ISA Dubarry 6th Annual National Conference

The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) is delighted to announce its partnership with Dubarry of Ireland for the ISA Dubarry 6th Annual National Conference. The event will take place on the 3rd of March in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin to launch what will be one of the most exciting years for watersports in Ireland with so many major international events being hosted in Ireland as well as the participation of the Irish Olympic Sailing team in London 2012.
Dubarry of Ireland Marketing Director, Michael Walsh remarked “2012 is the celebration of Dubarry’s 75th year in business, having been established in 1937 in County Galway. Dubarry have had a very long association with sailing in Ireland down the years and we are delighted to sponsor this ISA National Conference in a year that is very special for us. We also have the Volvo Ocean Race coming to Galway with a strong on board Dubarry product presence on both Telefonica and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing”.

 

The ISA Conference has undergone a revamp for 2012. With many high profile events coming to Irish shores this year it is important for the ISA to provide a platform from which to increase awareness of sailing which in turn will drive incremental participation in the sport.

 

The one day conference, which will be facilitated by RTE broadcaster Fergal Keane, will host seminars and workshops across a range of interesting topics including the latest training and racing topics, raising money, running successful events and media management delivered by guest speakers.

Among the many seminars, Failte Ireland will be presenting their Marine Leisure Marketing Strategy for 2012 as well as detailing how international events benefit Ireland’s tourism industry. Learn more about the international events Ireland will be hosting including the ISAF Youth Worlds, Cork Week, Round Ireland, the Volvo Ocean Race and many more.

 

With three ISA Olympic Teams having already qualified for London 2012, the ISA High Performance Manager James O’Callaghan will be delivering an Olympic Update as we follow the athletes as they prepare for the pinnacle of four years of training.

 

ISA Chief Executive Harry Hermon states “We are delighted to welcome Dubarry on board as title sponsors of the ISA Annual Conference and wish them continued success during their 75th year in business. The ISA Dubarry 6th Annual National Conference is free for all ISA members and we are looking forward to a strong attendance at this year’s event so we can pull all resources together to drive the sport forward”.
For more information go to www.sailing.ie/Conference.

Camogie: Irish Daily Star Leagues throw in

The Irish Daily Star Leagues throw in on Sunday February 26th with Wexford bidding to record a hat-trick of Division One titles.

Wexford vice-captain Catherine O’Loughlin, Galway’s Tara Ruttledge,Waterfordskipper Nicola Morrissey and Aishling Jackson of Antrim joined President of the Camogie Association Joan O’Flynn and Irish Daily Star Sports Editor Eoin Brannigan for the launch of the Irish Daily Star Leagues atCrokeParkthis afternoon.

This is the second year of the partnership between the Camogie Association and the Irish Daily Star.

Speaking at this afternoon’s launch President of the Camogie Association Joan O’Flynn:

“It’s great to be getting ready for another year of top camogie action, commencing with our leagues this coming Sunday. The National Leagues are of huge significance and have formed an important launching pad for future All Ireland success later in the year as shown by our current Division One and Two champions, Wexford andWaterfordwho secured Senior and Premier Junior titles, respectively last September.

The Camogie Association values the enormous contribution of a strong national brand like the Irish Daily Star in promoting the National Leagues.”

Ger Colleran, MD of the Irish Daily Star said:

“We at the Irish Daily Star are committed to providing the very best coverage of sport at all levels inIrelandto almost 400,000 readers.

Last season was our first year as sponsor of the Irish Daily Star Camogie Leagues and it proved to be a great success. We got a great reaction to our enhanced weekly coverage of the games and this helped cement our position asIreland’s premier sporting newspaper.

We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Camogie Association over the years and we look forward to continuing this. We are honoured to be the title sponsor of the Irish Daily Star Camogie League again this year.”

Federation/Just Sport Ireland involved in EU Better Boards, Stronger Sport Project

Better Boards, Stronger Sport is a project that is led and inspired by the sports movement.  It is based on the premise that sports organisations must be empowered to take responsibility for setting the agenda and improving governance without regulation or compliance being dictated to them by outside regulators.  The project is based on the foundation that real improvement has to be driven by the sports movement itself because regulation will only achieve compliance and not drive improvement.

The project has received funding from the EU commission as part of the funding for Preparatory Action in the field of sport. The project empowers sport organisations to act on the issue of governance by establishing a broad understand of the key features of good governance in sport across Europe and developing case studies and tools to help organisations understand and achieve the features.

The project is a partnership:

Project Lead:

  • The Sport and Recreation Alliance (UK)

 

Project Partners:

  • Estonian Olympic Committee
  • European Athletes as Student
  • European Women in Sport
  • Finnish Sports Federation
  • Hungarian Sports Confederation
  • Just Sport Ireland
  • Polish Ministery of Sport and Tourism

The project will produce a toolkit that will include:

 

  • the key features for good sports boards,
  • case studies examples with action points outlining how to implement the features
  • tools to help sports organisations achieve the key features.

 

The project team will consult the sports movement on the development of each part of the project to ensure that the final toolkit is created by the sports movement and will drive improvement.

This project is created and directed by the sports movement for the sports movement.  There will be consultations that we will make you aware of and we encourage you to input into the project to help make it a success.

For more information on the project please contact: sarah.oconnor@irishsport.ie

Vacancy: Online Communications Coordinator (Internship) with Badminton Ireland

JOB PURPOSE

This internship is to help Badminton Ireland develop its online communications channels and to integrate these to the new website.

The successful applicant will be responsible for Badminton Ireland’s website, Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube channels.

KEY TASKS

  • Coordinating/developing Badminton Ireland’s online channels integrating with the new website in development.
  • Proactively publicising all activities to the online support base and maximising engagement
  • Liaising with Badminton Ireland’s communication staff as required
  • Preparing monthly online communication data reports

 

 

Vacancy: Participation Officer with Badminton Ireland

A resourceful, effective communicator to develop and implement badminton participation projects and strategies in relation to our network of voluntary members and help maintain our regional profile.

Delivering high quality badminton experiences to over 400 clubs across Ireland and working with local sports partnership to deliver a variety of Badminton Ireland programmes. The role will include managing the delivery of the ‘Badminton schools programme’ and ensuring a joined up pathway from school badminton to junior/senior club badminton in conjunction with the Local Sports Partnerships. Other duties will include coordinating the summer Holiday Zone promotion and supporting the rest of the Team as required with projects such as Parabadminton, Women in Sport, Age and opportunity, etc.

Experience and understanding of sports participation is desirable but paramount will be strong organisation and communication skills with the ability to work to tight deadlines. Some experience of marketing would be valuable. Being an integral part of a team is essential.

This is an opportunity to work in a highly motivated and supportive team during an inspirational year for sport with the London 2012 Olympic Games just around the corner.

KEY TASKS:

  • To implement, monitor and update the operational Plan around various participation projects providing regular reports as required
  • To co-ordinate, manage and implement an annual programme of participation events (including competitive and non-competitive events, taster opportunities and education)
  • Engage with key partners and agencies with regard to the delivery of Parabadminton.
  • To ensure that effective and appropriate liaison/communication is maintained with all relevant organisations and partners
  • To ensure that appropriate Policies and Procedures are in place and records maintained
  • To ensure systems are in place which will enable coaches and volunteers to be trained, developed
  • and motivated effectively
  • To ensure the Chief Executive is regularly updated on all aspects of work

Full details can be found here

Triathlon: Consistency the Key in African Cup

Cape Town ITU African Cup

Fresh from a 5th place finish last weekend, Gavin Noble is off to the Cape Town ITU African Cup for a sprint distance showdown this Sunday.

Germany’s 2007 World Champion Daniel Unger will be looking to repeat last weekend’s success when he took victory in a close fought Bridgetown ITU Pan American Cup. Competition will be tough however as the likes of 2006 World Champion Tim Don and some other top names look to start their seasons off with a bang.

Noble had set a mission of coming away with a top 10 placing in last weekend’s Bridgetown ITU Pan American Cup in Barbados and that goal is much the same this weekend. Triathlon Ireland High Performance Director, Chris Jones commented “Gavin has had a solid winters training and a good result in his first race of the season which provided some valuable Olympic ranking points.” “Consistency is the key and we’re just looking for another top 8 or top 10 performance which will continue to build ranking points.”

Meanwhile Aileen Morrison, ranked 11th in the world at the end of last season is preparing for the start of the 2012 race season at her base in Lisburn.  Morrison recently signed for top professional French triathlon team, Poissy, and hopes to start her season off with a top level duathlon in early March. Next on Morrison’s agenda will be the Quarteira ITU European Cup followed by a step up to the Ishigaki ITU World Cup in Japan where Morrison had a stunning 2nd place finish last year.

Image Credit ITU Media – Gavin Noble leads the pack on the 20km bike course.