By Cian O’Connell

'A Study of the Economic Social & Environmental Value of Sports in Castlebar' was recently launched in Mayo.

Clubs from six different sporting organisations participated in the process with Mayo GAA occupying a central role in the report commissioned by Castlebar Chamber of Commerce and funded by LEADER.

Maria Staunton, captain of Mayo Ladies’ All-Ireland winning team in 2000, relished being involved in the committee.

Through her fundraising efforts with Cairde Mhaigh Eo, Staunton was eager to glean valuable information. Former Mayo GAA chairperson Liam Moffatt helped to set the wheels in motion.

“We had a discussion one evening about trying to get economic data in terms of going out looking for future funding,” Staunton explains. “You can then show the economic impact the GAA has on the local community.

“That is where it originated from and we got support from the current chair, Séamus Tuohy. Others got involved - John Caulfield, Vivienne Kyne, we set up a committee and brought in external consultants. That is how the study started.

“Then we decided to widen the remit, as such. So we looked at the social and environmental impact too. We also brought in other sporting bodies, you can see that in the report.

“They did an audit of all of the sporting facilities locally in a certain radius of Castlebar - a 10km radius. That is how we got going.”

The study was produced by Padraic McGuinness (PMG Consult) and Lindsey Bell (Grant Thornton) with Minister for Sport and Physical Education, Thomas Byrne attending the launch.

As an example Staunton highlights the economic value a high profile GAA fixture brings to Castlebar. “One thing that was looked at was how much MacHale Park generates for the local economy,” she says.

“They picked a day - the Mayo versus Donegal game back in 2019. When they did the sums on it that day generated approximately 1.5 million euro for the local economy. That was an interesting statistic that we can now use.

“We had 27,000 people at that game. With stayovers, ticket admissions, spend on the local economy - it is quite a big amount. You think of other stadia on big days, how much they generate locally for their own economy.

“Even think about small U10 games, when you go to play maybe in Claremorris or wherever, how much does that bring to local towns? With 40 kids everybody stops to get something, whether that be sweets or coffee. The little things, all of the time, add up.”

Awareness was also raised about other issues facing clubs and organisations. Planning and preparing for the future is key according to Staunton. “We are all very busy every day volunteering, being involved in various clubs, but nobody has the time, particularly coaches to sit back to look at the future strategy for each of their clubs,” she says.

“Where are we going with this? How do we plan for future facilities? Even in the GAA, how do we plan the integration of the male and female governing bodies, all of that takes a lot of time. So getting people to sit back, to think about these things - putting a study together was important.

“One of the things was looking at setting up a future network where all of the various sporting bodies could come together to discuss things.

“Maybe somebody wants to build a facility or they want to look at combining resources. It is trying to bring people together, more collaboratively than everybody doing things on their own which is something that probably needs to be looked at.”

Now that the document has been published, and facts established, what is the next step for the different representatives? “It is to be determined, one of the recommendations was setting up this network - bringing all of the clubs together, looking at what needs to happen in the next year, two years or five years,” she replies.

“It would lead to some future planning if we can get everybody around the table. We got good support for the study from the various sporting bodies which was good. Sometimes it can be just GAA focused, it included other organisations.

“Diversity and inclusion is a big thing in terms of the GAA and how does the GAA plan for that in the future. We've got lots of volunteers.

“In the study I think it says we have 650 volunteers giving so many hours, how do those coaches and volunteers plan for integrating, if that is females, or people with disabilities, how do they bring people along on the journey too, that they aren't forgotten about. That is a big question for a lot of sporting organisations going forward.”

Providing and maintaining adequate facilities was another critical topic on the agenda. “The weather is getting worse, and particularly for the GAA and some of the outdoor sports like rugby and soccer, how do you plan for that,” Staunton adds.

“How do you future plan for that because the weather is only going to get worse. Pitches are limited, people are always looking for pitches, so how does each organisation plan for that going forward in the next 10 years or whatever.

“Also, you have schools with sports halls for basketball and things like that. Can local communities get access, I know when the Minister was here, he mentioned that, it is something that can be looked at.

“Can they open up schools when they are not in use for local communities to use outside of hours? I know they'd have to look at insurance and all of that, but it is something that could open more facilities to local communities.”

Staunton acknowledges that it will be a challenge to maintain the network, but it has the potential to be really beneficial. “What we have to do now is to reconvene as a group again,” she says.

“Some came to the launch, everybody has been sent a copy of it, the plan would be to meet the group again, to meet the various organisations to go into a room to see how we can bring this forward.

"That is probably one of the biggest challenges, how do we get everybody to work together, and what is it that we can work together on.

“Some clubs are trying to do things on their own, it is an opportunity for them to come into a bigger forum, to see can they collaborate with other sporting bodies, to get what they need for their club. That is the biggest challenge, but it is one we are looking to do next.”

In Castlebar the conversation has started.