Wanderers planning ahead
Project 24 will focus min ds with cen ten ary on horizon
THE WHOLE sporting world may be at somewhat of a standstill at the moment, with pitches that are normally filled with the laughter of children and the competitive grunts of adults lying dormant and eerily quiet.
It’s a time to help all those involved to appreciate what they are missing, and to look forward to that eagerly-anticipated day when the playing fields are open again to all and sundry.
Some Wexford Wanderers members are certainly not sitting on their hands as they plan for a bright future once we emerge from the foreboding mist of the Covid-19 crisis.
The pandemic may have brought the domestic rugby calendar to a disappointing premature end, but at least those involved with the Wexford town club have an ambitious plan to develop and upgrade their facilities to concentrate the minds.
The club was formed in 1924 and, to mark their one hundredth anniversary, they have launched Project 24, which will see them install a new all-weather pitch, upgrade lighting, refurbish the clubhouse, and improve facilities for the women’s and under-age teams in time for the centenary celebrations.
The seeds were sown for the exciting project twelve months ago, with the pressing need for all-weather facilities, and Public Relations Officer Debbie Carty outlined how the concept grew from there.
‘The idea was formed about a year ago. It stemmed from the “beautiful” weather we have here in Ireland. With training constantly off we could see the need for a 3G pitch,’ she explained.
‘The centenary committee started getting together and it was discussed what would be done to celebrate our one hundredth anniversary.
‘With that the Project 24 committee got started with a view to extending the facilities, especially for women’s and youths’ sections,’ added the former club President.
Wanderers want to make the club as comfortable and appealing as possible to current members and others keen to come through the door to an all-inclusive, welcoming environment, and the work that will be undertaken will certainly do that.
‘We have a huge amount of girls after coming into the club this year and now have a number of stand-alone girls’ teams. We had four dressing-rooms and now, because we’ve started the renovations, we’ve almost finished two extra dressing-rooms with a physio room and a female referees’ room that can be closed off and separated from the other four dressing-rooms.
‘In order to do that work we had to build a new gym and that’s up and running. I will say it’s up and running with equipment we have on loan, so we’ll have to raise funds for new equipment,’ she said.
‘I think we hit a record this year. From the Under-7s to the Under-18s we had 465 players. We are literally bursting at the seams, which is why we have to get more pitches and have to develop more dressing-rooms.
‘It’s not just about getting a nice, shiny bar at the top of the clubhouse, it’s about developing it for the kids. We have so many kids there and we just want to make sure we have the facilities there for them.’
Wisely, the massive project is going to be carried out on a gradual basis to minimise disruption as much as possible, something which is prudent considering the precarious position the economy finds itself in at present.
‘The big thing, hopefully starting this year, is to begin the first phase of the 3G pitch. The pitch on the left-hand side will be moved to land they’ve developed at the back, and then [they will] start the first half of the 3G pitch. The plan is to do the second half of the 3G pitch next summer and to upgrade the lighting at the pitches.
‘After that we want to begin renovations on the clubhouse, restructuring the kitchen, lounge and bar into new function rooms and general purpose rooms. Then we have to get the car park tarmacked and upgrade the lighting there.
‘The final thing is a second floor on the roof of the club, with viewing to the front and back pitches.
‘We’ve broken it down into about eight phases, so if at any point the money runs out we can stop doing what we’re doing and we’ll still have pitches and we’ll still have a clubhouse.
‘Nobody wants to raze the clubhouse to the ground and dig up two pitches at the back, run out of money and then have nothing.
‘So the plan is bit, by bit, by bit and hopefully the last part would be the pièce de résistance with the upstairs viewing area and the bar upstairs,’ she said.
To help fund Project 24, the club has launched a ‘Sponsor a Square’ campaign. For €100 businesses and members of the public can sponsor a square metre of the new all-weather pitch.
In addition, all those who sponsor the pitch will be entered into a draw for the next three years, with a chance to win two tickets for a home Six Nations game or a Leinster match in the Aviva.
Unfortunately for Wexford Wanderers, the current crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time as Project 24 began to build up a head of steam, but like everybody they’ll just have to take it on the chin and hope they can come out fighting on the other side.
‘The momentum had started, we had a great launch. A lot of the TDs and councillors came out and were very helpful talking to us about grants and other ideas.
‘I wouldn’t say everything is on hold now because I’m still sending out the emails about Project 24. The first draw won’t be until October or November so hopefully we’ll be back to some kind of normality and we’ll be able to push it again,’ said Carty, whose son, Corey, is Leinster’s Club Community Rugby Officer for the south-east and coach of Co. Carlow Rugby Club.
She is currently Junior Vice-President of Leinster Rugby and will be the first female President when she takes the reins in the 2021-’22 season, and it’s clear that rugby runs through her veins.
Carty has seen plenty of quality players come through Wexford Wanderers, most notably Gordon D’Arcy and Katie Fitzhenry, and she believes many more stars will step on the club’s conveyor belt in the future.
‘Katie and Gordon are absolute stalwarts that would come down whenever they’re needed or asked. Now we have the next generation of lads like Paul Deeny, Josh O’Connor, Brian Deeny, Ben Popplewell. They’re all flying.
‘Brian is on the Leinster academy and playing for Ireland. He got called up for the Irish Under-20s, which was just fantastic,’ she said.
‘He didn’t go through the schools, he came through the club system as did Josh and Paul and Ben.
‘Obviously you would find more schools players on the Leinster squad than club players, but some people think you have to come through the schools system.
‘The pathway is there now that if you’re good enough you’ll make it. You’ll end up playing for Leinster and your country,’ she said.
That’s the kind of ambition that runs through the club, and if everything goes according to plan, when the one hundredth anniversary swings into action they’ll have the facilities to match those lofty aspirations.