Springfield Ramblers Under 15’s head to Barcelona for Costa Brava Cup

LtR: Nathan O’Connell (Springfield Ramblers), Pakie Kelly (Springfield Ramblers), Ian O’Rourke of Vit-Hit Drinks & Brian O’Rourke (Springfield Ramblers). Photo: Mike Bardsley

This coming Wednesday 23rd March, Springfield Ramblers U15 Premier Division team will travel to Barcelona to participate in the Copa Costa Brava, a three-day tournament starting on Friday which will see them play two games on the opening day against Italian opponents ASD Cartigliano and later that day English team “Dronfield Town FC. Saturday will see them line out against German team “SC Ayyildiz Remscheid, with their final group game against Spanish team Sant Pol.

Depending on their performance and results, Sunday will see the side compete in the knock-out stages, either in the upper or lower division.

The team’s attendence at this tournament was made possible thanks to the many fundraising activities carried out by the parents of the players involved and also the generosity of individual donations.

The team received a private donation of €1,000 and also a further donation of €1,000 from Whelan Stores. One large donation of €5,000 which the team received came from the co-owner of Vit-Hit Drinks, a former Springfield player himself, Ian O’Rourke.

Ian, on behalf of Vit-Hit drinks donated €2,000 which was used to reduce the cost of the trip to the parents of the players and then a further €3,000 worth of kit for the players and coaches attending to ensure the side looks as professional as other participating teams will. The sponsored kit includes a tracksuit, warm-up T-shirt and a gear bag all sporting the club badge.

Management team member,Brian O’Rourke, told cobh Edition ‘This will be a fantastic opportunity for the players to showcase their talent at a high level tournament playing against International opposition. We will do our best to represent both the club and the town of Cobh in the way we play in the tournament and how we interact with the other teams.

‘Again I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has supported us along the way in our fundraising efforts and if you are looking for a healthier alternative to sugary soft drinks you can’t go wrong with Vit-Hit low calorie vitamin packed drinks.

‘Also I’d like to thank Mike Bardsley and Cobh Edition for coming along to the new kit presentation by Ian O’Rourke of Vit-Hit on Saturday last at Pat O’Brien Park last Saturday afternoon.’