My name is Barry Prenderville I am a former professional footballer , I played with clubs in the UK (Coventry City ,Hibernian & Oldham Athletic) & Ireland (Shelbourne , St Patrick’s Athletic & Shamrock Rovers).
I have worked for Maynooth University & the FAI as a soccer development officer since 2008.
As a person who has seen football at all levels in the UK & Ireland I realised how difficult it is to have a successful professional career in football. The reality is that a very small percentage of our young players who sign for UK clubs actually make a living from the game never mind get a chance to play at the very highest level.
As you will probably agree education & educating our young people is so important.
So with my experience which I have outlined above & working at a University I decided to help young soccer players/students to attain a University education by setting up the Maynooth University Soccer Scholarship Programme.
The programme caters for male & female players/students, many of which have played underage International & representative soccer at various level.
The coaching staff are highly qualified Uefa Pro A & B Licence coaches.
The supports which scholarships are entitled to are on the information leaflets attached.
In the last 3/4 years Maynooth University soccer has established itself as one of the top performing soccer programmes in Ireland.
The majority of our scholarships play League of Ireland (Male) or Womens National League (Female).
Being a former St Patrick’s Athletic FC player I approached the club to see if they would consider becoming partners with Maynooth University in our scholarship programme. The partnership has been ongoing since 2010.
There have been in the region of 25 players which have come through the joint programme in that time. With many more involved with other LOI clubs.
Some names you may recognise , Jake Carroll now of Hartlepool Utd ,Sean Hoare , Jamie McGrath , Darragh Markey , Jack Bayly & Conor O Malley all who have signed professional contracts and remain at St Pats FC .
The above have graduated with degrees or are in the process of doing so.
Benefits
- Naming rights of the programme
- Name on all team playing kits( 8 squads competing annually)
- Signage around soccer area’s within the University
- Main sponsor for the Collingwood Cup 2017 (February) Hosted by Maynooth University. Third level soccer’s highest profile competition.
- Promotion by the Maynooth University communications department
- Admissions office to distribute information to every second level school nationally
- 10,000 students & 1500 staff being made aware of the PST Sports Ltd name
- Link with KDUL (Kildare Underage League) who have a page weekly in the Kildare nationalist.
- Link with St Patrick’s Athletic FC as you can see above many of our scholarships are current or former players of the football club
Would you’re company be interested in supporting & putting their name to this extremely valuable programme in the Kildare area.
The support would be used to improve the programme offering that we provide for the scholarship players/students on the Maynooth University Soccer Scholarship Programme.
If you are interested I can meet or speak to you on the phone my contact details are below.
I will look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards
Barry
Barry Prenderville
Soccer Development Officer
Maynooth University Department of Sport
Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
T: +353 1 7086054 M: 0867954367