It has been a big week for Killeshin FC.
They became the first club in Laois to be awarded the FAI Club Mark and only the second club in the Carlow District League.
With an outstanding astro turf pitch and facilities that many clubs in Ireland would envy, Killeshin are in a good place to return as one of the strongest clubs both on and off the pitch once football returns.
Speaking to KCLR’s Sunday Scoreline, Ollie Brennan explained the reasons as to why the club received the FAI Club Mark.
He said: “The club is going through massive development. We’ve put in place some great facilities and the FAI Club Mark award is the next layer on that.
“It’s given to clubs who have exceled off the field. We produced a registrar of all our volunteers at the club and child safeguarding standards.”
Brennan also outlined future plans for the Laois club.
“We will be looking to get a safety statement now and that we can give a job description for everyone who becomes involved in the club so that is what the club is looking to do in the future,” said Brennan.
A staunch clubman, the club coaching coordinator believes the coronavirus pandemic has facilitated Killeshin’s off field achievements.
“There was a lot of time and effort to put the facilities that we have in place and to apply for the relevant government grants.
“The downtime during Covid where we haven’t been playing has allowed us to focus on the management of club and how to improve off the pitch.”
Brennan believes that it is not uncoincidental that an improvement in facilities has coincided with more people joining the club at all levels.
“The facilities have had a big impact on the number of people who are coming to play with us. It’s the first time that we’ve been able to field three junior sides and at juvenile level it has grown massively.”
He went on to highlight a key issue that the club is looking to improve on in the coming years.
“We would like to improve our coaching standards so that people are attracted to the club. This will give the players the opportunity to progress and move forward in their development as players.”
Check Out the full interview with Brennan on Scoreline Extra below:
