claremorris
colts
Tony Phelan of club sponsor Phelans Motor Factors
took the time to tell us more about their positive
association with the club, saying, “I’ve been with
Phelan Motors for 24 years now and building the
business up from scratch to where we are now is
what I have enjoyed the most.
I’ve always liked rugby and am a Connacht season
ticket holder and as a company we’re always keen
to support the local community whenever possible
and started supporting Claremorris around two
years ago. We like what Claremorris rugby club are
doing and are pleased to be able to support them in
continuing to progress.
We’re proud to be associated with Claremorris and
hope that they can continue to go from strength
to strength in the coming years. It will be great for
them to get their own ground and we will look to
assist their development wherever we can.”
youths teams travelled to participate
in the Welsh International Festival of
Rugby and nine ‘Colts’ players were
invited to train with various Connacht
Rugby Youth Development squads over
the summer just past.
Tag rugby continues to enjoy
growing popularity nationally and
the Claremorris Colts tag league has
expanded in line with this growing
demand. Fourteen teams participated
in the recent summer league with a
number of the participants joining the
club as players and/or coaches after
their involvement over the summer.
Signs are positive at this early stage
in the current season that the ‘Colts’
star is continuing to shine with further
increases in membership numbers
expected again.
Perhaps all the more remarkable
is that the club’s growth has been
achieved without access to dedicated
rugby playing facilities in Claremorris.
The mini rugby players are indebted
to the Mount St Michael Convent Girls
Secondary School for making their
pitches available at the weekends.
The youth and adult teams use the
playing facilities of neighbouring
Hollymount-Carramore GAA club
for training over the winter months
and competitive games are held at
neighbouring clubs or more often than
not, home advantage is conceded to the
opposition.
It is imperative for the ‘Colts’ to
acquire dedicated playing facilities in
order to realise the goals within the
club’s five year development plan. The
core ambition within this plan is to
be hosting adult men’s and women’s
rugby on a regular basis in Claremorris
with the club being represented by
teams comprised of graduates from
the indigenous mini and youth rugby
programmes.
To that end, the local Claremorris
Racecourse Committee has granted the
‘Colts’ a 25 year lease on a 5.6 acre site at
Claremount, Claremorris. Phase 1 of the
site development plan encompasses the
construction of a competition standard
playing pitch and two adjoining training
areas suitable for use throughout the
year.
The lofty ambitions of this
development are not cheap and whilst
some funding has been made available
through the governments Sports Capital
Programme, there is still considerable
work to be done to meet the funding
target required to bring the plan to
fruition.
The main fund raising vehicle is the
pitch development lottery with €1,000
in cash prizes available each month for
the lucky winners. Entry into the draw
is €10 per month payable by cash or
more conveniently by standing order
and, with entries limited to 300 tickets,
there is an excellent chance of a cash
prize whilst supporting the ‘Colts’ at
the same time. More details on this
vital fundraiser activity are available on
www.claremorrisrfc.com or by calling
Kevin on 087 746 1829 or Fergal on 087
694 4669.
The first five years in the life of
the Claremorris Colts have been
challenging but great fun for all the
players, parents, coaches, sponsors
and other stakeholders in the club.
The foundations established since 2009
places the club on a strong footing to
better serve our current and future
mini, youth and adult rugby players,
their parents and supporters whilst
at the same time, further the club’s
involvement in the local community
and build greater awareness of rugby in
South Mayo.
Log onto www.claremorrisrfc.com
for more details on how you can
get involved and sign-up for the
weekly club e-newsletter to keep
in touch with all the happenings in
Claremorris Colts RFC.
www.claremorrisrfc.com- Twitter : @claremorrisrfc
www.sportip.biz
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