BUILD it and they will play – that is the belief of Kilmacabea GAA Club as it prepares to officially open its new astroturf pitch this Friday evening.
Since the club introduced ladies football teams in 2022, it has seen its numbers swell, and Kilmacabea GAA hierarchy feel it’s important to have the facilities to match its members’ ambitions.
‘We needed this astro pitch,’ chairman William Williamson says of the new 60x32 sized-pitch.
‘With the introduction of the girls’ teams we have seen a big surge in numbers. Between boys and girls, we have 140 to 160 kids every Friday night, all under 12 years of age.
‘I think people can appreciate what we are trying to do, and the work that’s going on, and also how the parish supported this. The community came together.’
Work in the early stages of the astro pitch development.
The introduction of underage girls’ football teams is a great success story for Kilmacabea. From the club’s first-ever ladies football title (West Cork U12 C1 League) won in August 2022 to Nell Kinsella kicking 1-7 in Cork’s recent All-Ireland U14 Platinum final victory, Kilmacabea’s ladies footballers are making headlines, just like their male counterparts; the club is also the reigning Carbery JAFC champions. It’s fitting that LGFA President Trina Murray will officially open the new astro pitch at the clubhouse in Leap this Friday evening (6.30pm).
Kilmacabea's Nell Kinsella kicked 1-7 for Cork in the All-Ireland U14 final.
‘We will have a Munster cup and an All-Ireland cup on the table when the LGFA President visits us on Friday,’ Williamson smiled, a nod to Nell Kinsella’s role in Cork’s U14 success this season. The club itself is also feeling the benefit of adopting the One Club Model with all codes – in Kilmacabea’s case, GAA and LGFA – integrated together.
‘We are all under the same roof and it is working very well,’ Williamson said.
‘It was the right decision for the club because now we have manpower to keep the club moving forward. We have more people coming on board to help.’
An aerial photo from March shows the development in progress.
That community effort was also at the heart of delivering Kilmacabea’s astro-turf pitch – everyone played a role.
‘It came back to the ordinary club people to help out with the shovel work. Apart from the astro turf, everything else was done voluntarily,’ Williamson said, proudly.
‘Once we appointed the contractor, myself and Kevin O’Brien approached a group of people, outlining what we had to do and that it would be voluntary. Fair play, everyone came in behind this with tractors and trailers. We pulled the trees, cut the trees, all of that, and what we have now is a great credit to everyone who played a part.’
And Kilmacabea GAA’s new astro will receive the presidential seal of approval this Friday.
