Treaty United agrees new partnership for underage academy

HEALTH-services provider Legato has announced a new partnership with Treaty United which will see it become the lead partner for the club's academy.

The partnership, which marks the first anniversary of Legato’s launch in Limerick, will see the centre of excellence for the development of young League of Ireland female and male talent in the city and region being renamed the Treaty United Legato Academy.

The Treaty United Legato Academy works with boys’ teams for the Under-14, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 grades and girls for the Under-17 and Under-19 grades, all of which compete in League of Ireland football.

Despite being just two years old, the academy is already delivering green shoots for football in Limerick, with the girls' Under-17 team having claimed last year’s League of Ireland title and the academy growing further with the addition of an Under-19 girl’s squad for next season.

Legato opened its global R&D hub at the National Technology Park in Limerick a year ago and has already hired 145 associates, announcing its intention to grow numbers to 200 over the next twelve months.

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Through the development of AI and data analytics solutions, Legato’s R&D hub in Limerick will play a key role in healthcare by identifying individual and wider public interventions that will enable people to live healthier and longer lives. Its solutions will also identify efficiency gains in healthcare provision.

Its Country Head for Ireland John Patrick Shaw said that the Treaty United partnership was a perfect fit for two organisations with growth ambitions.

“Legato is all about transforming people’s lives through positive and proactive health interventions and we see this partnership with Treaty United as a perfect fit for us because Treaty United is also transforming lives by helping young people to reach their sporting potential.

“They have put Limerick back on the League of Ireland map but are really building for the future with this academy and it’s something that really grabbed our attention. We have met and spoken with officials and players at the academy and have been so impressed by their ambition, focus, their commitment to Limerick, as well as their achievements for such a young club. We’re looking forward to becoming their biggest fans and helping them to continue this exciting journey.”

Treaty United Chairman and co-founder Conn Murray said the announcement is a timely boost for the club, coming at the end of another promising season.

“We’ve just finished our season and this is a really exciting moment for us as it bodes well for next year and beyond. Legato made contact with us and asked what they could do to support us and we felt that becoming title sponsors of our Academy would be an ideal partnership because both organisations are ambitious and very much in growth mode.

“Also, Legato’s ‘Think Limitless’ brand proposition is a concept we very much buy into that as what we are doing is trying to teach these young kids to ‘think limitlessly’, to follow their dreams and believe in themselves.”