Nadia Power - A Testimonial

I am writing to express my shock and disappointment at the decision to bring my coach, Enda Fitzpatrick’s esteemed career as director of DCU athletics to an abrupt and unanticipated end. I can without a doubt confirm I would never have considered attending DCU if it was not for Enda.

After secondary school, I attended the University of Virginia on an athletics scholarship. Before I left, Enda kindly advised me to defer a place in an Irish university in case the American scholarship experience did not work out for me. This advise was invaluable as it gave me a place to turn to when I decided to leave the American collegiate system. When I arrived home from America, I felt hopeless and my relationship with athletics had deteriorated.

Enda and DCU athletics turned this around and when Enda began coaching me in 2016, I immediately feel back in love with the sport. The set up both Enda and Anne Keenan Buckley, our assistant distance coach have created for myself and the DCU middle distance training group is excellent and as a group this year we have had some incredible results and even more importantly, we are truly enjoying our experience with DCU athletics.

On a personal level, Enda has hugely enriched my experience of athletics in the last 2 years and with his guidance I have significantly improved my 800m and 1500m PBs, reached a European u20 1500m final and won 3 individual IUAA titles. The news of the termination of Enda’s contract in DCU is absolutely devastating and is a source of huge anxiety about not just my future athletics career, but the future of my training group and DCU athletics as a whole.

Enda and Anne’s support is the backbone of our distance training group and therefore it is hugely upsetting to know DCU’s decision means that set up is effectively gone. Beyond Enda’s outstanding coaching abilities, he really is an incredible person. I have never met someone so liked by everyone and so willing to go out of his way to be a friend to others. Throughout my time knowing Enda I’ve seen him help a countless number of people in any way he could, be it DCU athletes, athletes from other colleges, GAA players or just DCU students.

Enda is both a role model and friend to all in DCU athletics and we are shocked and saddened by his treatment. The extent of outrage caused by DCU’s decision demonstrates the incredible impact of Enda’s work and I urge DCU management to listen to its students and retract this decision.

Sincerely,

Nadia Power

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