As we are now midway through our season we would like to update our members on the season so far and some new developments and upgrades that have taken place at the club.
Winning at the Race Track:
Eadestown GAA has had some recent luck at the races! In March we had a horse allocated to us at the Curragh races in a fundraising initiative and our horse came in first so we won €7k for the club. Then just this month we entered a team into Fit Club at Punchestown Races and our team came first in a series of strength and fitness events winning the main prize of €2k. Our team was John Lawlor, Tom Mernagh, Denise Tierney and Abaigh Cahill.
Membership:
The club this year has had its highest membership on record with excess of 780 members so far in 2023. There was no increase to membership costs for 2023 but we do have up to 40+ new Gaelic 4 mothers & others members and 30+ Little Blue Stars (3-5 years) as new initiatives for this season. Membership remains open online for anyone that would like to join any of our teams. We encourage all parents to become social members of the club within Family membership packages and members who use the walking track. Another NEW Group for 2023 will be ‘GAA All Stars’, this group will cater for Children with any special needs - More details will follow soon on this initiative.
Development:
The club was successful in securing a Sports Capital Grant of 16k in 2022; the three projects that this money was allocated to are now complete -upgrading of our current floodlights to LED bulbs, Astro Turf surface in the goal mouths alongside new goalposts. The three projects came in at a cost of €35,000.
Other improvements that are currently been made at the club in 2023 so far is the upgrade to the Gym – this project has been headed up by Ciaran Dowling and with the help of lots of volunteers from the men and ladies teams it is nearing completion in the coming weeks. This will be a huge asset to the club for all our teams from U16 upwards for Strength development and winter indoor training. We have also purchased €5000 worth of new gym equipment. Many thanks to all the volunteers who have given up their time over many weekends to help with this project and the very generous members who have offered finance to help with the overall cost of this project.
The clubhouse is currently under a small makeover too, with Ed Grainger painting the clubhouse externally and inside the meeting room. These projects are great and show the constant reinvesting that the executive committee have committed to.
The development team are busy working away on some larger projects that will be announced very soon and we will need many more volunteers to help with fundraising to bring these projects to a reality over the coming months.
Fundraising:
Eadestown GAA have some further development planned for the next few years, these developments are essential to enable us to offer top class facilities to our members and growing youth membership. The club is extremely successful given the size of our club and catchment area. Both our Ladies and Men’s teams are competing at a senior level with an additional Ladies team and two additional Men’s teams also competing.
The club currently has an annual running cost of approx €120K, Membership brings in approx. €50k and the shortfall of running cost and any additional pitch upgrades and equipment has to be made up with other sources of income like sponsorship, pitch signage, ticket selling, Punchestown Stewarding, Easter/ Summer Camps and our weekly in-house Draw the Joker.
Draw the Joker – This is a very important source of income and at only €2 per ticket it is the easiest way to support the club. We encourage every member to support this weekly draw by purchasing tickets each week and/or selling them to friends and family to support the club.
It is very simple to purchase tickets with many more options now available – Clubzap App (go to Clubhouse and then Lotto to see various options), Online http://www.eadestowngaa.ie/draws, standing order or contact the many local ticket sellers. Prize pot at the moment is €3400 so be sure to purchase Joker tickets each week or just sign up to a monthly or yearly subscription and we will put your tickets in each week.
Pitch Signage - As you all can see we have a large number of pitch signage around our pitch, If you own or work for a company that would like to support the club and advertise their company please contact John Behan 086 3988374 for more details.
Sponsorship – The club is extremely fortunate to have loyal and generous Sponsors that have continued to sponsor the club and teams over the years including the last two difficult years. Our main club Sponsor is Peter Mooney and each section of the club (Ladies, Men’s and Underage) now has a Sponsorship fund of €5k each year, so many thanks to our generous sponsors. Additional Sponsors for certain teams/ jerseys/equipment etc. are always welcome so please contact any member of the executive if you can offer sponsorship.
Dates for the Diary –
Eadestown GAA Summer Camp will take place Aug 21st – 24th
Eadestown GAA Summer BBQ & Blitz – Aug 27th
Eadestown GAA Annual Dinner Dance – Osprey Hotel, Sat Nov 18th
