WIT gears up for new sports complex

WORK on Waterford Institute of Technology’s €22 million sports grounds is well under way.

The 60-acre development close to the city bypass and outer ring road has already made WIT the envy of many third-level colleges.

The new centre replaces the 25-acre grounds the college leases from Waterford Crystal.

The first phase of the project — three new floodlit pitches completed to hurling standards — could be playable by the start of the next academic year, WIT’s sport and recreational manager Michael Evans said.

The foundation for the all-weather facilities have been laid and further work on the floodlit project is to begin this spring.

The plan is to put in an all-weather pitch similar to the world renowned Gaelic Park in New York. The all-weather grounds will feature a full-sized GAA pitch and will also be large enough to facilitate two soccer fields.

Phase three of the 60-acre sports project will be the construction of a major indoor facility while the final component of the carefully planned programme will see a state-of-the-art, synthetic athletics track laid at the new Carriganore campus.

Another phase of the project could see Waterford GAA take control of 16 acres of the land to build a stadium, although that remains a decision for the county board.

“The possibility of a stadium in particular would make us the only college in the country with such a facility attached to our sports centre,” Mr Evans said.

“Carriganore is an idyllic site and this project will set us apart from every other academic institute in the country, allowing us to continue to attract the best GAA, soccer, rugby and athletics stars this country has to offer,” he said.

In preparation for the project’s completion in four years time, WIT has already put an attractive scholarship programme in place, one which replaces the Institute’s long-running, one-year, bursary plan.

Elite athletes from a variety of sports receive four-year scholarships which include academic and physical monitoring; targeted financial supports; personal and lifestyle coaching; and much more from a dedicated scholarships team.

“We’ve just given out the first 30 scholarships and will have between 120 and 140 by the time Carriganore is up and running in four years time. While WIT has always been associated with honing the skills of hurling greats, we also have very close scholarship links with the GAA through its Munster Council, Waterford United and Waterpark Rugby Club. We also have some of the country’s top athletes studying and training here,” he said.

The Institute has a tremendous history in sport and recreation with over 30 sports clubs and upwards of 25 societies registered each year. Clubs and societies on campus have over 2,500 members and at any one time, between 1,200 and 1,400 students are actively involved in sport, as well as studying at WIT.

” The WIT GAA Club is the best known and most successful with its hurlers having won the Fitzgibbon Cup on seven occasions, including three in the last four years. Other sports that feature high in the Institute include camogie, ladies and men’s football, soccer, rugby, athletics and basketball.”

“We also support a wide range of other sports such as kayaking, badminton, judo and sailing. These clubs have very strong membership bases and represent the

Institute in intervarsity competitions very successfully,” Mr Evans added.