Sport plays a vital role, on a number of levels, in society. These include health and social areas. This country does not have a great record in the provision of good quality recreational facilities. However enormous work has been done in the area of sports facility provision by amateur organisations and voluntary effort. An organisation to the fore in this is the GAA and one sees evidence of their contribution in every parish in Roscommon. While the demands are growing, which is a very positive thing, the need for GAA clubs now is to have two and even three pitches. This, it has to be said, is greatly assisted by the grant-aid now available from the National Lottery funding. Boyle has a wealth of sporting organisations and facilities. Many of these facilities have been upgraded in recent times. Some clubs and facilities are somewhat hidden jewels and hopefully I will bring to your attention those options. Sports complex official re-opening Boyle Sports complex or ‘the Gym’ will be known to generations of former students at St. Mary’s College and currently at The Abbey Community College. This Complex first established in 1974 by Canon Dodd, Paraic Callaghan and Don Conlon. Since then it has accommodated numerous sporting and social activities for the students and the wider Boyle community. A number of years ago it was re-roofed but in the past year an ambitious project of enhancement has taken place by Boyle Parish Pastoral Company Ltd. with Evelyn O’Donnell, Kathleen Hanmore, Canon Hanley, Paraic Callaghan and Martin Dolan. This has been possible through funding under the Sports Capital Programme from The Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism and from The Department of Rural, Community and Gaeltacht Affairs under their Clár programme. The enhancement involved major re-configuration, the provision of upgraded showers and toilet facilities, heating and ventilation at a cost of around €300,000. The Chairman of The Management Committee is Eugene Cregg; Secretary, Marie MacNamara; Treasurer, Michael Gilmartin. ‘The Top Field’ The famous ‘top field’, adjacent to the ‘Gym’, is currently getting a major re-development also. While it has always been an impressive area its surface was wet and poor. Most of the work is now complete on the pitch at a cost of around €130,000 but with ancillary and necessary facilities it will take up to the €200,000 mark. The contractor here is Clive Richardson from Armagh. There is an active fund-raising programme in place, but the sums required are overpowering and there are issues with regard to the difficulties in acquiring grant-aid which is vital for a project of this expenditure. The development overseer is Michael Costello. ‘Results Gym’ Darren Flaherty has established a state of the art gym at the old Convent of Mercy Secondary School premises. This is different to most of the other clubs I review here as it is a privately developed enterprise. Results includes: A fully equipped fitness gym, sauna, circuit room, aerobics studio and a wide range of ancillary services for health fitness and rehabilitation. It is currently being used by high performance sports people and I strongly recommend a personal viewing to see the quality and range of the services on offer. Badminton This is one of the games I wish I had played more of. Again with the upgrading of the ‘GYM’ the game is back on track with Damien Regan as Chairman, Bernie Lavin, Ballyfarnon as Secretary and Anthony McKeon as Treasurer. Walking Club This is another active unit with regular outings of varying degrees of intensity. It is obviously a great and healthy way to get to know ones regional environment. Triathlon September saw the introduction of the triathlon to Lough Key Park. This inaugural event was a great success and it is anticipated that ’08 will be more so. Basketball The upgrading of the Gym has been a great asset to Boyle Basketball Club. They have around 100 under-age and 50 adult members. They have eight under-age teams from under 12 to under 16. Their Senior Men, Senior Ladies and ladies under 16 teams participate in the Mayo League. The girls and ladies of various ages train each Thursday from 6 to 9 with the boys/men on Friday nights from 7 to 11. Geno Mattimoe is one of the key activists here. GAA in Boyle This is one of the most active clubs in Boyle. It has a membership of around 150 young people and up to 80 or so adults. In recent years it finished an impressive redevelopment of its spiritual home the Abbey Park on which over €300,000 was expended. This is one of the most popular and scenic grounds in the county. With the large number of games there it contributes to the business and focus of the town. Each year presents its ups and downs. Under-age seems to provide many and consistent positives. The main one from ’07 was The Feile. The establishment of a Ladies club has been a real positive and they had a successful and exciting ’07. However the demands on the Abbey Park in terms of games and training is overpowering and there is an urgent need for further training areas. Lough Gara Stables These family run stables were established five years ago by Adrianne Kneale, in a quiet scenic location on the banks of Lough Gara. They provide quiet horses for trekking or lessons. They currently have ten ponies and ten horses. They have quality horses for dressage and provide lessons for examination preparation under the auspices of the British Horse Society (B.H.S.). The stables have a ‘kids club’ at weekends and have organised bus transport from Boyle each Saturday. The stables, Adrianne told me, has all the requisite approvals and she hopes to expand into the tourist market in the near future. Boyle & District Angling Club This is one of the most progressive local clubs. It runs around a dozen fishing competition days per annum the major one being the Annual Pike Fishing competition over a two-day period at Easter. Chairman John Gallagher acknowledges the support the Club gets from this competition from the town. The club, in turn, have been most helpful to other organisations in assisting them when and where possible. The club has been generous also in their support of Hospice Home Care and The Plunkett Home comfort fund. They are very involved in the preservation of fish stocks and operates a strict ‘catch and release’ policy and cooperate fully with Waterways Ireland in this respect. The club have acquired a boat which patrols Lough Key discouraging unacceptable fishing practises. This boat is, of course, available for search and rescue if required and have a number of people currently training in all aspects of boat operation skills. They have also assisted newly-formed clubs in adjoining areas. There are around 300 members with a core active group of between thirty and forty. With Chairman John Gallagher are Secretary, Jane Suffin and Treasurer, Shane O’Dowd. Rugby Anthony Gallagher tells me that there is an enthusiastic group of young people attending rugby training with Carrick-on-Shannon rugby Club at Leitrim Village. They cater for; from under 8s to under 16s and there are currently around 80 kids involved with a dozen or so from the Boyle area. Pleasure Grounds The old Pleasure Grounds were the scene of many a battle in the famous 5-a-side soccer tournaments that took place there through the decades with teams like The Rockabites and Freebooters. The high roadside wall gave it an amphitheatre atmosphere as one was thrown to the ‘Freebooters’. Now Roscommon County Council are upgrading the area laying down an enclosed user-friendly surface establishing a mini-pitch for five-a-side soccer. There are also basketball end boards so this will be a convenient recreational addition. Adventure playground Beside this development is the very popular adventure playground for under 12 year olds. This amenity designed with safety in mind attracts and is enjoyed by young families from a wide area. Lough Key Forest and Activity Park’s Boda Berg Challenge Lough Key Forest and Activity Park is a recreational wonderland with many and varied possibilities. There is a lovely children’s playground among the facilities. One of the most innovative activities is the Boda Berg Challenge which is a maze with different levels of demand. When there recently I encountered a student group from the Convent of Mercy Roscommon and they were very impressed by the facility. Boyle Athletic Club This club has about eighty members and train each Wednesday night in ‘the Gym’. Their programme runs all-year round and they have now an initiative of introducing the sport to kids from an early age as is being done in soccer and Gaelic. The club is affiliated to Amateur Athletics Ireland (AAI) and gets the support of their Regional Development Officer, Paul MacNamara. Like all clubs they would like more parental involvement. The Chairperson is Marguerita Nally; Secretary, Majella Dodd; Treasurer, Norman Little and their AGM takes place on Thursday December 6th at 7.30 in the Royal Hotel. Boyle Celtic Soccer Club Their success story has been the provision of an all weather astro-turf pitch which has enabled training to continue without interruption due to pitch deterioration. It also means that very young groups can be facilitated. This is all part of a five phase long-term plan by the Club initiated some time ago. Their re-development of the main pitch by SIS (Support in Sport) is now at an advanced stage. A third phase is the provision of floodlighting for this pitch to enable more flexibility in games scheduling. These three elements come in at a cost of €350,000 which the Club are confident of handling, again with good grant aid. Of course the club wishes to continue and upgrade the dressing room facilities. Another ambition is to establish a ladies team. Golf Club This is one of the longest established Clubs in the area. It is a real community Club where visitors are welcomed to its uncrowded and friendly environment. It is well supported locally. It runs and participates in the full range of competitions. The incoming Captains are Charlie O’Donnell and Mary McKeon. Conclusion There are of course other activities I have not got room to deal with, such as the wide-ranging Community Games, the concise tennis facility and I imagine I have omitted some in error. Perhaps the activities of the Scouts and Boyle Marching Band might qualify for inclusion but are not. In an ideal world it would be nice to have a swimming pool available. But there are fine pools available only short drives away in Carrick-on-Shannon, Sligo or Roscommon town. One of the negatives in terms of a sport which should be strong in Boyle is the almost extinct game of handball. Boyle was once a Mecca for handball but alas, for a variety of reasons, it seems to be in terminal decline despite the possible availability of a facility. I have never really heard it discussed but one might have thought that there would be some requirement on major developments to provide some sources for the provision of recreational facilities in their developments. Also it seems to me that too much of the burden of the provision, in this country, is shouldered by the voluntary community. If our generation does not make such provision then with the probable decline of community input there will be a growing deficit in the future. Thankfully Boyle community has proved resourceful in the provision of a stock of good quality sports and recreational facilities in recent years which will stand as a testament to their spirit and an enduring legacy into the future.
This Week’s Digital Edition
