Ennis Hockey Club is to receive €5,000 funding under this year’s Texaco Support for Sport initiative hosted and organised by Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited, the company that markets fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand.
Under the scheme – similar to that which proved successful last year when the Clare county award was presented to Shannon Jets Basketball Club – a fund of EUR130,000 is made available by Valero for distribution in equal amounts of EUR5,000 to a successful applicant in each county.
Established in 2019, Ennis Hockey Club is the first and only hockey club in Co. Clare. After only three years in existence, it has already shown enterprise and creativity with programmes for children age 5 to 18 and for adults familiar with hockey or new members anxious to take up the sport.
To cater for older members and those with disabilities, the club has introduced a ‘Walking Hockey’ project and a ‘Hockey4All’ initiative.
The EUR5,000 award made to it under the Texaco Support for Sport initiative will be used by the club ‘to expand its membership and to cater for adults with mental and physical disabilities’.
Overseeing the judging process was Texaco Support for Sport ambassador, former Irish rugby international and well-known broadcaster, Donncha O’Callaghan. Noting the work it is doing to cater for people of all ages, O’Callaghan praised the club’s vision, highlighting its efforts to foster inclusivity in its community.
Pointing to what he termed “the invaluable contribution” that sports clubs make to the heart of community life in Ireland, James Twohig, Director of Ireland Operations, Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited, congratulated Ennis Hockey Club saying, “Special to us, and the purpose for which our Texaco Support for Sport initiative was introduced, is the opportunity it presents to ease the financial pressure on members by providing new and additional funding so often required to help clubs achieve their objectives and play a pivotal and positive role in their communities”.