Pure skill facility proves big hit for sports lovers

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

For sports enthusiasts, Pure Skill in Galway West Retail Park in Knocknacarra is a tiny taste of heaven.

After all, it’s not every day you get to immerse yourself in ten different sports and, at the same time, strike a balance between having a great deal of fun in a competitive – but less stressful – environment.

It’s quite a concept to bring together the skill elements of an array of different field sports – from hurling to rugby to cricket – under the one roof and challenge patrons to post a reasonable score out of 100. To date, the highest has been registered by Carnmore hurler, JP O’Connell. That score is 72.

For many clubs across the sporting spectrum, Pure Skill has been a useful tool in cultivating team spirit and Managing Director Patrick Flanagan says one person who has certainly been a great supporter of the facility in this regard has been Clare hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald.

“We get a fair few senior clubs into us but I have to say the most supportive county in terms of clubs is Clare. Davy Fitz’, his county and his club have been by far the most supportive and it shows in what they are doing on the field with their youth. All I can say, he is proactive. You don’t get that level of pro-activity in every county.

“I am not saying that to annoy the Galway guys but that is the truth. The man is proactive with his clubs and his county. It is a good bonding tool for him and he obviously sees something in it. Now, in saying that, we had the Galway U-21 footballers in here on Saturday night. So, they do support us as well.”

No doubt, Pure Skill – Fusion of Sport – is an impressive facility. Coming in at 25,000 square foot, the indoor sports and leisure destination comprises of ten sections on the main circuit along with an interactive sports room and a dining area upstairs.

Open five years in April, the original idea was the brainchild of Adrian Reen, who created a manual version of the programme, while the man who brought it to life in its current automated form is Reen’s fellow managing director, Flanagan.

He explains the facility was originally built as a prototype to see if it would work on a small scale rather than bringing it to a larger city and later finding out they would be unable to cater for a larger volume of traffic.

“Galway is not big enough to utilise a product like this to its maximum capacity or capability so it will always be a challenge here to bring enough people in to keep something like this at its optimum level,” he admits.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.