Cork baseball club appeal to council for help to find permanent home

Calls have been made to Cork City Council for support following the creation of Munster’s first baseball league.

The new Munster League, set up this year, was born out of the Cork Renegades, which is a multi-cultural baseball club, founded in 2022.

The call comes as the club currently plays out of the Tankfield grounds at Brian Dillons GAA Club.

Having played their first Munster League game earlier this month, the Cork Renegades have reiterated their need for a designated playing ground, as demand for the sport in Cork has seen “a massive surge” both domestically and abroad.

Funding

Speaking to The Echo, founder and president of the Cork Renegades, Brett Sutherland said that they have now entered their third year of asking the council for funding to support the club.

“The interest in the sport is unprecedented — it’s off the chain,” said Mr Sutherland.

“We’ve got so many people who want to play — we’ve seen a massive surge of interest in baseball down here, but [the players] don’t want to travel to Dublin to play on a proper pitch.

“Because of that, we had to set up our own league, which is the first of its kind in the history of the province.

“We had our inaugural game [three] weekends ago, and it went really well — the turnout was really good, [but] we don’t have our own field.

“This is the third year in a row of me asking the council for our own space,” he added.

Nowhere 

“There are close to 100 people playing the sport and more enquiring every week to come and join — but we have nowhere dedicated to do it.

“It’s one of those sports that’s accessible to everyone, and because it’s a minority sport here, it attracts people who may not want to play GAA, soccer or rugby.

“Setting up the Munster League was a huge step — we’ve been approached by Spanish teams, French teams and British teams who want to come here and play against us, but we’re embarrassed to have them because we play on a GAA pitch.

“While we’re delighted to launch the Munster League, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, because we have to do this on a makeshift field.

“I’ve spoken to the city council and they say they don’t have any land available, so I don’t think they’re going to facilitate that for us — I think what we will have to do is find a private investor."

Shame 

“It’s a real shame that Cork [City Council] can’t provide for its constituents and this will have to go to someone private — that’s nothing for the council to be proud of.”

A representative for Cork City Council said that while they have not provided a solution for the Cork Renegades since their initial outreach in 2022, they will continue to “assist them in identifying suitable grounds”.

“The city council has met Cork Renegades Baseball Club a number of times to assist them in identifying suitable grounds and will continue to support them in their efforts,” they said. For more about upcoming Munster League games, visit: https://www.corkrenegades.com.