The presentation to Tuar Mhic Éadaigh Handball Club members Seán Óg Molloy, Michael Lang, Mark Heneghan and Aisling Mulroe, was made at a private ceremony held at the Texaco Service Station, Castlebar. Pictured with them were Texaco Service station manager, Angelika Potulska (left), Valero Area sales manager, Eugene Coyne (third left) and Texaco Dealer, Tom Duffy (centre).

Mayo handball club receives funding boost

Tuar Mhic Éadaigh Handball Club, Mayo county winners in the recent Texaco Support for Sport initiative, have been awarded funding to assist their project to build an outdoor court.

The club were recently presented with a cheque for €5,000 which will be used to finance the purchase of materials required to build an outdoor one-wall ball court to serve the handballing community in the region.

One of almost 400 clubs countrywide to make application under the scheme, and one of only a few handball clubs active in the region, the Tuar Mhic Éadaigh Club is based in a rural community close to the Mayo-Galway border. After a lapse of several decades, this club was formed in 2018 re-igniting interest in what it terms ‘the wonderful traditional sport of handball’.

The presentation was made to the club by Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited – the company that markets fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand. Under its Texaco Support for Sport initiative, launched last September, a fund of €130,000 was set aside for allocation in equal amounts of €5,000 to successful applicants chosen on a county-by-county basis. Overseeing the adjudication process was Texaco Support for Sport ambassador, former Irish rugby international and broadcaster, Donncha O’Callaghan.

Entries to the Texaco Support for Sport 2021 initiative will open this autumn.