Athletic Club Membership Stats for Cork at the end of December 2015

Athletics Ireland have just released the membership stats for the end of December 2015. These are probably the most important stats of the year as they show the true size of each club and how they are doing compared to previous years.

In terms of adult membership, these are the athletic clubs in Cork with more than 100 members...

Ballymore Cobh AC end the year as the largest club in Cork. Their growth since 2013 has been very impressive as a Fit4Life programme helped to swell their numbers.

Midleton AC has seen its membership decline over the last few years as other clubs have grown in what would have been its large catchment area. It is now the joint second largest club in the county.

Eagle AC has been growing steadily for the last few years and is now over the 200 mark for the first time in joint second place.

As for the rest, some are down slightly, some are up. One in particular that stands out is Ballintotis Fit4Life which has really mushroomed in the last three years.

Ballymore Cobh A.C. 231, Midleton A.C. 203, Eagle A.C. 203, St. Finbarrs A.C. 188, Ballintotis Fit4Life 178, Bandon A.C. 172, Leevale A.C. 172, Mallow A.C. 148, Youghal A.C. 132, Watergrasshill A.C. 119, Togher A.C. 112.

The second tier of clubs is shown below with those having between 50 and 100 adult members...

In general, it's a pretty positive picture with most clubs up or much the same.

Clonakilty Road Runners A.C. 86, Tracton A.C. 83, North Cork A.C. 82, Rosscarbery Steam Runners A.C. 70, Bantry A.C. 67, Grange/Fermoy A.C. 66, Galtee Runners A.C. 66, Carraig-Na-Bhfear A.C. 65, St. Catherines (Cork) A.C. 54

The next batch shows those between 20 and 50 adult members. Those clubs with fewer than 20 adult members tend to be clubs for juveniles.

Again, most are either growing or staying steady.

Taking the county of Cork as a whole, this is the number of Senior and Master runners in athletic clubs...

As you can see, the growth in the number of Masters (aged 35 and above) has been impressive over the last few years. This would be mainly due to what are called 'recreational runners' joining athletic clubs and helping to swell the ranks.

One point of concern is that the number of Seniors (adults under 35) has dropped in 2015 by 12%.

It's probably worth mentioning as well that this doesn't represent the full story as one of the biggest growth areas in recent times has been that of running groups who are not members of athletics Ireland. There are now a number of these throughout the county and some are quiet large. e.g. Wibbly Wobbly Wonders in Ballyvolane, Happy Feet in Blarney, etc.

The latest stats from Athletics Ireland can be found HERE