Scariff RFC Building For The Future

When Clare’s footballers made their appearance in the 1992 All Ireland football semi-final against Dublin in Croke Park, Kevin Costner became a part of the folklore of that day as he was shown watching on from the stands.

Almost 30 years later, the actor is once more connected with Clare sport as his 1989 film Field of Dreams has provided some of the inspiration for a development in East Clare which is hoped will change the sporting landscape of the area.

“If you build it, they will come” is the line paraphrased by Scariff Rugby Club President Mike Madden as he outlines the motivations behind a new indoor facility which will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

The development consists of a 40x20m state-of-the-art 4G pitch, while a new seated area to overlook the main pitch has also been incorporated into the design which is expected to have a final cost in the region of €300,000.

Having given their service on the field, Madden outlined that this project is something of a labour of love for a number of former players who are eager to ensure that the club is left in the best possible position for the generations to follow.

“It is a great facility to have and we are lucky with the location in the sense that we are central enough to a lot of the places that would not have access to an astro turf pitch. Our committee is mostly based around lads who played together on a team for nearly 20 years and we all stuck together to keep the club going. We had that drive to leave some sort of legacy as a group and to be able to say that we did our bit for the club. We were watching a lot of videos from team in New Zealand and taking note of different things they are doing down there. They seem to be doing them all inside, in indoor sheds and things like that. Their weather is something similar to our own so that got into our heads. We decided to look at it from something of different approach. Plenty places have astro turfs but it was different to try and do it in an indoor setting. Once we had the idea, all we needed was the money” he laughed.

As with any project of this scale, the task of securing the funds to see it through was as sizeable as the undertaking of the project itself. Once complete, it is envisaged that the facility will become something that generates finances from being rented to other groups in the area. The unseen costs that cropped up over the last few years provided challenges to be overcome but the commitment of those involved has helped in bringing it toward that final step.

“We had a group of 30 people in the club who gave €1000 for a ten-year membership which was vital in getting it finished. We have done loads of fundraising over the last few years from boxing nights to poker classics, along with the lotto. It is not easy heading out on a Sunday night for the lotto run, even though anyone who volunteers for it only has to do it five times a year, it is still not something you look forward to. Our whole committee have worked extremely hard to get this done and it is a testament to their work that we are at this stage” he outlined.

Once complete, the facility will be available to use for full contact training which Madden feels will have huge benefits particularly in winter months. A strong underage section, which sees the club joined up with Ballina-Killaloe under the banner of East Clare Titans, means the green shoots for the future are promising. Madden explained that the approach at underage level is to provide an outlet for any young person in the area who wants to get into rugby.

“We hope that every child around here in East Clare will give rugby a go. We often see lads at 23 or 24 years old who decide to play for a year, and that means you are teaching them skills and techniques that they should have learned from U-10 level. If they start playing early, it means that even if they drift away from the sport for a few years, they will still have the basics when they come back. We now have the facilities to be able to cater for that and we want to leave no stone unturned. Our thinking is that we want to give people every excuse to come playing rugby rather than giving them one excuse not to. I really feel this is going to change the whole outlook of the club and secure its future for many years to come” he stated.