GAA to focus on expanding in Athlone

There is to be a focus on Athlone regeneration as Westmeath tries to make more of an impact in a vast town that has a population of 22,869. The issue was presented to clubs at a County Committee meeting in the Mullingar Park Hotel last Wednesday.

The three GAA clubs in the town itself - Athlone, Garrycastle and Southern Gaels - will be the main target.

There are 980 players in the football clubs and 306 players in the hurling club it was learned.

“Most of our development squads at this stage are coming from the Mullingar end of the county; the traditional balance in the county would have been 60-40, but that has shifted to 80-20. Most of the Division 1 clubs at underage tend to come from the Mullingar end, so there is a need to put a huge focus on the town of Athlone,” remarked Ronan Farrell, coaching officer.

The urban area of the town will be the focus, not the clubs on the outskirts who are making a good impression.

The coaching officer explained that six years ago, there was an 80% take-up of Gaelic games amongst the primary schools population, but if Tubberclair NS was taken out of that, it was down to 10%. In the actual town, there is a very low take-up. There are 1,500 players aged 6-11 years in the town according to 2022 figures and the challenge is to tap into that growing population. There were 968 boys and 963 girls enrolled in schools in the town and there is a need to focus on all the schools in order to make an impact. There are a number of schools with little or no Gaelic games activity and the challenge is to change that.

“We need to give GAA a footprint in these schools,” said Mr Farrell, explaining that clubs in Athlone will benefit as a result.

Paul McManus, a member of the coaching staff, will be the Athlone regeneration project lead.