Kerry’s NYC fundraising drive

KERRY will roll out a number of their football greats to business leaders in New York this week in a bid to drive funding for a state of the art GAA Centre of Excellence in the county.

Kerry GAA chairman, Patrick O’Sullivan will be joined by a plethora of former All-Ireland winners from the Kingdom on a major fundraising drive to the US.

He warned: “Kerry is in danger of falling behind without this centre. While Kerry has no such facility, you could go in a straight line outside Kerry and you’ll find UL, Mallow, Nemo Rangers and UCC’s Mardyke.

“Our players will get turned off travelling an hour or hour and a half outside of Kerry to train” added O’Sullivan. “The senior football team, senior hurling team and the Kerry U21 footballers had to train outside of Kerry because we had no appropriate facilities. Unless we develop these facilities we will not be in the reckoning in the years to come,” added O’Sullivan.

The Kerry Board have been very proactive in a bid to develop their own two-part centre in Currans and at IT Tralee at a combined cost of around €2.7 million. The project has already secured a €1m grant from the Munster Council. O’Sullivan expects the board will need a further €1.25 million from a series of fundraising initiatives.

The campaign kicks off in New York this weekend with a presentation to business leaders in Manhattan of the proposed facilities. “Hopefully we can get a positive response on this. People may be surprised when they see what other counties have, compared to where we are at the moment,” said O’Sullivan.

Notable attendees include Darragh O Sé, Mikey Sheehy, Ogie Moran, John O’Dwyer and Eoin Liston, who are on the football development committee in Kerry.

While the presence of such influential figures in Kerry GAA will no doubt drum up support and enthusiasm, a silent auction and raffles will also be held to help raise funds for the centre, with the prize fund for the night valued at over €38,000

The second phase of the programme will take place on Monday, May 13, in the form of a golf classic at Waccabuc Country Club, approximately an hour north of Manhattan. And already, the event has attracted a positive response.

Involvement ranges from €380 to €2000, with a number of different packages being offered to businesses and individuals alike. The Rose of Tralee package, tailored specifically for female participants, offers three lady golfers the chance to participate in all the events for €764 ($1,000).

“They have thirty teams already registered and they’ll take a couple more teams if they are willing to come on board” said O’Sullivan.

Complementing the golf will be a banquet dinner.

The Kerry chairman is under no illusions as to the importance of completing the centre and has clearly been influenced by the success of a similar venture in Tyrone.

“If we’re to stay one of the principle counties in the association we have to develop facilities. If you look at Tyrone, they went to their own people around the world and generated €4m from overseas and within the county and they have now developed one of the most outstanding facilities in the GAA.

“We need the IT in Tralee and their sports science department in conjunction with all weather pitches where we can train in inclement weather.”

Next week’s New York initiative is as much about driving the Kerry brand for the future as it is about revenue generation, said Mr O’Sullivan. They haven’t set a specific financial target for the trip either — “You can’t put a figure on this sort of thing. People around New York have their own concerns, but hopefully there are people in a position to help in a worthwhile way.

“However, the biggest thing is we’ll create awareness of our plight and our position. A lot of people assume that because Kerry Group are our sponsors, we don’t need or want for anything. They are great backers of ours and are very supportive of the project, but we have to do so much for ourselves as well.”

It is hoped next weekend’s events will act as a basis from which to launch the Kerry Supporters Club in Dublin on Tuesday May 21 in Bewley’s Hotel, Ballsbridge. Similar ventures are being undertaken in London and other cities with a strong affinity to Kerry GAA. O’Sullivan also hopes the trip will rejuvenate the project within the county and bring it towards its much anticipated completion.

“What we’d be hoping to do is re-launch Cáirde Chiarraí when everything is over the line and we’d be hoping then to re-energise everyone within the county towards the Currans project.”