Target reached!
If we hit our stretch amount, the additional £5,000 will be invested directly into o...
Team Spirit at St. Michael's GAC, Magheralin
Craigavon, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, United Kingdom
Aim
Funding will allow us to upskill our volunteers, acquire more sports-specific equipment, and improve our facilities in rural Magheralin.
Our Club
St Michaels GAC is a Gaelic Athletic Club with an aim of providing Gaelic Games to our rural community, thus providing benefits to users in relation to their overall health, well-being, fitness, and social support to the Magheralin, Moira and Kilwarlin communities. Our Club is open to players, non-players and social members as well as providing events and activities for other members of the community. The club is represented in the Down County Football Leagues by the following teams: Senior Team, Reserve Team, Ladies Team, U17 Team, U15 Team, U13 Team, U11 Team, U9 Team, U7 Team, Nursery Team and Ladies Youth Teams.
Our History
Formed in 1962 following the amalgamation of St. Patrick’s Magheralin and St. Colman’s Kilwarlin Gaelic Football Clubs, we are a County Down club, located in the North-West of the county bordering counties Armagh and Antrim. We were Down Senior Football Finalists in 1966, Down Junior Football Champions in 1987, 1991 and 2004 and previous All-Ireland Scor Winners. The Club organise, promote, and compete in Gaelic Games and other associated activity for all, regardless of age, gender, background, or ability within the Magheralin and outlying areas. The Club is driven by an unmistakable amateur and volunteer ethos.
Our Vision
As a Club, we continue to aim to strengthen the local community spirit, build trust not just with ourselves but with others, provide a sense of place for all within the local community, improve people’s physical and mental well-being, build confidence in who we are and where we are from, and to partake in our games and sporting activity throughout County Down and other surrounding areas.
Our COVID-19 Struggle
Since the beginning of March 2020, all club activity had stopped because of COVID-19. This had a negative impact on our club and community member’s health both physically, due to a lack of regular sporting activity, and mentally, as many were shielding and were home alone and felt isolated. During this difficult time, our local community members and other associated groups had recognised the importance of regular sport and exercise provision within the Magheralin area. Resultantly, our membership numbers have doubled over the last 12 months. Therefore, as a local rural club, we want to do all that we can to improve the lives of our residents and cater for increased demand through our "Spiorad Foirne" – Team Spirit Project and all future provision as COVID restrictions begin to ease and with the return to sport in full flow.
Our "Spiorad Foirne" – Team Spirit Project
This project will allow us to successfully plan and deliver social, recreational, and leisure opportunities for a wider range of participants and spectators across Co. Down, and for any individual or group that visits our facility throughout the year. Therefore, through Spring and Summer 2022 we intend to deliver a coaching and games development programme with the objectives to recruit, train, develop and support our volunteer coaches. In detail, our plans include:
(1) Supporting our Wednesday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning player development sessions with the provision of experienced and upskilled coaches for girls, boys and ladies Gaelic football.
(2) Developing our coaches through the provision of Foundation, Level 1 and Level 2 coaching qualifications as well as continuous on-pitch support from a mixture of fully qualified and experienced club, county and third party coaches.
(3) As our existing facilities are already up to maximum usage, we will require external facility hire to carry out all the extra training sessions. We will also require all weather facilities for the early spring months.
(4) Providing specialised Gaelic games equipment for the extra coaches and players that have joined our club.
Of our £10k fundraising target we expect the project to require:
-Specialised coaching support for Fundamentals/U5 to U11 = £3,000
-Specialised coaching support for Gaelic For Mothers and Others = £1,000
-Specialised coaching support for our U8 to U13 girls academy = £1,500
-Specialised coaching support for U13 to U17 youth players = £1,500
-External Hire Facilities = £2,000
-Training equipment, balls, bibs , cones across all age groups and focus groups = £1,000
Sport Northern Ireland Project Re-Boot: Activate has provided £5,000 of match funding
This project successfully funded on 30th April 2022