St Marys Football Club have been serving the community through sport for almost 30 years. The club was established in 1996. The club have a full player pathway for both boys and girls. St Marys Fc promote mental, physical and social health. St Marys Fc is a registered charity in Northern Ireland.
The club is fully fuelled with over 80 volunteers. No one at the club gets paid, it functions solely on the pillars of the community. Over the years the cub has strengthened year in and year out. The club started off with one team, fast forward today we are one of the biggest clubs in the borough. This shows how greatly the club operates and the great service they provide.
We have many obstacles in our way at the minute which is halting the success of the club. The major obstacle is not having our own base. We are having to stop creating teams because there is a serious lack of facilities within the area. We can not create teams if these players do not have anywhere to train or play. The club have improvised with securing other facilities outside the borough. We would prefer to have our own base where the community do not have to travel and they are able to enjoy the activities the club have to offer. We do not want our community, where we work, rest and play in to be at a disadvantage.
St Marys Fc have anchored themselves in the community and work around the clock with the community providing off peak activities when the schools are closed. This keeps the kids off the streets and provides a safe, secure place where they are lead by great role models. St Marys offer education courses with third party associations. The club run mental health camps lead by our own Phycologist Mark O Hara. We could be doing a lot more for the community if we had our own base with a community hub. The hub would serve the whole community.
St Marys Fc have identified the obstacles in our way to continuously grow. The club/community have went through the process of creating a club development plan. One of the objectives in the plan is to secure a home base/ community hub that will cater for all the community. The base will continue to serve the community not just at present but in many years to come.
St Marys Fc have plenty of targets set in place and in order to reach these targets they need help and input from the community. We are always looking for more volunteers to join the club and help us achieve our goals. If you are passionate and love the community you live in and want to hep be a part of the team please get in touch.
Alone we can do little, together we can do so much.