Nominee for Best Community Enterprise

Banteer Community Sportsfield LTD

Sponsored by

Banteer Community Sportsfield Ltd was formed in 1998 and develops local amenity/ facilities for physical and social activities for all ages. The group works hard to promote community physical and mental well-being by physical, sport, social and cultural activities. This work is achieved by close liaison with all local sports groups, youth groups, seniors clubs, schools, athletic clubs, Macra groups, St Joseph’s Foundation, Cope etc all of which use the Banteer Sportsfield/Park facilities as their base for their many and varying activities.

Over the past 25 years, the group has developed numerous facilities, from lake fishing to outdoor gyms, and all of their facilities are created with as much accessibility as possible in mind. Local groups such as Youthreach and Cope use these facilities for day outings, particularly the most recent of their projects. The Astroturf pitch and community building was a major €2.2m development.

The astroturf pitch opened in 2020 and is 131m by 80m with 400 Lux Floodlighting and is used by all sports throughout the year and in particular during the wet winter months when other regulation sized pitch facilities are unavailable. This facility was developed on the existing secondary grass pitch and the facility is used by a variety sports teams, even from the adjoining West Limerick and East Kerry areas. This is believed to be the first regulation sized community owned astroturf pitch facility for all sports in Munster, and with no other local facility of its kind in Duhallow, this provides an income stream to the Centre from rental to all sports groups locally and within the wider Duhallow area.

The new community building which opened this past summer includes new changing rooms, toilets, disabled facilities, spectator stand area, museum, café and a digital hub as well as a press box. The museum /exhibition area for Banteer sports memorabilia includes old articles, photos, videos outlining the historic achievements of the 100 years of famous Banteer Sports and preserving it for future generations. The café and digital hub facility is run by community volunteers. The whole facility also provides a social and meeting place for old and young, for clubs and friends, whether they’re going for a walk and a coffee or playing sports or visiting the children’s playground and park, and as more and more people have switched to remote work, their high speed internet has been invaluable.

The group aims to develop even more facilities at the venue to further improve the space. They work closely with younger members of the community to ensure the existing facilities are properly maintained and further development will happen going forward. Beyond additional building, they aim to maximise the use of the existing new facility by for example other uses such as training, lectures, and book clubs in the digital hub and cafe area.