THE 2014/15 SEASON kicks off for Connacht with a squad trip to Sligo and a fundraising event for a six-year-old supporter from Sligo who is bravely battling cancer.

Connacht coach Pat Lam and his squad are the guests of honour at Sligo RFC for a Family Fun day in aid of local lad Donal Parsons. The Strandhill native was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma in early 2013 and, for the past 18 months, has been receiving intensive treatment at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin.

Connacht second-row Michael Swift told TheScore.ie that he and his teammates are looking forward to getting out and engaging with their supporters ahead of a season when the province will be targeting automatic Rugby Champions Cup qualification.

Swift said, “Pre-season starts properly on Monday but we are kicking off the new year with a session, and a community day, up in Sligo, on Sunday. The event is to raise funds for a young lad called Donal Parsons, who has a rare form of cancer. He’s not doing the best at the moment so we’re eager to do anything we can to help.

One of the things Pat was eager to do when he came in, last summer, was to get us out and about in communities across the provinces. It is often easy to think all of the support is coming from Galway but we’re gaining greater numbers of fans from Mayo, Leitrim, Sligo and Roscommon.”

The Donal Parsons Trust has been set up to raise money to access any viable treatments to prevent relapse and to pay for treatments if the six-year-old does relapse. The Trust may also assist Parsons and his family during his treatment

The family fun day starts at 1pm and, following the interactive pitch session, the team will be available for autographs and pictures. For more on the event, check out the Connacht Rugby website.

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