A crowd of 5,000 people is expected to attend Shine 2022, a new one-day business and sport extravaganza in the grounds of the spectacular Emo Court next month.
At the very centre of it will be Ireland’s Fittest Club competition, a gruelling event where clubs can compete for a prize fund of €10,000.
Taking place on Saturday, May 21, the challenges facing the teams will be similar to Ireland’s Fittest Family – but will be all on the same day, beginning at 9am and concluding with a grand finale at 4.30pm.
The cost for a club to enter is €600 with the winning team getting €6,000, the runners-up €3,000 and third-placed receiving €1,000.
A number of local clubs – across various codes – are already confirmed.
Activities will include running, crawling, lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling and dragging.
The competition will begin with a Qualifier where the 32 teams will be whittled down to 16 who will advance to the semi-finals.
The remaining 16 teams will be split into two groups of eight for a new range of tasks with the top four in each going into the final.
The eventual winner will be crowned Ireland’s Fittest Club.
Organised by Laois Chamber of Commerce, the Office of Public Works and Emo GAA, Shine 2022 is a one-day event that will allow “Laois businesses to showcase their products and services in a tradeshow style event”.
It will simultaneously host a gruelling ‘Fittest Club in Ireland’ competition comprised of 32 sports clubs from around the country.
“Clubs from different sporting backgrounds including GAA, basketball, soccer, athletics, and swimming will battle it out in front of 5,000 spectators,” say the organisers.
“Only one club can earn the crown of Ireland’s Fittest Club.
“The team will be made up of six athletes. Each event requires four athletes to participate, with a minimum of one female member in each event (each team can also use two subs, as per rules).”
The event will be free to attend.
Clubs can register their interest in taking part here.
Businesses wishing to have a stall can register here. A 3m x 3m exhibitor space is €60 for Chamber members and €90 for non-Chamber members while a 6m x 6m space is €100 for members and €150 for non-members.
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