Cork IT upgrades its sports amenities as competition in the field hots up

The appointments of a sports development officer at Cork IT seven years ago has paid off handsomely, with the college now boasting 36 clubs and facilities such an international-standard athletics track, a sports hall and an astroturf pitch.

Eithne Lydon took up the job in 1994 when the position was created. As the college doors open for the 2001 to 2002 academic year, she is still full of conviction about the need for proper sporting facilities.

When she first took up the reins, the college had a "GAA officer, some basketball, 17 clubs . . . really, a very small amount of sport. It was my job to come in and develop those clubs and start new clubs." In 1998, she was joined by two more sports officers.

The range of sports now includes GAA soccer, basketball, volleyball, aikido, tae kwondo, and swimming (at the adjacent pool). And, for a land-locked college, it has a surprising range of watersports, including water skiing and windsurfing. Also, outside the college, the motor sports appreciation club now takes part in karting rallies.

Back on campus, Lydon says: "The gym and weights room in the sports hall is really top class. All of the machines are as good as in any gym around the country. It's free for staff and students." And, yes, it is used, over-subscribed at lunchtime and in the evening.

"We have recently developed an astroturf all-weather pitch. So, we can have four different teams playing five-a-side. It's used by college teams for matches and for evening training as it's floodlit," she says. The old athletics track has been treated to about £1 million worth of TLC and is now of international standard. Re-opened last February, it has already hosted the Cork city sports. Mark Carroll and Sonia O'Sullivan were conferred with honorary life membership of the track in July.

"We have a GAA pitch and a soccer pitch. The college has bought 26 acres of land and this will be developed into seven or eight more pitches over the next five years. We probably have the best sports facilities of any institute of technology in the State. Many of the other colleges have to rent pitches but we own almost all of our facilities," says an obviously proud Lydon.

A graduate of the college, she completed a recreation and leisure certificate and is now studying, part-time, for a degree. Cork IT now has 6,000 full-time students, doing 40 different courses, according to acting assistant registrar Ed Riordan. Soon, it will award its own certificates and diplomas, with an eye to awarding its own degrees in the future.

Back at the pitch and pool, college students past and present have achieved a variety of sporting honours.

Lydon fluently reels off a list of teams and competitions: "Last year, the camogie team won the Purcell Cup, that's a huge achievement for the girls. The ladies' soccer team has been promoted to the premier division in the WSCAI (Womens' Soccer College's Association); our basketball team is very promising; the mens' rugby team won the Irish Permanent Shield last year, while we retained the men's and women's shield in the Intervarsity tae kwondo for the past three years; in canoeing, we were the third college overall in the Intervarsities . . ."

Each year, Cork IT awards 40 sports bursaries, worth £500 each. The bursaries span 17 sports. There are also four scholarships, in conjunction with Munster GAA, worth £750.

For interested first-year students, Lydon explains, there is an interview and assessment process. "They need to have achieved at school level and played in a national competition. The standard is very high. A lot of GAA players who obtained scholarships have played at senior level for their county while those getting bursaries have usually played at minor level. A world champion got our sailing bursary last year. We reserve a number of bursaries for first year. After first year, students must keep up a high standard in their sport to be considered. They must also achieve on the academic side."

The closing date for application for bursaries is October 11th and the cash is given out in November, just as the reality of college life is beginning to bite.

Lydon says: "Students are beginning to look at college sport facilities and decide if they want to go to college in Cork or Dublin or Galway. The ancillary services are a big part of the college, whether in the students union or the societies."