BY JJ HURLEY
ONE lucky punter will secure the golden ticket of an all-expenses trip to the Rugby World Cup final thanks to Ballymartle GAA.
The opportunity comes with a price tag of €100 as the club has unveiled a limited draw of 600 tickets, with all funds raised going to pay for its new astroturf facility.
In addition to the 90m x 40m pitch with floodlights, the community will also be able to avail of a new walkway around the latest addition, a point club chairman Don Lordan demonstrates.
'Everything we do up here is more geared for the community than just the club,’ he says, ‘it’s part of a bigger picture that everyone is invited here and can use the facilities, and that's our bigger plan.'
Already, the club boasts two pitches, a ball alley, and extensive dressing rooms, and shares its grounds with the community hall, where indoor hurling has flourished over the past few years.
That success has begun to bear fruit on the playing fields, where the underage club Sliabh Rua teams have secured silverware in both codes, most recently with the U14 boys reaching the play-offs of the football Féile na nGael.
Not to be outdone, Sliabh Rua Camogie Club also continues to flourish at all levels. Two of its players lined out for Cork in the All-Ireland finals last year, Niamh Nash in the minor ranks and Jillian O'Leary in the intermediate grade.
Unfortunately, Ballymartle were relegated from senior hurling ranks last year and now face a stiff assignment in the upcoming premier intermediate championship. They face fellow Carrigdhoun residents Carrigaline and Valley Rovers as well as Éire Óg.
However, Don Lordan is confident that the slide can be halted with the appointment of Kilkenny native Joe Delaney as coach and the inclusion of Danny Coleman, Anthony McCarthy, Noel Sheehan and Patrick Dwyer as selectors.
'We are hoping to get the most out of the young players by using the selection committee’s experience,’ Lordan says, ‘they are all great clubmen.’
Things have been promising at junior level, the club featuring in the past two South East JAHC finals, providing a new stream of talent for the intermediate ranks.
However, to keep pace with the growing numbers at all levels, providing facilities doesn't come cheap, with the astroturf pitch costing in the region of €430,000.
A Sports Capital Grant and a council grant have helped to offset some of the costs, and the members have also contributed, but the upcoming draw should help to clear the remaining debt on the new pitch.
Now it's over to those eager punters to line up for a unique opportunity to possibly see Ireland lift a World Cup in Paris.
As Elaine Sheehan, a finance committee member, added, it's a pair of tickets so that individuals could double up for a lifetime trip.
See www.ballymartle.ie for more details and to purchase tickets.
