Boxing club on the ropes
A local boxing club whose application for a Sports Capital grant was rejected may have to close its doors.
Ballynacargy Boxing Club applied for a €47,000 grant to carry out vital repairs to the roof of its clubhouse, which is located in the village’s old community centre.
The roof is leaking in a number of places and has already caused significant damage. The club also has plans to install changing facilities and showers.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner after it emerged that Wesley College, a private school in Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross’s Dublin constituency, as well as a number of golf clubs received significant sums, Ballynacargy BC’s head coach Millie Kelly and assistant secretary Aidan Power diplomatically said that they were “disappointed” to have missed out.
“We have good facilities but they need a lot of work. The rain is coming in through the roof. If it continues and becomes a health and safety issue, we’ll have to shut. Also we have up on 10 female boxers, some of whom compete at a very high level (including current All-Ireland champion Robyn Kelly).
“They have no changing facilities or showers. It’s just not good enough in this day and age. There is so much talk about participation of females in sport.
“We hold tournaments here and you have kids coming from Dublin and further afield. They are boxing here and sweating and then have no shower facilities, so it is very hard to attract clubs here for tournaments which are our bread and butter for bringing in a few euro,” Mr Power said.
Despite its current basic facilities, the club has 25 members and boasts a number of All-Ireland and provincial champions among its past and present ranks, including Elite 64kg champion Wayne Kelly, son of Millie and older brother of Robin.
Head coach Millie also runs a number of popular fitness classes and the facilities are also used by students from the local national school.
If the club is forced to shut, it will be a major blow to the village, Mr Power says.
“We are competing at a very high level and training to a high level considering the facilitates that we have now. It’s not just for people who want to compete, it’s for anyone in the club. Millie holds classes and brings in the local GAA club and trains them for their preseason. It’s providing a very valuable service to the community,” Mr Power said.
The club holds fundraising events throughout the year, but almost all the income generated is ploughed back into the day to day running of the club. While it signed a 20-year lease on the community centre two years ago, with little or no savings in the bank, its members are praying that roof holds out until funding for repairs can be sourced.
“There’s plenty to do in Ballynacargy. There’s music, there’s drama, there’s Irish dancing, but particularly in the winter months when the thriving GAA club is off season we are the only organisation in the village providing exercise.
“If we don’t get funding from somewhere, this club is at risk of closing and when we are training kids to such a high level and providing kids to Irish elite teams it would be an awful shame,” Mr Power said in conclusion.