Patsy McGonagle, four time Olympic Team Manager and the driving force behind the acclaimed community sports facility, Finn Valley, will be giving an open evening in Tuam this Monday April 3oth in the Ard Ri Hotel, Tuam at 8pm.
Three of the town’s most prominent clubs, Tuam Athletics Club, Tuam Camogie and Tuam Cortoon Ladies Gaelic Football have come together to tackle the issue of lack of facilities here in this town for the growing number of young children involved in their sports.
Understanding how McGonagle, against all odds turned a GAA field into a top class sports facility including 400m track, full sized pitches, astro turfs, swimming pool and community managed club house is one of the first steps in achieving the same result here in Tuam.
The Juvenile athletes, who in 2017 became the eight biggest club in the country, currently have to travel to Claremorris and Athlone for training, whilst Camogie and Football are begging unused fields and pitches from schools and other sports in an attempt to maintain training.
Martin Kenny spokesperson for the Juvenile arm of Tuam AC said: “One of our Government’s key objectives is keeping young people in sport past the ages of 14. We have a huge number of volunteer coaches and parents who are facing burnout driving long distances for training and changing schedules at the last minute as pitches become available. We risk losing a whole generation of children in sport if we don’t manage to build our own facilities here in Tuam fast.”
He added: “Tuam is now well served with the recent opening of the new motorway. But we are currently seeing yet another development of almost 130 houses and yet again no plans for additional amenities.”
Martin Kenny and Brendan McGrath spoke to John Mulligan about next Monday Night's Event
https://download-galwaybay.sharp-stream.com/TUAM%20ATHLETICS%20SPECIAL.mp3
Patsy McGongale who managed the Irish athletics teams on a record 68 occasions said: “No one believed we could achieve what we have done with Finn Valley. The economic benefits of a shared sports facility to the area are immeasurable, we can now host large scale events attracting visitors from all over the country to rural Donegal. Coupled with that we have some of the strongest youth and juvenile clubs in all of Ireland punching way above our weight across numerous sports on a National Scale.”
He added: “Home grown hero Ricky Simms, agent to Usain Bolt and Mo Farah hails from Finn Valley and we boast over 300 national athletics champions. A shared sports facility will serve Tuam and the North Galway Region well, the youth of the area deserve the opportunities it brings.”
Patsy will share his best practice, insider knowledge and experience of the pitfalls to avoid at the information night in the Birmingham Suite of the Ard Ri Hotel, @20:00.
Organisers are expecting a good turnout and hope the information evening will help to build momentum and support for this desperately needed facility, which will ultimately support 32 schools and many more clubs.
