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opportunity for every club to boost local fundraising
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County funds to go towards supporting development and
fielding of teams
To Sign up online visit www.sligogaa.ie/ClubSligo
Sligo GAA is this week launching its
Club Sligo membership programme as it begins to emerge from over a year of
being under the cosh from the COVID19 pandemic.
This year is bringing a new focus to the
campaign with a new structure that aims to support each club in the country as
well as the cause of county teams.
The new scheme was launched at a special
online event for all clubs on Thursday last (29 April) .
County Board Assistant Treasurer David Cummins,
who is leading a special Club Sligo Task Force established by the board, said “we
are very aware that that every club in the county is dealing with the practical
effects of no games and limited opportunity to raise their own funds over the
past year.
Club Sligo 2021 is designed to be an
attractive shared membership that can be used by every club to bring in some much-needed
funds. It offers a 50:50 split of income over a basic threshold that creates an
opportunity for every club to contribute to the county cause while raising its
own money”.
This is a new arrangement that is
different from how Club Sligo has run in the past. County Board officials held
a briefing session for all the clubs in Sligo last week to outline the details
and how the scheme will work.
The main fundraising focus for the
county board is to support the growing competitiveness of Sligo teams on the
field.
2020 was the fifth year in a row that a
Sligo underage team contested a provincial final.
Cummins, who has been directly involved
with the development side of Sligo football as minor and U-20 team manager in
recent years, emphasises that this comes from the investment in both the
facilities and the personnel over the past decade that are essential to nurture
and grow success.
That work started with the appointment
in 2006 of a full time Games Development Manager. The Country Centre of
Excellence is now five years established and there is a strong team of
committed full time coaches and Games Development Officers in place, to guide
the next generation of players at club and county level.
Mr. Cummins emphasised how the Club
Sligo scheme has been essential to that progress. First launched in 2011, it
initially provided funding for the purchase of the site for the Centre of
Excellence and then for the development work that turned the site into a home
for county teams and for the support of the coaching and Games Development infrastructure
of Sligo GAA.
He added “the Covid year has been a difficult
one for sporting associations. Sligo GAA is no different and there are no extra
central funds to pick up the bill. If we are to continue the progress up to
2020, we have to back ourselves”.
To kickstart Club Sligo is now being
relaunched to provide the investment and support needed to ensure that we can adequately
fund the work of 2021 and beyond. The proceeds will go to maintaining the
training facilities and supporting the Coaching and Development team as well as
into the preparation of all teams and development squads from U-14 upwards”.
Club Sligo membership costs either €240
per annum or €20 per month. There are
also a limited number of Club Sligo Corporate memberships available for a one-off
payment of €1500 per annum.
The Club Sligo membership goes on sale
this week and will remain open until the end of June. It is available online
directly at http://www.sligogaa.ie/ClubSligo/ or from appointed Club Sligo representatives
in each club.
There will be a monthly cash prize draw
for all members form the end of June. There will also be an early bird draw for
all members who are signed up and paid by the 31 May