Google+ Running in Cork, Ireland: Breakdown of athletic clubs in Cork by size...July 2013

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Breakdown of athletic clubs in Cork by size...July 2013

The bar chart below shows a breakdown of the size of the athletic clubs in Cork at the end of July 2013. As in previous charts, it shows adult membership only.......i.e. those that are most likely to be taking part in some sort of road racing or similar events. While some clubs are more track and field orientated, the majority are involved in some sort of road running so that a comparison can be made between the size of the clubs. The stats are for the 11 months between August 2012 and July 2013.

1st...Midleton AC continue to show strong growth year on year and stay as the largest club in Cork. With 255 adult members, they are up 11% on last year.
2nd...St.Finbarr's AC based in Cork City remain in 2nd spot with 183 adult members, unchanged from last year.
3rd...Youghal AC jump from 9th to 3rd with a large influx of adult members this year. From what I understand, they have a very successful beginners programme which is introducing a lot of new members to the club. It also underlines how vibrant the running scene is in the East Cork area.
4th...Leevale AC is different from most of the other clubs in that a lot of their adult members would be involved in track and field rather than road races. They also have a significant number of juveniles so they would have quite a few adults involved in coaching them. They are up 35% on last last year with 154 adult members and jump from 7th to 4th place.
5th....Eagle AC based in Cork City showed a modest increase of 6% in numbers in the last year.
6th...Bandon AC stay largely unchanged at 135 adult members.
7th...Mallow AC in N.Cork is another club making steady progress. From 58 members in 2011 and 95 in 2012, they are now up 20% to 114.
8th...Bantry AC drop from 3rd to 8th place as they have lost nearly half of their adult members in the last year. The current membership of 84 contrasts with the 171 that they had two years ago when they had a successful beginners programme.
9th...Galtee Runners AC after a slight drop last year are up by 65% in 2013. 
10th...Ballintotis Fit4Life are a new group that have registered with Athletics Ireland. They jump straight in at 9th position with 80 members.
11th...Clonakilty Road Runners AC are a relatively new club who started with 0 in 2011 and jumped to 116 in it's first year. They now drop to 73 members.

Others of note...
Togher AC like Leevale AC are another club that would tend to be more associated with Track & Field events rather than road running. They have really taken off in the last year jumping from 27 to 68 adult members.
Carrig na Bhfear AC are a small club to the north of Cork City that has shown a jump in numbers. From 36 in 2012, they are now up 58% to 57.
Tracton AC are another small club that has shown significant growth. Coached by Ian Dorgan, they have jumped from 18 to 31 members.
Skibbereen AC drop from 59 to 30 members.
Navy AC drop by 50% from 38 to 19 members.

Note...Only clubs that have had 20 or more adult members in the last two years are shown.


This is the breakdown of clubs based on their membership by juniors and juveniles...
 As can be seen above, Leevale AC and Bandon AC are the two main clubs for juveniles and juniors in Cork. Again, only clubs with 20 or more members in the last two years are shown.

Source of data : Athletics Ireland

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

it would be interesting to see how many of those clubs offer strong juvenile track and field programmes as that is where the future of sustainable running is. road running is great but generally involves persons from 30 years upwards

Anonymous said...

There are some of the bigger clubs do not have as many active members as the membership would suggest. How many people out there are just casual joggers are using club membership as a way of getting 2 weeks extra time for Ballycotton 10entries..!
I agree with the previous remark too. Far too much emphasis on road running and far too many poor quality races.

Anonymous said...

Is Galtee Runners not in there at #9 on the first list (v's Ballintotis??)

Anonymous said...

Numbers don't make a Club... What matters is what they contribute to athletics by organising road races, open sports etc.

Anonymous said...

its best to have numbers you can controll and give good coaching to

Anonymous said...

At least Carrigaline Road Runners is properly named not like many others who claim AC status. Athletic Clubs should promote Track and Field, cross country and compete in County and Munster championships. They should be hosting regular races both internal and open events and not worry about the "spread" or profit made.