May 20, 2015
IAFA makes Irish sporting history – first ever national level mens game with two female officials.
American football officials, Carla Nico and Kelly Dwyer made history last Sunday, when for the first time ever in Irish sport, a mens’ national league game in a field sport was presided over by a crew which included two women.
Carla and Kelly were part of five person crew which officiated the Mullingar Minotaurs versus Waterford Wolves game played in Mulligar on 17th May. Carla, who recently moved to Ireland, is an experienced official who previously officiated at semi-pro level in Brazil. Kelly qualified as a Level 1 official in Ireland earlier this year.
The Irish American Football Association is no stranger to making firsts in female participation. Coach Sarah Matthews of the Dundalk Mavericks is believed to be the only female Head Coach of a mens’ team playing at national league level in any sport in Ireland. Sarah follows in the footsteps of Lara Sleator of the Carrickfergus Knights, who coached for a number of years before becoming the Knights team manager.
www.americanfootball.ie
May 20, 2015
2015 World Taekwondo Championships – Chelyabinsk Russia
The Irish Taekwondo Union were represented at the World Taekwondo Federation [WTF] World Championships by 5 players who competed from 12-18th May at the Tractor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Local athlete & April Sportsperson of the Month, Jack Woolley was in action on 22nd May in his -54kg division. The youngster, still a junior in age at just 16 was selected to attend this senior event due to a promising start to his senior career, where he has picked up major ranking points this year at 3 major events, the US Open, Dutch Open & Spanish Open.
Jack Woolley –World Championship quarter Finalist 2015
The draw for the event saw Jack seeded in the event giving him a 1st round match against non seeded Bulgarian Kayolan Binev which proved to be a good opening match where Jack remained in control throughout winning the match 12-4.The second round appeared to be a much tougher test where Jack drew Aleksander Kuvarsin from Turkmenistan who had defeated the world no 6 from USA in his preliminary match. ‘With no video footage online to study this was a case of going into the match quite blind’, noted Coach Taaffe. The closely fought 3 round thriller ended 8-6 in favour of the South Dublin Taekwondo player. After a short break, Jack proceed to compete with the Azerbaijani Mikayil Alyiev in what was to prove to be his most taxing challenge to date. The rigorous energy sapping match took almost 12 minutes with a long break for a video replay in the final round, Coach Taaffe noted, ‘To be honest,. the video replay was not only to seek the possible head points, both players were running on empty due to the physicality of the match, and i felt Jack could use the breathing space to guarantee he could hold onto his lead.’.
The match ended 21-13 in favour of Team Ireland, which put Jack into a n unprecedented 1/4 final match with Brazil’s Venitilon Teixeira. The player & coach pairing of Woolley & Taaffe were familiar with the Brazilian as Jack had shared the podium with the player earlier in the year in Orlando, where the Brazilian won the US Open. This match was the end of the road for Jack, who’s kicking, match management & style of taekwondo inspired a nation back home who were watching with so much support. The match finished 21-7 to Brazil who ran away with the lead early in the match and led to Ireland’s struggle to claw the points back. There was agony & ecstasy within a few hours in Russia, the emotions in the ring and outside were incredible. This collection of performances led to Jack being placed 5th at the world Championships in a field of 67 players.
After the event Jack noted many thanks to all who assisted him, ‘Thanks to the Irish Taekwondo Union and my Club South Dublin Taekwondo for all the support. I am looking forward to getting back to training & assisting others back home in return for all this help.’
Jack had traveled to Russia alongside a large Irish delegation of 5 players & 4 officials. The team selected was Ireland’s largest at this level for some time, which speaks volumes on the development of WTF Taekwondo in Ireland currently. Other players who attended include Conor Grassick [-68kg], Shane Lynch [+87kg], Claire Toland [-57kg] and Chloe Aboud [-67kg], who was formerly of the ITF Style of Taekwondo, and crossed over to seek possible Olympic Championships representation. Each of the 5 team members trained and competed together proudly as integral parts of the overall performance, and whilst the other 4 unfortunately did not win their opening match, all had given very respectable performances against some of the worlds best opposition.
The event was attended by over 1000 athletes from the 205 member nations of the WTF. Current World and Olympic Champions graced the mats which were inspiring to the travelling Irish Team. The team officials included President Martin Fleming, Coaches Robert Taaffe & Brian McKenna & Head of Team Laura McKenna. The delegation of 9 made some strong in-roads into Ireland’s standing at this level and it is hoped many more Irish Taekwondo players or can reap the rewards from a grueling trip to Russia.
There were some ancillary moments to note from the Worlds Championships. President Fleming, who is also a European Taekwondo Union Council Memebr attended the 2015 WTF General Assembly where many decisions on the future of the WTF are typically made. There was also an astonishing opening ceremony to the event where a major milestone in World Taekwondo was made where the WTF had invited the ITF Demonstration team to come along to perform. Both teams excited the crowd with their spectacular performances and showed a great sign of solidarity between the 2 groups most of whom came from North Korea [ITF] and South Korea [WTF], which is further to developments last year where The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) have signed a historic memorandum which will open up dialogue and increase collaboration between the two organizations for the benefit of the entire global sport.
WTF President Chungwon Choue and ITF President Ung Chang signed the memorandum on Aug. 21, 2014 in a ceremony in Nanjing, China during the Youth Olympic Games.
As part of the agreement, athletes currently registered to the WTF and ITF will be free to compete in one and the other’s competitions under the rules of each organization, creating new exciting opportunities and ensuring that the world’s very best taekwondo athletes can compete in the world’s very best taekwondo tournaments.
Baku European Games 2015 Update
Chloe Aboud will go straight back into training when she returns from her World Championship debut. Chloe continues her preparation as Ireland’s only Taekwondo practitioner in the inaugural European games next month.
Chloe Aboud
Coach Robert Taaffe
Jack Woolley and ITU President Martin Fleming
May 6, 2015
The MARS Milk Play Fund has now been officially launched. Through the Fund, there will be 49 cash rewards donated over a five month period to sports individuals, projects and clubs.
Each week, two deserving applicants will be selected to receive a donation of €300. There will also be a monthly €1,000 award, where the public can vote for their favourite sports entry.
There will also be some amazing gadgets given away as part of the total fund.
For more information, please go to http://www.marsmilk.com/
Apr 23, 2015
The Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD, launched Active Schools Week (ASW) 2015 on 20th April 2015 in Our Lady’s National School Adare Co. Limerick, supported by the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar. Jointly sponsored by the Department of Education and Skills and Healthy Ireland, it reflects their commitment to the promotion of students’ well-being and interests. All schools, primary, post primary and Youthreach centres are encouraged to include the Week as part of their annual school calendar. It is also an integralpart of the Active School Flag initiative which recognises schools that strive to achieve a physically educated and physically active school community. To date over 480 schools have been awarded the Active School Flag.
Highlighting her support for the project, Minister O’Sullivan said: “I would encourage schools across the country to get more active. It is a wonderful opportunity for promoting physical activity and raising awareness of Physical Education. I hope that all schools will get involved and I would ask that schools and parents encourage students to participate. We know how important it is to be physically active and I believe that Active Schools Week can enhance the PE experience of children and young people.”
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar welcomed the launch of Active School Week saying: “I’m really keen to promote more physical activity in schools. Children who are active from an early age are more likely to live healthy and happy lives, and society as a whole will benefit. Sport and physical activity have so many benefits for physical and mental health and wellbeing. The Active School Week is a great opportunity for the whole-school community to work together and be more physically active, and create a more Healthy Ireland”
The Federation of Irish Sport and many National Governing Bodies of Sport are lending their support to the Initiative, and will work with schools to help promote physical activity and to raise awareness about the physical activity opportunities available in every community. Ireland Active leisure centers are also demonstrating their support for ASW by offering complimentary swim passes, class passes and use of their facilities to local schools.
Healthy Ireland is the national framework for action to improve the health and wellbeing for people living in Ireland. Its main focus is on prevention and keeping people healthier for longer.
The Active School Flag is administered and based in Mayo Education Centre, Castlebar, Co Mayo. For further information visit http://www.activeschoolflag.ie/home.html
Apr 23, 2015
‘Maximising the Impact of Sport Tourism’
4 Events over 2 Days with 25 speakers from the world of sport, tourism, events, marketing, sponsorship and destination development.
Overview:
The second European Sport Tourism Summit will be in held in Thomond Park Stadium, Limerick on Thursday 14th May with an industry experts sessions on Friday 15th May. These expert sessions are designed for tourism and sport industry practitioners to learn from experts in of event planning, bidding, operations, impact evaluation and digital marketing. This year the event will also host the first European Sport Tourism Awards which will be held in King Johns Castle, Limerick. An academic conference will also run on Friday 15th May at UL Sport.
Speakers;
Among the line-up of speakers includes;
- Major Events: Ryder Cup, Commonwealth Games, 2015 Rugby World Cup, UEFA, Grand Depart Tour de France
- Event Development & Marketing: IMG, Manchester City, London 2012, Social Media Experts
- Industry Development: Sport UK, SportCal, International Triathlon Union, Event Ireland
- Tourism Development: Sport Event Denmark, Visit Flanders, Tourism Ireland, Failte Ireland, Visit England
Who should attend;
The event will attract delegates from sport tourism, international and regional events, sport organisations, sport marketing & sponsorship, tourism industry, tourism marketing, local authorities and national destination marketing companies.
Registration details
Registration: http://sporttourismsummit.ie/event-registration/ (FIS Members select discount ticket- €250)
Schedule;
Thursday 14 May
- 9.30am Shannon Airport European Sport Tourism Summit, Thomond Park Stadium
- 7.30am Shannon Group European Sport Tourism Awards, King Johns Castle
Friday 15th May
- 9.30am Shannon Airport Industry Expert Sessions, Thomond Park Stadium
- 9.30am Shannon Airport Academic Conference, UL SPORT
Delegates can register for both days or attend one day only.
Nominations for the European Sport Tourism Awards are now open on www.sporttourismsummit.ie
Apr 23, 2015
Gymnastics is one of the oldest Olympic sports and largest sports in the World.
The World Gymnastics Championships is broadcast to a global TV audience of around 200 million people and at every Olympic Games, gymnastics is one of the first sports to sell out.
In Ireland Gymnastics Ireland is one of the largest Olympic sports in the country, while also being one of the most inclusive so male or female, young or old, able bodied or disabled there is something for you.
Physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance are the sports core components however participation in gymnastics activity also develops confidence, creativity & leadership, not to mention a healthy body and mind. Gymnastics also promotes an active, physical lifestyle and develops key motor skills.
There are 8 disciplines that fall under the umbrella of gymnastics, four Olympic & four Non-Olympic…
Olympic Disciplines
Men’s Artistic, Women’s Artistic, Rhythmic gymnastics & Trampoline Gymnastics
Non-Olympic Disciplines
Tumbling, Acrobatics, Aerobics and Gymnastics for All
Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by FIG – the International Gymnastics Federation. There are also 4 continental gymnastics unions, including the European Gymnastics Union – UEG.
Gymnastics Ireland is the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Ireland. We are affiliated to both FIG & UEG in addition to the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and are recognised as such by the Irish Sports Council (ISC).
It remains the aim of Gymnastics Ireland to firmly establish Gymnastics as a core Irish sport and provide opportunities for all members of Irish society to participate in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest sports in the world.
Gymnastics Ireland 2015 and beyond…
2015 is a particularly busy year – both on our national competition side and for our international gymnasts.
On the national competition front we kicked off the New Year with the WAG Level 1 in DCU where approx. 350 gymnasts competed in the first competition of the 2015 season.
In February we took delivery of around €340,000 worth of equipment from Janssen Fritsen/Eurotramp and the busy events schedule continued with over 300 gymnasts taking part in the Trampoline/Tumbling Grand Prix, Rhythmic Novice & MAG Levels 1-3 and over 650 gymnasts participating in the WAG Level 2-5.
March also saw us host the first of our two internationals of 2015, the Acrobatics Celtic Cup. With visiting delegations from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Scotland prevailed as the overall winner, while both Team Ireland & Wales were joint runners up. There were some standout performances from the Irish team however the 11-16 FIG Team finishing in 1st place was a particular highlight. Following the success of this event we now look forward to hosting the 2015 Northern European Championships in UL Sport Arena in September.
On the international circuit Ellis O’Reilly & Andrew Smith stepped out at the WAG/MAG World Cup in Cottbus, the highlight being Andrew’s 10th place finish on Floor. Kieran Behan also competed in the World Challenge Cup in Slovenia placing 19th on both Floor & Rings. Gymnastics also will be one of the largest Irish teams that will compete in June at the European Games in Baku, while our Olympic Qualification starts in late October at the 2015 World Championship in Glasgow.
The next quarter will be just as busy on the national event front with May in particular shaping up as a month of National Championships.
2015 will also see us introduce our new annual flagship participation based event – ‘The Floor’. This event will provide member clubs with the opportunity to put on an entertainment spectacle in front of an enthusiastic crowd of gymnastics fans. The aim of this event is to create an annual showcase where our member clubs pull together a performance to show everyone just how skilful, fun, entertaining & exciting our sport is.
Finally 2015 marks a key milestone in the development of our organisation and sport in Ireland as construction has commenced on the National Gymnastics Training Centre within the new National Indoor Arena at the National Sports Campus in Dublin. This state-of-the-art facility will provide gymnastics Ireland with a world class base of operations for everything from our education system through to our participation & performance programmes in addition to providing a home for our national & international events programme.
Email: ask@gymnasticsireland.com
Telephone: 01 – 625 1125
Website: www.gymnasticsireland.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/GymnasticsIreland
Twitter: @GymnasticsIre
