Club Focus: Waterpark RFC

Waterpark RFC are hopeful that the emergence of former underage player Jack O’Donoghue with Munster can be followed by the many talented youngsters coming through the ranks at Ballinakill.

The Waterford club, founded in 1925, boasts an extremely impressive underage section with the men’s team competing in Division One of the Munster Junior League.

The facilities at Ballinakill are excellent with three pitches, a large clubhouse and changing rooms with a huge amount of work done over the last 10 years.

There are now 180 players in the mini section, the most the club have ever had, with another 150 players in the youths.

The main focus for the minis is on enjoyment, having fun and getting games. The club cater for boys and girls and provide a friendly environment for the younger players to socialise and make friends. The Waterpark minis

The success of the youth section is the envy of most clubs in the country having won both provincial and All-Ireland titles in recent years.

The club’s first major success came in 1938 when, under the name of Waterpark Old Boys, they claimed the Munster Junior Cup.

Waterpark became a senior club following another Junior Cup success in 1974. A major highlight of their time as a senior club took place in 1984 when they reached the final of the Munster Senior Cup but lost to Young Munster at Thomond Park.

Gerry Walsh was a player with the club when they turned senior in 1975 and is now the Director of Rugby.

He said: “Like most other clubs, the senior team is in a period of transition at the moment. Basically we’re trying to establish a strong base to try and plan again because a lot of the guys we thought would come through our youth section don’t end up playing with us. Many of them go away somewhere to college or they chance their arm at a higher level. So we lose a lot of players because we have no university in Waterford.”

Waterpark PRO David Bowe is part of the club’s very strong youth system as coach of the U-18s. The club have consistently challenged for the top honours across all age-groups and they show no sign of stopping with the U-16s and U18’s into the semi-finals of the league this weekend.

“Since 2006 we’ve always been there or thereabouts in the Munster competitions,” said Bowe.

“This year we have 32 players on our U-18 team so the training is always competitive and fellas can’t rest on their laurels, they have to be on the mark so that makes a difference. There’s some really talented kids around here and they want to do well and do the best they can for the club” he added.

Bowe saw Jack O’Donoghue develop from an early age at the club and sees no reason why some of the other young players at the club can’t follow his lead.

Waterpark's Alex Molloy in action during last season’s Munster Clubs Under 16 Final

“Jack started with us in the minis and he played all the way up. He has played on our U-17 team that won the All-Ireland and that gave him the stage to move on to Munster Youths then Irish Youths so it’s about getting players noticed.

“If we can get them out of the East Munster league and into the Pan Munster competition and get them playing in Thomond Park, that makes a difference to us. That’s what helped Jack too, he was a very driven individual and always wanted to be the best at what he was doing. In fairness to him, he worked a lot himself but the club gave him an opportunity to make his way in rugby and follow that path.“

The club’s struggle to maintain their promising young players stems from their relegation back to junior status in 2008.

“Only eight players in our current adult team came through the system at the club,” says Bowe. “And over the last nine years around 30 Waterpark players have played for the Munster youths and out of that 30, only six of them still play with the club.”

Translating the underage success to senior level is proving difficult for the club but they are doing their utmost to maintain the players.

“The problem for us comes when our players go on to play for the Munster Youths,” admits Bowe.

The Waterpark U-13s

“Then other clubs come and pick our players up.
The lads want to play at the highest level they can so they go to UCC, UL, Shannon or Dublin. So that’s a problem and we’re still trying to solve it but hopefully over the next four or five years that will happen.

“We’re putting a plan in place for the guys in the U-16s and U-18s this year. We’ll find out what college they’re going to and what courses they’re going to do and try to direct them to do the courses in WIT and stay in Waterford.

“It’s not that easy because kids want to play a higher standard of rugby than we can provide at the moment,” Bowe conceded.