Pitch perfect: New astro caters for booming Passage soccer club

AFTER five hard years of work, Passage FC are delighted to open their new FIFA Certified 3G Astro Pitch at Rockenham Park this Saturday.

The club will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2022 and the development of the astro in time for that landmark occasion was one of their main aims.

Delighted to be ahead of schedule, club chairperson Alan Lehane is thrilled with the new development and is grateful to all who made it possible.

“It takes a lot of people to deliver a project of this scale and we would like to acknowledge the support of the following in successfully delivering this project,“ said Lehane.

“These include Susan Gallagher in Clann Credo for project finance, the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport for Sport Capital Funding, our contractors JNC Premier Pitches, Gerry McAnaney and Walter Holleran in the FAI, Cork County Council, our local representatives, club management committee, astro fundraising committee, players, parents, guardians, coaches, volunteers, club lotto sellers, supporters, sponsors and the wider local community.”

The club was founded in 1972 and has been providing a sporting and social outlet for Passage and the wider local harbour community for nearly 50 years.

THRIVING

It currently boasts over 370 active players who are supported by over 50 coaches and volunteers.

The 2021/2022 season will see the club field 25 teams across the various local leagues, their largest number to date, but more significantly the club will return to the senior ranks of the Munster Senior League.

“The 2021-2022 season is a big season for our men’s section as we return to the senior ranks of the Munster Senior League, this was a key target for the club to ensure we regained our club senior status for the 50th anniversary season.”

Passage FC continues to grow in numbers each year and the need for a new astro pitch was badly needed says Lehane.

“Recent years have seen a significant increase in playing numbers across all sections of the club, although welcome, the increase in playing numbers put significant pressure on our facilities, particularly our two grass pitches.

“The club committee looked at this five years ago and it was crystal clear that if we wanted to grow the club and increase participation across all sections of the club we could not rely on two grass pitches in Irish weather to sustainably develop and cater for over 370 players.

“The new astro was a significant undertaking for the club and it would involve capital expenditure of approximately €400,000 to deliver the new astro, however the benefits of improved participation for club members made this project a necessity rather than a luxury.

“The efforts of our former chairperson and current treasurer John Quinn have been critical in securing significant project and government funding to allow the astro project to become a reality.

“The club have worked tirelessly over the last five years to deliver the astro project and we are delighted to see it come to fruition.”

Secretary of the ladies section, Tina Murphy, welcomes the new development and is hopeful it can attract more players to the club.

“The new pitch looks fantastic and it will be great for all the girls now to be able to train together,” said Murphy.

“Since the beginning of the season, we have been playing our home games at Maulbawn, which I like to be honest. However, I know the girls are eager to get on the new pitch and hopefully it will be a huge attraction for more girls to join the club as we all know top facilities can always attract players to a club.

“My brother Tom (Hanlon) has taken over as manager of the ladies this year and he’s a breath of fresh air to be honest.

“He has brought new ideas, a new game plan and a different voice which is great for the girls.

“It’s his first time coaching women, but his passion for the game is what’s important and we look forward to a new start for us all.”

BACKBONE

As with all clubs, volunteers are invaluable and Lehane and his committee are grateful to all involved at the club.

“Grassroots clubs can only be successful if they have a strong group of volunteers to manage and develop the club.

“Thankfully in recent seasons we have seen an increase in club volunteers to over 50, however, as the club continues to grow and develop, we will always need more volunteers.

“We continue to actively recruit volunteers right across the club and our hope is that the fantastic new facilities at Rockenham will attract more coaches and volunteers to our club.

“Garda vetting and child safeguarding play a key role in our recruitment of volunteers and we actively encourage and support our club coaches in progressing through the FAI Coaching Pathway.

“We continue to have a very successful club academy which caters for male and female players from U6 to U9, the academy has seen significant growth in player numbers in recent seasons due to the general population growth in Passage over the last 10 years.

Traditionally we have had a very strong schoolgirls and senior ladies section of the club and this continues to be the case as we head into the new season.

“We have schoolgirls teams at U9, U11, U13, U15, U17 and U20 in addition to our senior ladies team.

“Our key metric for the success of the club is sustaining and where possible increasing the level of participation right across all sections of the club.

“In this regard, recent seasons have been a success as we continue to increase player numbers year on year.

“We see the new astro as a major boost to our increased participation goal and we forecast a strong increase in player, coach and volunteer numbers over the next two to three years.”