For many years, Colemanstown United Soccer Club has dreamed of an all-weather pitch, fully equipped with top quality floodlighting. Our initial goal was simple: to give us the flexibility to train and play all year round, especially during the dark winter months when grass pitches are often unplayable.
In recent months & weeks, that dream has now become a reality. First came the completion of our AstroTurf pitch & most recently, the official turning on of the floodlights which was timed perfectly to host our very first matches, including our first competitive Friday night game of the new season last week. To say this has changed the dynamic of our club would be an understatement!
For the past few weeks, we’ve watched Niall Rohan drive this project forward, assisted mainly by Brian Saunders, Kenny Duane, Gabriel & Dylan King & Gerry Kelly (Newcastle), Rob Byrne plus more volunteers in the form of Damien Mannion, Kerrill Lally & Gary Broderick. After a couple of days of installing cabling throughout the grounds excitement kicked off with the arrival & erection of the 18 mtr columns, soon followed by the delivery of the state of the art Philips Ecogen LED floodlights.
Then came the magic touch; a team of volunteers, once again led by Niall Rohan, rolling up their sleeves to assemble the monstrous lamps and get all the prep work done before the 2nd section of the columns were craned into place. As we always say: clubs like ours are nothing without volunteers & once again, ours have delivered in style.
In the end, God said, “Let there be light”… & Colemanstown now shines brighter than ever! Our floodlights deliver a whopping illumination of 350 lux or greater across the pitch. Even better, the system is efficiently controlled to run at 50% capacity during training, a smart energy saving idea from Niall that helps keep the bills down while setting a really positive impact on our green footprint.
This project reflects hours upon hours of research, planning & hard graft & it simply wouldn’t have happened without our volunteers. We owe enormous thanks to:
– Niall Rohan, whose leadership and dedication made this entire project possible.
– The Department of Tourism, Culture, Art & Sport for their vital financial support through the Sports Capital Programme.
– Kenny Duane of Kellihers, Galway, whose assistance in sourcing the materials was invaluable.
– And, of course, every single volunteer who gave their time and effort to make this dream come true.
So here we are in Colemanstown United with a sparkling new Astro turf pitch, world-class floodlighting & a club community that never fails to step up when it matters most. God said “Let there be light & so there was” Some photos of the completed project & spec attached. Also our new pitch booking system for rentals is set to go live in the next few weeks.
