Katie's Gold Medal: Sporting Event of the Year

Dec 21, 2012

Katie Taylor’s gold medal at the London Olympics was the greatest sporting achievement of the year according to the 2012 Sport Sentiment Index published by Pembroke Communications. Taylor who was announced on Thursday as the Irish Times/Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year must surely be in the running to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year at the RTE Sport Awards to be held on December 23^rd.

The Index also found that 38% of those surveyed felt that the Irish Team that competed at the Paralympic Games was the team of the year.

Key Findings from the 2012 Sport Sentiment Index:

• Walking, running, cycling and swimming attracting huge numbers
• Katie Taylor winning gold is greatest sporting achievement of 2012
• Irish Paralympic team voted “Team of the Year” by 38%
• 53% say Katie Taylor Ireland’s greatest current sports star
• 89% believe Irish sporting success has a positive impact on the country’s reputation

Just Sport Ireland Increases Number of Sports Signed Up to 33 in 2012

Dec 20, 2012

2012 marked a period of real progress for Just Sport Ireland, the independent dispute resolution facility, set up by the Federation of Irish Sport to provide a specialised, fast and cost effective mechanism for the resolution of sporting disputes. More than 30 sports now have provision for JSI within their rules.

JSI provides both an arbitration and mediation service for Irish Sport. JSI can also on request provide qualified people to sit on the internal disciplinary panels of sports bodies.

The provision for alternative dispute resolution within the rules of sporting organisations is provided for in the Programme for Government. It is also a key objective in the Irish Sports Council’s current statement of strategy. Indeed by 2014 the Irish Sports Council, which supports JSI through the Federation, will require all sporting organisations to provide for alternative dispute resolution within their governing rules.

The principle advantage of making provision for JSI within the rules of a sporting organisation is that it acts as a self-defence mechanism against the threat of court litigation. Dispute resolution with JSI is designed to be fast, cost effective and is dealt with by people with knowledge of sport in an entirely confidential environment.

It costs €150 to refer a dispute to JSI for mediation and €250 for arbitration. In 2012 the average cost of arbitration with JSI was €1,382 although parties may also incur additional legal costs if they appoint solicitors. The JSI process is however designed to be easy to use so that legal representation is not required.

This should be enhanced in early 2013 with the adoption of a new JSI Rulebook to further simplify and streamline the process making JSI even easier to use. 33 National Sporting Organisations have so far made provision for JSI within their rules with organisations as diverse as Special Olympics Ireland, Mountaineering Ireland, Athletics Ireland and Deaf Sports Ireland all signed up.

If your organisation has not yet made provision for Just Sport Ireland we would ask that you contact the Federation’s  Support Services Officer to find out how JSI can help your sport. Conn can be reached at 01-6251155, registrar@justsport.ie or visit the website http://www.justsport.ie/

A brief summary of the service is outlined for download here.

€1.3 Million Reduction in Sports Council Funding for 2013

Dec 6, 2012

Budget 2013 sees a reduction in €1.3 million in Irish Sport Council funding for next year. The 2.9% reduction on the Irish sport council’s  €44.5 million allocation for 2012 is 2.1% less than the anticipated cut of 5%. Speaking about the impact of Budget 2013 on sport, Minister Varadkar said:

“The boxers, paralympians, individual athletes, our national teams and local and county sportspeople lifted the nation’s spirits throughout the year. We are immensely grateful for that as a nation. Moreover, rising levels of participation in sport suggest that our policies are working and investment in sport is producing a real return. In recognition of this, I am reducing the planned cut in funding to the Sports Council from 5% to 2.9% for 2013.”

The estimates for 2013 outline that a further €57 million in expenditure savings will need to be found across the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in 2014. With €2.6 million of those savings earmarked to come from sport it remains important for Irish Sport to continue to press home the message of the varied contribution sport makes to Ireland whilst at the same time looking at diversifying the income streams available to it. Much work remains to be done in this regard particularly when it comes to incentivising the private sector to invest in Irish Sport.

Read the Federation of Irish Sport’s pre-budget letter to Ministers Varadkar & Ring

Federation of Irish Sport launches new Sport Insurance Scheme

Dec 6, 2012

The Federation launched the new Sport Insurance Scheme on 5^th December with a group of over 30 sporting bodies attending a reception at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin.

The new group insurance scheme has been specifically designed for National Governing Bodies, sports clubs and individuals and follows an extensive tender process undertaken by the Federation on behalf of our members.

The scheme is intended to ensure that our members get a good deal on insurance and we hope this will allow NGBs to concentrate on what really matters – the continued development of their sport.

BHP Insurances Ltd has been appointed as brokers to the scheme and they have been brokering community group schemes since 1998. Together with IPB Insurance, the underwriters of the scheme, they will ensure that should the need arise, members will receive the back up of a fast efficient and experienced claims service.

FIND OUT HOW THIS SCHEME COULD HELP YOU

All Island Sport and Physical Activity Research Body Convenes in Armagh

Dec 6, 2012

The Federation attended the inaugural meeting of the All Island Sport and Physical Activity Pedagogy Partnership (AI-SPAPP) in Armagh on the 8&9^thNovember which was convened by Dr Fiona Chambers, UCC and Professor Deirdre Brennan, University of Ulster.

L to R: Peter Smyth, research manager Irish Sports Council, Dr. Fiona Chambers, UCC Sean Kelly MEP, Sharon Haughey, Deirdre Brennan and Paul Donnelly (Policy planning & research manager, Sport NI. Photo: John Murphy

The body which was launched by Sean Kelly, MEP, intends to bring together academic researchers, NGBs, athletes, young people, policy makers, practitioners as well as community and business leaders to devise a research strategy that will help encourage lifelong physical activity.At the opening session on Thursday evening each member of the group were asked to pitch, in ten minutes or less, their three research priorities and the Federation identified:

1. Economic benefit of participation in sport to the health system

(e.g. reduction of health spend)

2. Educational benefit of participation in sport for children/young adults

(e.g. improved learning/results)

3. Economic impact of sport to Ireland

(e.g. jobs created, money to exchequer, areas of potential)

Whilst some research has been carried out in Ireland on the economic and social impact of sport, this needs to be updated and it would be useful to have annual research and empirical data to outline the positive impact sport has in Ireland in numerous areas e.g. Health, Education, Tourism. This research would allow the sporting community show to government that sport has real measureable benefits which should be supported on an on-going basis.

The Friday session, at the North South Ministerial Council Buildings in Armagh, broke the group into their areas of expertise and sought to tease out possible terms of reference for the group, to narrow down research objectives and to identify actions for the next meeting in March 2013.

The Seminar finished on Friday afternoon and the delegates headed off to the four corners of the island with much to think of and work to do before the next meeting in the new year.

Mr Seán Kelly, MEP, said initiatives such as AI-SPAPP were important if we wished to maximize our physical, human and intellectual resources for the benefit of the public. “We need to have our brightest minds informing policy, impacting practice and preparing preventive strategies to offset the challenges of a post-modern world that has, perhaps unwittingly, engineered physical inactivity.”

Further Reading:

http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=21286

http://thecorknews.ie/articles/adult-inactivity-examined-8143

http://www.ucc.ie/en/news/summary-173746-en.html

http://news.ulster.ac.uk/releases/2012/6640.html

€26M for 615 new sports projects announced by Ring

Dec 3, 2012

Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring has announced almost €26 million in new funding for local sports projects across the country, the first round of sports capital funding in four years.

Speaking at the announcement Minister Ring, said: ‘I am excited about the allocations being made today. These allocations will benefit people in every county by giving them more opportunities to get involved in sport, whatever their ability. This funding will allow a diverse array of sports clubs and groups to build and improve much-needed facilities, or to purchase sports equipment’.

The 2012 round of the Sports Capital Programme is the first round of the programme since 2008. New criteria were introduced for this year’s programme with a particular emphasis on clubs in disadvantaged areas.

Between 1998 and 2010, €140 per person was provided in sports capital funding across the country. However, the allocations to individual counties varied significantly. While the best performing county got €196 of sports funding on a per capita basis, other counties got only a little over half of that. Therefore on this occasion funding has been allocated on a per-capita basis to each county with a weighting for past performance.

A total of 2,170 applications were received, the highest number of applications ever received under the Programme. These applications sought a total of €229 million in funding. Further allocations of €4 million will be made to national and regional projects in the coming weeks.

The Sports Capital Programme is the Government’s main vehicle for supporting the development of sports facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment.

Main features of the 2012 Sports Capital Programme are:

• Total fund of €30 million available for allocation.
• Some clubs previously excluded were able to apply this year. For the first time clubs and organisations which do not own their land or do not have a long lease were able to apply for modest grants of up to €25,000 to upgrade facilities.

The allocations announced include funding for:

o   Natural grass sports pitches, tracks and courts (including pitch drainage)
o   Floodlighting
o   Artificial sports pitches, tracks, courts and multi-use games areas
o   Security fencing and ball stop netting
o   Hurling walls / handball alleys
o   Building or refurbishment of dressing rooms, showers and toilets
o   Building or refurbishment of sports halls and gyms
o   Non-personal sports equipment
o   Shared facilities
o   Any other capital projects that are clearly sporting in nature and that will increase participation in sport or improve performance

See the complete list of allocations here