St Michael’s Killean Creating New Opportunities

Aim

A new 16-week youth programme to get kids active, boost skills, grow girls’ football and bring new volunteers into St Michael’s Killean

Who Are We

Our Club is a vital rural sporting and community resource in Killean, an area situated on the border in South Armagh just outside Newry. 

We offer opportunities in sport for children boys and girls, young people adults and older people in our area through a safe place to develop their skills in sport, exercise and socialise. 

We provide a Community Club that allows young people to express themselves on the pitch through GAA and wider health and wellbeing initiatives here on the border. Our Club is a volunteer organisation, which: 

• Develops and promotes Gaelic Games at the core of Irish identity and culture in our border community. 
• Is dedicated to ensuring that games and the values we live enrich the lives of our members’ families and the border communities we serve. 
• Is committed to active lifelong participation for all, including those outside our GAA community. 
• Is committed to providing the best environment for all those who participate in the club. 
• Reaches out to and includes all members of our society. 
• Promotes individual development and well-being. 
• Strives to enable all our members and wider border community achieve their full potential in their chosen roles.

Our Club vision is as follows: 

• Endeavour to keep as many players playing for as long as possible. 
• Not overemphasise competition too early. 
• Acknowledge that players develop at different rates due to age differences, maturation and growth rates and can markedly affect performance. 
• Encourage effort rather than reliance on ability alone. 
• Produce athletically strong players who can kick with both feet, have problem solving-skills and are good decision makers. 
• Produce Coaching handbooks for each age group. -Embrace the “One Club” ethos.

Our community is a tight knit community with up to 350 homes and a Primary School with 129 children, of which the vast majority attend our Club activities. It is vitally important for us to ensure that everything we do will help to enrich the community we serve. 

We have strong links with Armagh LGFA who share our pitch. Through these links going forward, our ambition is to ensure that our Club is a leader across the county and country in promoting female football and sporting opportunities. 

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are crowdfunding to raise £10,000 to launch a new 16-week youth development programme at St Michael’s GAA Club in Killean from August, aimed at increasing participation in Gaelic football among young people in our rural community- boys and girls. 

This project will directly support over 100 young people in our rural community, and 10+ volunteer coaches over the 16 weeks. 

It will run for 4 hours each week (4 x 1 hour sessions).

This project will allow us to offer new structured, high-quality coaching sessions to children and teenagers who may not currently be involved in sport or who are new to Gaelic games- Linking with the primary school beside us, pre-school and Armagh Ladies Gaelic Football Assocation (LGFA) who share our facilities with us.

Throughout the 16 weeks from August, we will focus on getting young people active, away from screens, and developing new physical, social and leadership skills in a supportive, community-based environment from August through to the Autumn and the darker evenings.

Funding raised will support the recruitment and training of new volunteer coaches (including female parents of younger children), the delivery of a new girls’ introduction to GAA programme, and the purchase of essential equipment such as footballs, cones, bibs, and so on. It will also help cover costs for venue hire and coaching resources across the 16-week programme.

This is about levelling the playing field in our rural community as a small club with big ambitions. We will be creating new opportunities for young people who haven't had a chance to get involved in Gaelic games before, and ensuring our Club grows stronger through more players, more volunteers and better access. 

Sport NI will match every £1 raised up to £5,000, so your support will go even further.

Sport NI’s Creating Opportunities programme

Our project fully aligns with the objectives of Sport NI’s Creating Opportunities programme. The funding will support the launch of a new 16-week youth initiative at St Michael’s Killean (4 hours per week), aimed at engaging children and young people, particularly those not currently involved in sport across our rural border community. 

This is a new and additional programme that goes beyond our normal activity, meeting the requirement for innovative, participation-focused delivery.

The project will focus on getting more young people (especially girls and rural isolated young people in general) active and involved in Gaelic games. It also addresses the programme’s key aim of levelling the playing field by actively encouraging participation from those traditionally excluded from sport, including children with limited access and families in our rural area.

We will also use the project to recruit and develop 10+ new volunteer coaches and committee members- particularly females, increasing community involvement and long-term sustainability of the programme and girls participation on and off the field. 

By connecting with our local primary school, Armagh LGFA and the pre-school, we will promote inclusion, active lifestyles and long-term club membership growth, supporting Sport NI’s goal of community connection through sport.

How we’ll spend the money raised

We want to raise £10,000- £5,000 ourselves and £5,000 from Sport NI to deliver a 16-week youth programme at St Michael’s Killean GAA Club. The funding will directly support coaching delivery, volunteer development, and targeted engagement with 100+ young people in our rural community. 

Here's how we’ll spend the money raised:

Equipment £2,814

First Touch Footballs Pack of 12 x 5= £86 each= £430

Quick Touch Footballs Pack of 12 x 6 @ £132 each= £792

O'Neills Inter County Football Size 4 Pack of 12 @ £199 each x 8=£1,592

Coaching Costs £3,840

2 coaches @ £30 per hour, 4 hours per week x 16 weeks= £3,840

Facility Hire £2,560

£40 per hour x 4 hours per week= £2,560

Coach Upskilling Workshops £500

2 x half day coach upskilling workshops @ £250 per half day = £500

Project Refreshment Budget £286

Healthy Snacks each week for 100+ kids- water, fruit etc.

Community impact

St Michael’s GAA Club is a central part of the Killean community, providing access to sport, physical activity, and volunteering opportunities for people of all ages. While our core focus is Gaelic football, the Club also plays a wider role in supporting health, wellbeing, and community engagement. Our facilities are used not just for training and matches but also for community events, youth programmes, and informal physical activity. We work closely with local schools, pre-schools and community groups to promote participation, inclusion and healthy lifestyles. The Club is volunteer-led and encourages people of all backgrounds to get involved, whether through coaching, administration, or support roles. 

Our rural location means that access to structured activity can be limited, so our work helps reduce isolation and improve local wellbeing. This project will help us expand our reach and benefit more young people and families who are currently not involved in sport.

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made