The GAA Men’s Football Club is the largest recipient of the Club Life Committee grant allocations for 2012-13, pocketing €45,908.60.
Figures attained by The College View show that 13% of the CLC budget was allocated to the Men’s Football Club, €25k more than was assigned to the Hurling Club – the second largest recipient of the CLC grant allocations.
The College View has learned that over half of the money received by the club will go towards covering the expenses of 14 coaches, despite the fact that the club fielded only six teams during the League competitions
The CLC funding policy for 2012-13 states that they will cover only two coaches per team, yet with 14 coaches for six teams, the Men’s Football Club are in breach of this.
Given that DCU have only thus far fielded three Freshers teams, one Junior, one Intermediate and one Senior, the Men’s Football Club were only permitted to apply for funding for 12 coaches.
Chairperson of the Men’s Football Club, Josh Warde, refused to comment when contacted by The College View.
The funding received by the GAA Academy is separate to the club’s CLC grant allocation, added to the fact that the Men’s Football Club is one of the few clubs on campus to have outside sponsorship in the form of Bank of Ireland.
Overall, the five GAA clubs – Men’s Football, Hurling, Ladies’ Football, Camogie and Handball – were awarded €102,336.20 – 28.3% of the CLC budget.
Rob Whelan, Swimming and Waterpolo Club Secretary, said that the Men’s Football Club receive “preferential treatment”.
“It’s hard to complain when you’re given over €10,000. However, when we see the Men’s Football Club get over €45,000, it feels like they are given preferential treatment. Huge money is also spent on scholarships for GAA on top of the money they receive from the CLC.”
Ladies’ Basketball Chairperson Katie Kilbride said that their club’s allocation of €5,532 isn’t sufficient to cover their costs.
“This year’s cuts have greatly affected us. Each member will now have to give €130 towards financing our trip to Cork for the Intervarsities. As current All-Ireland Intervarsity champions with four scholarship athletes, we feel this is incredibly unfair as almost every other college team in the competition pays little or nothing towards their accommodation and travel costs. These costs don’t include playing gear and tracksuits which we will also have to try and fund or fundraise for.
“We understand there have been vast cuts from all angles and we are facing tough economic situations, however we feel these cuts just aren’t feasible if we want to see our clubs prosper and progress and to remain the number one college basketball team in the country.”
The Camogie Club received the smallest amount of the five GAA clubs – €9,801.20 – but Chairperson Aisleen Ní Shíocháin had no qualms with their allocation.
“We received everything we applied for in that grant. This is the highest amount the Camogie Club has ever received and although it is not equal to the others, it is a significant improvement for us.”
Other clubs however, have been forced to tighten their purse strings as result of their CLC allocation. Men’s Rugby Club Chairperson, Dave Burson, said their allocation of €13,564.13 was a reduction on previous years.
“We, as a club, are feeling the pinch this year as we have lost significant external sponsorship over the past three years from businesses who are, unfortunately, suffering in the current economic climate. It just means we have to be clever with our funds and think of creative ways to raise money while actively seeking sponsorship from external sources.”
In total, €361,397.53 was distributed among the 43 registered clubs, although the amounts allocated to the Cricket and Table Tennis clubs have not yet been finalised.
Una Redmond, Student Life Manager, said that while the exact percentages of what the money was being used for had not yet been worked out for 2012-13, she expected it to be extremely similar to last year.
“49% of the CLC budget last year went towards coaching and I expect it to be similar to that again this year. Even though we cut coaching expenditure by 10%, it still accounts for almost half of the budget. Basically we spend half the budget on coaching and half on everything else.”
Equipment is expected to account for 13% of the CLC budget, with the travel and accommodation coming in at 9%. Entry fees are estimated to take up 7.5%.
Eoghan Cormican
The full list of CLC grant allocation figures for 2012/13
GAA Men €45,908.60
Hurling €20,031.20
Soccer Men €18,217.90
Tennis €16,952.80
Athletics €16,768
GAA Women €16,389.20
Rugby Men €13,564.13
Gymnastics and Trampolining €13,429.05
Surf n’Sail €12,239.16
Clay Target €10,995.72
Swimming and Waterpolo €10,730
Handball €10,206
Sub Aqua €9,957.22
Camogie €9,801.20
Aikido €9,638
Caving €9,158.34
Canoe €9,150.20
Weightlifting €8,251.20
Ultimate Frisbee €7,848.20
Badminton €7,776.74
Olympic Handball €6,320
American Football €6,144
Boxing €5,731.40
Soccer Ladies €5,656
Basketball Women €5,532
Rugby Women €5,013.08
Basketball Men €4,992
Volleyball €4,873
Hockey €4,758.54
Squash €4,391
Rock Climbing €4,030.75
Karate €4,027.30
Judo €3,892
Fencing €3,354.60
Equestrian €3,294.60
Mixed Martial Arts €3,019.20
Tae Kwan do €2,853
Rowing €2,535.10
Golf €1,713.60
Cycling €1,205
Archery €1,048.50
Cricket N/A
Table Tennis N/A
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