Dear Club Members,

My name is Mags Cronin, in September the committee nominated and voted on me as new Club Chair and in a first for Avondale United a chairwoman!

This wasn’t something I would have expected when my sons started training with the club a few years ago. In our family's time with the club we have experienced inclusivity and encouragement along with an enhanced love and involvement with soccer which prompted me to give back by joining the club committee earlier this year, when invited by some committee members. In another first, I have been coaching, with a fabulous group of mums, the U13 C boys team, which is a life experience in itself. We love it.

My personal qualifications and work experience in business with sales & marketing, events & planning experience, along with former board and committee experience, hopefully will bring something to the club. 

I can attest to the hard working, overstretched committee of a club that’s experienced unprecedented growth within recent years. My 3 children play in the club and I am also involved at committee level in a local primary school, so am keenly aware of the needs for improved facilities and the need to continue the work of the committee to meet these needs.

Im hoping to bring fresh energy, positivity and a new perspective to the Avondale Committee team with the main areas of focus as follows:  Facilities, Communication, Lobbying, Policy & Governance. Coach Education and Club Mark are also high on the to do list. Some updates are detailed below.

The last few weeks, I have met with some key club members and local political representatives to learn as much as possible, and to build with the committee an actionable plan going forward. Shortly we will share an Avondale United strategy document as we plan for the interim, 3 to 5 years, and the next 10 years. 

Attached is an organizational chart of the current club structure, so you can see who is involved in the various areas of the club. We have recently created some more subcommittees and have identified a number of roles that we need help with.

If you have any questions, feedback, suggestions or concerns, I can be reached on 0879535040.

Looking forward to the year ahead. Thank you for the support already received.

King Regards 

Mags Cronin

Chairwoman

Key Focus Areas 

People Power and Club Ownership

The Committee are all volunteers, some also coaching, while working full time with families. Many hard working members of the club don’t sit on the committee and have given a lifetime service to the club. We are forever grateful and thankful to those members. We would appreciate and need more help on subcommittees, which can be a great way to bring your skills to the club. All are welcome.

Our plan is to hold an open session for coaches and members plus invite the women of the club in particular to learn more about soccer, coaching, and committee participation, as Sports Ireland requires 40% of all sports committees be women. The club is very proud of the growth and its success in all areas of the club and our girls Academy in particular, with a senior ladies team to be seen next year.

As a first step for adhoc help please join this Volunteer group to help with events, odd jobs or fundraising: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KofnKIBiUyc6KqmAZ4VoPY

Club House 

In summer 2020, planning was secured to replace the existing portacabins with similar versions. However a decision was made to reapply for a more permanent structure to best benefit the club. In 2021 a Capital grant was sought which was granted in 2022 of €87,440, plus Cork Council grants of €14,500. The reviewed planning was secured in November 2022 after appeals. 

The club in summer 2022, were offered materials by a local multinational company, from structures used during the pandemic, which would have meant the ability to build the permanent building with the funds available.

The materials were moved in winter 2022 and did not dismantle well. The professional advice by Spring 2023 was that the materials were not fit for purpose and unusable for the Beaumont Project. This meant that the Grant Aid secured and Fundraising of Circa €40,000 would not cover the cost of the Club house, added to the increased interest rates post Covid and the Spiral in Construction costs.

Several Construction companies were asked to tender for the project, however only two tenders came back. The location in a public park adjacent to the schools raised issues and the difficulty of the site raising concerns.

Our position now is that we have sought new builder quotes to compare to former pricing and a QS review is in progress to achieve best pricing. We have recently applied for the 2023 Capital Grant for the Maximum amount of €200,000 and are lobbying all political avenues to push to get the maximum amount. 

We need to get this project started ASAP so we are planning on phased build:

• Once weather permits in the new year, site clearance groundworks and get the new dressing rooms and toilet to a basic usable level.
• Phase two more internal completion which will need fundraising support.
• Phase three to get the kitchen, meeting room and external works to completion - dependent on the current capital grant allocation, which is not expected until summer 2024.

Other Facility issues  we are looking for solutions on include Pitch access, Access to Asto and added facilities for our girls teams.

Communication Plan

It is recognised that we need to work on areas of communication within the Club, Some of the initial changes we are working on are:

• After each committee meeting, the plan is to share an agreed report with all members.
• Working to encourage increased use of club zap as it is the tool used for most of our club management and communications as well as the website.
• Hope to bring all sections of the club together more often - with a spotlight on players & coaches and committee in a newsletter style communication to be included in the website. Annual Coach meeting.
• Add links to forms to website ( link for new members, Instructions for new coaches, coach informational pages, drills for various age groups, Child Safeguarding statement)
• Add club policies to the website.

ClubMark

We are using the FAI ClubMark as a guide to ensure all aspects of the club are in order, the ClubMark offers clubs such as Avondale a system to show compliance in all areas and mechanisms to gain this compliance, We are a big club so this is taking time to fully document. Our Initial application has been submitted and we are working on the edits required to achieve the ClubMark. 

We need all coaches to take responsibility to ensure FAI Garda Vetting and child safeguarding certs are kept up to date and certs submitted before being requested to do so as this is statutory. 

Growth of the club

Demand and membership has exploded in recent years and now the committee needs to work towards a strategy to improve the clubs offering to meet that demand and a pathway of playing Soccer, over the coming years, from from young children to Senior teams. While remaining a community focused Club

Grass and pitch availability is an issue locally and in recent years campaigning for more locally hasn't resulted in a solution. We are now looking at new options to see how best to meet the needs of all aspects of the club.

We will be happy to receive any feedback now  and look forward to open discussions at our next AGM and some development ideas for consideration.