Tomorrow starts today with Enniskillen Town United

Aim

Our aim is simple, raise funding that will enable girls aged between 6 and 12 years old to kick start their football journey with our club!

Our history and our future

Enniskillen Town United is a grassroots community football club situated in the heart of Enniskillen, the historic island town situated in the centre of Fermanagh. The club was formed in 1970 and since then we have provided opportunities for our local community to benefit from involvement and participation in the beautiful game. Initially the club’s focus centred on providing football, social and recreational opportunities to men and boys and in latter years we have witnessed unprecedented growth of our girls’ section.

The club can now proudly boast to provide regular football opportunities to boys and girls aged from 6 years old right the way through to our adult teams, who participate in the Fermanagh and Western Football League. Our membership now sits at just shy of 350 people and our previous members include Premier League manager Kieran McKenna and star of the Euro 2016 tournament, Michael McGovern!

Our young people are provided with the very best opportunities to excel on the field of play with opportunities in the local IFA Small Sided Games league, the Brendan Keogh Youth League and chances to play in renowned tournament such as the Foyle Cup.

The development and progression of our club is testament to the focus, drive and commitment of our volunteers, all of whom are committed to not only providing the best possible opportunities on the field of play in matches and training but also helping to guide their players and teach them valuable lessons off the field of play (teamwork, communication, solving problems and promoting positive mental wellbeing).

As a club we have made some significant strides on and off the field of play in recent years, including establishing ourselves at the newly constructed St Michael’s Sports Hub and our aim now is to use the momentum the club has to grow our girls’ section and ensure that girls of all ages, abilities and backgrounds in the Enniskillen and surrounding areas can enjoy the beautiful game.

Our why?

‘Tomorrow starts today’ is a CrowdFunding campaign which will assist us with the growth of the girls’ section of our club and one of the core remits of the campaign will be to attract and support new female volunteers to the club, who will take on coaching roles and supportive roles within our girls’ section.

With your support, we firmly believe we can inspire our next generation of girls to achieve incredible things through the beautiful game and we hope that it will inspire them to not only become more active physically but also reap the rewards of what being involved in a sports team can bring such as improved confidence, positive mental well-being and developing friendships that will last for life. As we kickstart 2025, we want to use any funding raised to support new and existing volunteers as we look to grow female section ahead of the new youth league season starting in September.

Specifically, it is our target to develop two eight wee blocks of taster programmes for girls, with two hours of coaching and football training on a weekly basis over the duration of two eight-week blocks. All of the activities will take place at our new home, the state-of-the-art St Michael’s Sports hub in the heart of the town.

The coaching sessions will be open and inclusive to all, and they will encourage our stars of tomorrow to master basic technical, tactical and physical skills and each session will be action packed and full of fun, ensuring all of the 50 girls we intend to work with leave with smiles on their faces.

Crowdfunding will primarily focus on ensuring we have our coaches upskilled and confident in being able to help our stars of tomorrow and it will also ensure that we have age specific and ability specific equipment which will ensure every child has the right equipment to thrive during each session.

YOUR SUPPORT

Our aim is to raise £10,000 your donations, with support from Sport NI through their generous matched funding scheme will help to purchase the following.

-    Coaching packs for U8, U10 and U12 teams including footballs, cones, bibs, SAQ equipment and pop-up goalposts for small sided games – TOTAL - £2000

-    Coach education opportunities for new and prospective volunteers. Our aim is to get 12 volunteers through their National Coaching Certificate, priced at £220. TOTAL - £2,640

-    Venue hire at St Michael’s Sports Hub (32 hours of pitch hire) at £45 per hour = £1440

-    CPD courses and well-being programmes for young people and coaches - £1500

-    Enniskillen Town United tracksuits and training kits for all 50 girls, which will give them a sense of pride at being part of our historic club = £2,250

-    Online marketing to target prospective participants = £170

OUR IMPACT

This project is more than just football, it is an opportunity to provide the perfect chance for girls living in what is a highly deprived and impoverished part of the country to benefit from involvement in the beautiful game. Over the last number of years we have witnessed an unprecedented increase in demand for female football and in the past we had hurdles such lack of facilities and volunteers as something which stopped girls locally from participating in football. We now have a hard working and forward thinking committee who are focused on ensuring that girls aged between 6 and 12 years old can start their sporting journey with our club and we are 100% focused on assisting Sport NI with their ‘Creating Opportunities’ programme as we look to level the playing field for under-participated groups in our society such as girls. With Sport NI’s assistance we can inspire our next generation to benefit from opportunities which will have significant impacts on their short and long term personal development.

Detailed below are some of intended outcomes we believe this programme will have on girls locally.

-    Promote a love of sport and physical activity – Our club has been in existence now since 1970 and over the years we have witnessed firsthand the impact the beautiful game can have on young and old. Whether it is creating new friendships, watching young people thrive and flourish on the field of play or giving young people a chance to broaden their horizons through football, our club has helped hundreds, if not thousands of men and women, boys and girls. With support from Sport NI and from you, we want to give local girls more opportunities and provide them with the best facilities, best equipment and best opportunities to commit to a lifelong involvement in the beautiful game and reap the rewards that can bring.

-    Empower and equip our volunteers – We are fortunate to have so many committed and passionate volunteers helping with all aspects of our club and we believe that to retain them and support them, we must invest in them, whether that is through internal mentoring/guidance or through providing them with opportunities to learn more about coach educators from the Irish FA. Our volunteers are the bedrock of our club and without them we don’t exist!

-    For the Town and beyond – The club is embedded in the very fabric of our town, and it is a club which exists to provide opportunities for those living in the Enniskillen and surrounding areas. We want to provide support to those living in areas of high socio-economic need locally. We are aware that a Neighbourhood Renewal Area exists in the town and we want to undertake outreach programmes and initiatives in these areas to ensure football and sport is open and inclusive to all!

-    Promote positive mental health – Through our two eight week blocks, we will provide opportunities for girls to benefit from expert coaching in a high quality facility with the very best equipment. We have witnessed firsthand the impact sport has had on our members as they participate in our programmes and this include increased resilience, increased confidence and strong levels of mental well-being as they learn through sport and learn from their teammates and friends!

-    Develop female football structure at the club – The club has big ambitions for the future and it is our aim to develop a girls’ section of the club which then feeds into an adult female football team that will compete in the NIWFA leagues. This will ensure that we have a robust pathway that ensures girls and women of all ages can benefit from the beautiful game through our club.

-    Football for personal development -Football is a game loved by billions across the globe and while we are aware that all youngsters starting the game will have ambitions of being a professional footballer, that the chances of this while they exist are slim. However, what we have seen in the past is the power the game has in changing the lives of young and old. Lessons learned on the training pitch and in games are easily adapted in the world of work or in the classroom and we have often spoken to teachers etc… who have said that pupils who are involved in our activities have better attention spans, more confidence and can communicate better as they have often developed and harnessed a lot of these skills on the field of play.

YOUR ROLE

You can help us transform the lives of 50 girls living in the Enniskillen and surrounding areas.  How can you help?

1.    Pledge your support to the project. No matter how little the amount, every penny will help our girls to achieve incredible achievements through the beautiful game.

2.    Tell your friends, neighbours and colleagues. Share our story online and with anyone you are speaking to. Our club is for everyone!

3.    Rewards – Are you a local business passionate about giving back to the local community. We can offer rewards to those who pledge support and in term help your business to get more footfall and trade!

We have no doubt that this project will create incredible opportunities for girls in the Enniskillen and surrounding areas. Football has the power to change lives of people across the world for the better and with your support and that of Sport NI we can use the power of the beautiful game to transform the lives of girls and indeed our wider community for years to come!

This project closed unsuccessfully on 14th February 2025