FOUNDED IN 1890, YMCA Cricket Club has called Claremont Road, Sandymount home since 1911. The club leases the land from the Dublin YMCA, but this arrangement is under threat now that the charity has announced its intention to sell the 6.6 acre facility, most likely to a property developer.
Claremont Road is also used by various schools for hockey and football, while a gym was built on site in 2001. The cricket club boasts 213 members, allowing it to put out four senior men’s sides alongside two women’s outfits, as well as 15 youth teams. Faced with the prospect of eviction, the reigning all-Ireland club champions have been thrust into an existential crisis.
There is a story that is all too familiar to those involved in grassroots sport; that of a club steeped in tradition and success ultimately withering away when participation and funding dries up. The current pandemic has placed countless organisations close to that perilous edge, but this does not describe the story of YMCA Cricket Club.
Pick out any Leinster or Ireland squad, male or female, senior or underage, and the odds of finding a representative from the Sandymount club are low. This is a club in its prime, but not for long now that their ground is to be sold for residential development. The news is a blow both to the growth of Irish cricket and the local community.
At the top end of the game, Cricket Ireland risks losing a club that has for a long time carved a development pathway for young talent. In the Ireland men’s recent series against Afghanistan, Harry Tector, Simi Singh and Curtis Campher all flew the YMCA flag, while Gaby Lewis did so on the women’s side when they last played in September 2019.
Lewis at one point held the record for the youngest T20 international at 13 years 166 days.
The previous youngest debutant was Lucy O’Reilly, another product of YMCA, while Lewis’ older sister, Robyn, has also been capped at the highest level. Robyn now runs the club’s youth academy.
The club is clearly dedicated to the women’s side of the game. Aideen Rice, a former president both of YMCA and Cricket Ireland, has played as big a role as any in this development both at local and national level. Irish cricket’s governing body has struggled to find fixtures for the women’s side during the pandemic in the same way it has for the men.
The progress of the senior side certainly has stalled as a result of a lack of game time, but Rice believes the potential loss of one of the country’s most vibrant women’s sections could be just as devastating.
“It would put development back hugely” she warns. “Some clubs are much more developed in their women’s game than others, and YMCA would definitely be one of them. Some would struggle to produce a women’s side every year.”
“Initially, women in the club took up cricket only as adults, but then we developed girls playing cricket in the same way we developed boys, bringing them through from a very young age. It’s a long process, there’s no quick fix, so to lose 15, 16 years of hard work that built up a strong women’s section would be worrying.”
Of YMCA’s male current international cohort, only Tector came up through the club’s youth section. The 21-year-old made his One Day International debut last summer against England, playing a vital unbeaten cameo in a famous victory in the third game of the series.
It is noticeable how visible he and the other internationals are by spending much of their time around the club, a culture that Tector himself profited from as a youngster, though he wishes he could give more back.
He is being modest, but he is visible proof to the club’s youth section that it is possible to forge a professional career in Irish cricket, something which could not be said with such certainty when Tector first picked up a bat.
“We have a natural culture where the international sits down with a young player who plays on the third team,” he said. “That’s the way I was treated when I was that age. If I’m being honest, I definitely could do more. I’ve been in the position of those young guys, having played in every team in the club, so if I can pass on a little nugget of information on then that’s what it’s all about.
“Hopefully the odd player will go on to play for Ireland. YMCA is producing a lot of young people who want to go on and become professional cricketers – ten years ago, that wouldn’t have been viewed as a viable route.”
Kathryn O’Mahony, CEO for YMCA Dublin, outlines the charity’s rationale behind the sale:
“The sale of the YMCA grounds in Sandymount will allow the organisation to expand its charitable activities in those areas which are disadvantaged in Dublin. This move will put the not-for-profit organisation in the fortunate position of being largely self-sufficient from Government funding and allow it to innovate and expand its impact dramatically in those areas of Dublin where there is much need for such services.”
There is a tension here. Cricket is not the most accessible sport in the world. There will be many who have no issue with the loss of a largely middle-class sports club in order to allow for more investment away from Dublin 4.
That view discounts the importance of the cricket club to the wider community. Unlike many private sports clubs, this is not a gated organisation closed off to non-paying members.
Inclusion is a key value both of the club and the YMCA charity as a whole. President Heatley Tector is keen to point out the “domino effect” that would be seen if the cricket club is lost. The list of people that would suffer is longer than you might expect.
There are strong links to charities that work in disability table cricket, as well as to the Irish Cancer Society. Many of the local retirement home residents use the club’s facilities for their exercise regime, while volunteer coaches are sent to local national schools.
Claremont Road also hosts cricket, hockey and football, as well as other sports, for various teams and schools in the area.
It is also worth pointing out how cricket as a sport lends itself easily to ethnic diversity given its popularity in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Oceania. It is no surprise to see such representation mirrored across the membership of many Irish clubs, YMCA included.
Then there is the issue of urban planning; is this the best use of open space so close to the city centre? Dublin undoubtedly needs more accommodation, but at what cost?
The YMCA charity cannot be faulted for wanting to fund its activities, but is there a way of doing this without depriving the city’s ever expanding population of a crucial exercise facility, of a diverse and inclusive communal space?
We do not live in an ideal world, so perhaps not. There is a clear question of priorities, of the value of the residential versus the recreational.
Claremont Road is worth €10 million to its owners, but it is invaluable to its wide community of users.
As far as the cricket club is concerned, the threat of the future without a ground looms large.
Questions linger about what sort of planning permission can be secured, but one thing remains clear: the committee intends on doing all they can to keep Claremont Road as their home. The news of the potential sale has come too soon to allow for proper contingency planning, but their president is still optimistic: “We have talked about where else we might go, but right now the club is very much of the opinion that we are staying in Claremont Road.”
Nathan Jones is a freelance sports journalist and a member of YMCA Cricket Club.