SEAMUS Sullivan admits this is a ‘make or break’ season for the Beara senior football team.

Having had to withdraw from the county senior football championship in five of the previous six seasons, including the last three in a row, mainly due to a lack of numbers, Beara have redoubled their efforts to get the team back on the pitch this year.

With Peter O’Leary installed as the division’s new football manager, preparations are underway for Beara’s opening game in the colleges/divisions unseeded section – they await the winner of the round-one tie between Seandún and Avondhu.

‘This year was make or break, to be honest with you, and I think the clubs realised that too,’ Beara chairman Sullivan says.

‘In fairness, when we went to the clubs and spoke about where the Beara football team is at, they understood what we were saying.

‘Over the last few years, it wasn’t that we didn’t try, but things didn’t just fall into place.

‘So far this year, it’s looking more positive. Let’s hope it will continue and we’ll fulfil our games.’

The Beara board met all its six clubs individually, and the response has been encouraging. Castletownbere (premier intermediate), Adrigole (intermediate A) and Urhan (premier junior) compete in county championships, while Glengarriff and Garnish field at junior B, with Bere Island the sixth club in the division.

‘The demands on players are so much, and we understand that. We have the buy-in, which is important, and we have a very good manager who they all know and who is on the same wavelength as us,’ Sullivan said.

The Urhan clubman acknowledges the importance of fielding a Beara senior team, for present and future players.

‘It’s vitally important,’ Sullivan states.

‘I have been vice-chairman of the Beara board for the last five years and now there’s a new committee. We feel this is a stepping stone. The Beara Coiste na nÓg enter U13 and U15 Beara teams – and it’s for those lads that we’re doing it. In a few years’ time, we need a team for them to aim towards.

‘The fear was that if we didn’t field a senior team this year, we might not be let back in again.’

With the Beara senior team back on track, there are plans in place to create competitions within the division for their clubs.

‘We felt that there are not enough internal competitions in Beara,’ Sullivan says.

‘There is a junior B competition, a championship and a league, but for teams like Urhan, Castletownbere and Adrigole, there’s no competition for them. We have decided to resurrect two cups, so we will have competitions in Beara this year for all our teams. Everyone has bought into it.

‘It’s good, too, for people within Beara – you’ll be able to watch your club playing in the division.’

So, Castletownbere, Adrigole and Urhan will compete in one competition, while Garnish, Glengarriff, maybe Bere Island, and Kerry club Tousist will take part in another.

Sullivan adds: ‘We're keen to get Beara moving. I've been involved in football for a long time. My young lads are playing football with Urhan, my daughter plays with the Beara ladies in Castletownbere – we’re a family that likes football, and likes sport.’

Beara football is making all the right moves now, and the hope is the return of the senior team and new competitions is the positive injection that’s needed.