Former Irish rugby international and well-known broadcaster, Donncha O’Callaghan has issued a note of encouragement to Irish sports clubs not to ‘miss your opportunity’ when it comes to raising vital revenue that, due to current circumstances, cannot be guaranteed through membership and gate receipts.
Speaking about the forthcoming Texaco Support for Sport initiative now open for applications, O’Callaghan noted the ‘particular benefit’ that smaller, community-based clubs with a minority interest focus can gain from such schemes. “In this case, an incredible fund of Є130,000 is available for distribution in equal amounts of Є5,000 on a county-by-county basis – to one lucky sports club in each county making an application under the scheme.
“The benefit of the scheme to our amazing clubs throughout Ireland is that it provides rare access to funds which are not linked to the popularity, membership size or success of any club.” “More important is the merit of each application, the value it will bring to the club and the contribution it will make to life within each of our local communities,” he added.
Exclusively responsible for choosing the twenty-six winning applications, O’Callaghan noted that the spread of successful entries last year ranged from the popular sports of Gaelic football, hurling and soccer to niche sports such as climbing, cricket, basketball and handball.
