Your County Needs You! By donegaldaily.com analyst and fan blogger Cathal Mac Suibhne.
“Through respecting the past we hope to develop the future” – Jim McGuinness
The wonderful days experienced last Summer in Clones and Croke Park brought the feel-good factor back to Donegal GAA – now fans have a chance to play their part in helping those days to come about more often.
The County Board are currently engaged in a fundraising drive to support Donegal GAA’s Centre of Excellence at Convoy and are urging supporters to dip into their pockets and assist in the effort.
A financing sub-committee has been established, led by treasurer Grainne Boyle, to try to raise €100,000 by the end of May and this is to be done by enticing 200 donors to give €500 each to the cause. As a Revenue approved scheme anyone making a donation can receive a tax break (full details attached below).
The Centre will play a key part in the future for Donegal football and hurling and will mean that all training facilities for all teams will be at one location rather the current situation which requires players to move around to various locations in the county.
The facility at Convoy will comprise of five pitches, four grass-based and one 3G surface, as well as an indoor training facility. Three of the five pitches will be floodlit while there will also be medical rooms, dining area and dressing rooms with lockers for each player as well as ample parking on the site.
Preparation in Gaelic Games has reached unprecedented levels in the past decade and other counties have already identified a centralised training facility as a vital element in getting the best out of their teams.
Other counties such as Monaghan (Cloghan), Tyrone (Garvaghey) and Derry (Owenbeg) are already reaping the benefits from their respective training centres with positive reports received from players, managers and administrators alike.
The fundraising drive for the project was launched in the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny last month and there has been an encouraging response thus far.
Similar fundraising initiatives were successful in the counties mentioned above and with the help of GAA supporters in the county and the wider diaspora in Ireland and abroad, Convoy can welcome Donegal’s teams as they begin their 2013 Championship campaigns.
County boss McGuinness is excited about the plans and is in no doubt as to the centre’s importance in developing GAA in Donegal, “we now operate to a philosophy that is player and coach centred, development driven and competition supported which will be expressed across a range of disciplines under one roof at the new centre. This will be an aspirational environment within which every young player will know they are being given the opportunity to achieve something special with their lives. Nothing is now left to chance and the systems, structures and people we have in place will deliver huge benefits for the future of Donegal GAA….I am certain every player who enters those doors will walk out inspired to give their best for Donegal.”
So how do you get involved?
An application form and details on the scheme (including how you can claim a tax refund from your donation) can be found below…
If you require more information, you can contact Donegal County Treasurer, Grainne Boyle…
Phone: 086-8032954
Email: treasurer.donegal@gaa.ie
Click here for tax refund form:
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