A rural camogie team on the outskirts of Armagh city are hoping to “level the playing field” by raising £6,600 for six “mini projects”.
St Brenda’s Camogie Club in Ballymacnab, Co Armagh boasts over 200 members, aged from under five to over 65.
They say they “strive to cater for everyone”, helping players to learn new skills, make new friends and play sport both competitively and non-competitively.
To help level the playing field for girls and women in sport, they say six mini-projects will help make a “major impact”.
They hope to bring in 10 additional volunteer coaches to their existing team of 14, upskill coaches, create new opportunities for underage, teenage and adult players, develop activities camps, improve their facilities and equipment and create mental health sessions for girls.
The mini projects will run from mid July 2026 until the end of September.
They include an ‘Upskill Coaches Project’ which will assist 14 coaches in improving their skills and confidence by moving up grades in coaching qualifications.
A ‘Make Mum or Dad My Coach’ project will facilitate the provision of 10 new volunteer coaches by training mums and dads who have not previously coached by giving them a recognised coaching certification.
An activity camp for younger members aged five to 14 called ‘Girls Having Fun With Friends’ has a target of 90 participants and will guide them through a range of sessions from July 27 to August 1.
The club also hope to purchase new training equipment, which will be particularly targeted for indoor activity, so that they can offer year-long participation for young members, aged five to 12. The ‘Better Facilities, Better Fun Project’ will run over the week July 20 to July 26.
‘Girls Spaces for Girls’ will see the purchase of a “girl-specific storage unit”, so that team equipment across all age-groups is stored safely in a girl-specific space. The current storage facility is a shared space with the boys/mens club and is not kept in the organised / team-specific way that the committee would like.
Finally, a ‘Give My Head Peace’ project from August 1 to September 18 will offer a range of positive thinking / positive mental health sessions for teenage and senior age groups to help them manage a range of life-pressures which can often impact their participation in sport.
Said St Brenda’s Camogie Club: “Together these six initiatives will help level the playing field for women and girls in our community, who are too-often at a disadvantage to their male peers, in terms of confidence, capacity and facilities to participate in sport.”
The delivery of the scheme is expected to cost £6,640 in total and as such the club have already commenced their fundraising.
Those wishing to contribute to the club’s project can make a donation via Crowdfunder here.
