle was deemed to be roadworthy if it was capable of progressing more or less in the direction in which it was pointed.

The only other teachers I remember were Mr Kiely of Magheradroll school, William Graham of Tullywest primary, whose pupils always provided stiff competition, and Mr Walker of Spa primary.

In the gathering dusk at the end of an exhausting day, athletes and spectators made their way to the now long-gone tennis pavilion on the Belfast Road to await the deliberations of the judges and the announcement of the winning school.

My fondest memory is of the year 1947 when the Sheena Pinion Cup was won by my old school, Ballymaglave, a result that was due in large measure to the sterling efforts of two fine all-round athletes, Bertha Carlisle and Duncan Graham, who excelled in every event that they entered.

The result the following year was a tie between Ballymaglave and Magheradroll schools and the trophy was displayed for six months in each school. After that period of shuttling between the schools and a few more years of competition, this handsome trophy seems to have disappeared.

It would be interesting to know of its whereabouts, and perhaps just as interesting to know the names of all the schools that competed and see any photographs that may exist of the event. Mr McIlveen of Ballymaglave was a keen amateur photographer and his pre-war Rolleicord may well have recorded some of the participants in those bygone, halcyon days.

My guess is that the Sheena Pinion Cup is languishing in a dusty cupboard in the premises of the last school to win it. If it can be found it surely deserves a place of prominence in Ballynahinch where people can see it.

That would be a fitting tribute not only to the memory of the little girl in whose name it was donated, but to the efforts of the many of young people who fought so hard on the sports field to win it.

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