By Cian O’Connell
The Irish Life Healthy Clubs Programme is helping to forge meaningful connections in Oram Sarsfields.
With approximately 300 members football matters deeply in the Monaghan club. Recently, though, the Healthy Clubs initiatives being carried out has opened all sorts of possibilities.
Six of the eight Healthy Club committee members are new volunteers in Oram. Clare Hamill, Oram’s Healthy Club Officer, is encouraged by this development. Different skillsets and interests can only benefit the community. “Some of our committee members have very young children,” Hamill says.
“So, they're only starting their journey. One of our girls has a minor player, the same as me. They just played their last minor match on Sunday. They're bringing in their own elements. One of the committee members places a real emphasis on mental health.
“I think she likes to drive that forward, and she is very interested in topics, and very supportive of things we're doing like that. It is a key element to it, that you've such a variety of different people in your group.”
For parents, getting involved initially can be daunting. For Hamill, though, it has been a rewarding experience. “I do feel, when you're on the sideline, there is a very distinctive line,” she explains.
“You're behind that line. Unless you're actually pushed or asked, you'll never get over that line. We're not going to be out there, running out with water bottles to the lads, but at least we can help them in another way, in a sense with the Healthy Clubs.
“We can maybe help them with a few talks. We will be busy over the winter, we will help them with strength and conditioning, healthy eating, bits like that, stuff we can get involved in.”
Maximising the resources available is key on and off the field of play according to Hamill. “We've 300 members, we've maybe have less than 100 families,” she says. “We've one team in every age group, with two maybe in some of them, not enough in others.
Oram Sarsfields have organised a number of successful Healthy Club events.
“So, we aren't a massive club. We are quite small. A lot of the people on our committee, some of them have children playing football for years, the same as myself. I've four boys, three of them play football, my oldest fella is 17, but this is the first time I ever got involved in the club in any specific way.”
Helping organising events and talks is vital with Hamill highlighting the fact that new people are essentially assisting those in charge of teams in Oram. “We played our last match with the minors on Sunday, I was talking to the coach, thanking him for a great year, and he said, 'Clare, last November it started',” she remarks.
“They start with the strength and conditioning, the healthy eating. It is a full year of commitment for them. I understand they are just focused on the one thing, kicking the ball.
“In a smaller club, you might have two or three dads doing the coaching. They don't have it in their schedule to be doing stuff like that, so that is what we are going to be focusing on a bit more this year, now that we've found our feet.”
Hamill is adamant too about utilising people’s time properly, not to be overburdened with work. There is always a way to accommodate those ready, willing, and able to be involved. “At the beginning, when it was just newly formed, there was a meeting here and there, not too many,” she says.
“The executive committee meets probably once a month. I'd be sitting on that committee now as the Healthy Clubs Officer. So, there is no point in having meetings about meetings. If there is something coming up, that we need to organise, we will have a meeting to make sure everyone knows what they are at.”
Communication is crucial. “Everyone knows what is going on, you can nearly organise an event without actually sitting down together,” she adds.
“That is important because when you talk about a time commitment, people only have as much time as they have. You're very conscious of that when you're doing things, that everyone's time is precious.
“It isn't always abundant. I think a lot of people can be put off going on to a committee because they think they will have no time for it.”