Valero helps Irish athletes be stronger, higher, faster and wetter

Valero has announced the 26 recipient sports clubs that will receive a share of a fund of €130,000, divided equally into grants of €5,000 for each county in the Irish Republic. The Texaco Support for Sport initiative was launched in autumn last year, when many sports clubs were experiencing a financial strain, having been closed from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initiative recognises the important contribution that sports clubs make within communities and throughout Irish society as a whole. Almost 400 clubs applied for funding, which was open to any club, irrespective of sporting discipline, size, membership, age, cultural or gender appeal. While five of the awards went to Gaelic football clubs and four to hurling, the representation of sports went across the board and included climbing, diving and cricket.

Texaco Support for Sport ambassador, acclaimed broadcaster and former Irish rugby international, Donncha O’Callaghan, oversaw the judging process. “The most uplifting aspect of the process was the desire expressed by even the smallest niche clubs to build on their value to communities, to expand membership by attracting new players and by providing a safe setting for young people,” O’Callaghan said.

One of the recipients of a €5,000 grant was Bagenalstown Swimming Club. The outdoor 25m pool and paddling pool is on the edge of a small town in Co. Carlow.

Brid Nolan is an executive member of the Bagenalstown Swimming Club and explained that during last year’s closure, the club used EU funding to renovate the large pool.

“The paddling pool has been neglected and now we want to bring it up to the standard of the large pool, as it’s a huge part of the facility for people like me with young children.

“It’s part of developing an enjoyment of the water at an early age and ultimately moving onto the big pool and learning water safety. The shallow end of the big pool is 3 feet so this is why you need the smaller facility.”

Nolan explains what a significant part of the community the pool facility is and that a high proportion of children go on to do community games or qualify as lifeguards. Once they have learned to swim safely, many progress to the sports activities that take place in the River Barrow that runs alongside the pool.

Valero’s Ciarán O’Meara can confirm how central the club is to the town as he learned to swim in that paddling pool. “It was a big part of growing up in Bagenalstown.

“We spent our summers at the pool, we’d go by ourselves, sometimes up to three times a day. I can still remember the moment in that paddling pool when it fell into place and I started to swim. From there, I moved to the big pool for swimming and diving classes, so now all of my family are strong confident swimmers, with very fond memories of the pool back home.”

For a full list of the successful …. Click here [insert link].