Dec 14, 2022
In association with Sport Ireland Coaching and the Lifes2good Foundation
Click here to view the series: Coaching Teenage Girls | Sport Ireland
14th December 2022: The Federation of Irish Sport has launched a three-part mini-series called ‘From the Ground Up’ highlighting the success and importance of the Coaching Teenage Girls in Sport workshops. This series showcases the successful implementation of the first of its kind coaching workshop being rolled out by Sport Ireland Coaching, with the support of the Lifes2good Foundation and Federation of Irish Sport.
Recognising the need for teenage girls to be coached in a manner suiting their physical and emotional needs, the Coaching Teenage Girls in Sport workshop was designed specially to drive retention of teenage girls in sport in conjunction with researchers from the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU. This targeted workshop content places an emphasis on Girls-first coaching, ensuring that teenage girls are given an equal opportunity to reach their sporting potential.
The Camogie Association have been instrumental in rolling out the pilot Coaching Teenage Girls in Sport workshops, delivering 28 workshops around the country. The ‘From the Ground Up’ mini-series showcases the implementation of the programme with St Colman’s GAA Club in Co. Galway as a case-study.
The Sport Ireland Coaching Unit is continuing to work with several National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships to implement these workshops for coaches from a wide variety of sporting disciplines. To date a total of 81 workshops have been delivered. Sport Ireland Coaching have also trained Coach Developers and Tutors from several National Governing Bodies including, Gymnastics Ireland, IRFU, LGFA, Rowing Ireland, Athletics Ireland, Canoeing Ireland, Special Olympics Ireland, and the Irish Athletics Boxing Association.
Link to view full promo series: Coaching Teenage Girls | Sport Ireland
Mary O’Connor, CEO Federation of Irish Sport said; “The Federation of Irish Sport was delighted to collaborate with Sport Ireland Coaching, Lifes2good Foundation and DCU Research team to bring this unique and much needed coaching workshop to fruition. While the course content is aimed specifically towards teenage girls, it is not sport specific. Therefore, it can be incorporated by a wide range of sporting organisations.”
Sheelagh Quinn, Sport Ireland Coaching Lead said; “It is essential that all teenage girls have positive meaningful movement experiences, if we are going to engage and retain them in sport and physical activity. We need to provide experiences that are focused on their needs, develop their competence and confidence in a supportive environment and an inclusive culture. The CTG workshop and resources are designed to support coaches to consider what they currently do and adapt their coaching practice to support the teenage girls in their care.”
Nora Stapleton, Sport Ireland Women in Sport Lead said; “The dropout rate of teenage girls from sport is well documented and reducing this is one of the key objectives of the Sport Ireland Policy on Women in Sport. Recent studies show that while 13% of girls in primary school achieve the national physical activity guidelines, this figure drops to 7% in secondary school (CSPPA 2018). The overarching aims of the Coaching Teenage Girls in Sport workshop is, can we support coaches to understand teenage girls better, to help them improve the training environment, to give the girls a voice in their sport, and ultimately, retain more girls in sport. The development of this workshop has also highlighted what can be created when organisations collaborate on projects, and we’d like to thank Lifes2good Foundation and the Federation of Irish Sport for their input to the development of this workshop.”
Maurice McQuillan, CEO Lifes2good Foundation said; “The positive influence of sport is well documented from improving self-confidence to increasing awareness of how to interact with, and support, others. Unfortunately, the relatively high dropout rate amongst teenage girls is also a well-documented fact. Therefore, Lifes2good Foundation is very happy to support the Federation of Irish Sport and Sport Ireland in this initiative that focuses specifically on coaching teenage girls. We are convinced that this will help drive retention rates across a variety of sports.”
Lizzy Broderick, Technical Development and Participation Manager, The Camogie Association:
“The Camogie Association are delighted to have collaborated on this initiative with Sport Ireland Coaching and the Federation of Irish Sport. The Coaching Teenage girls’ workshops have been received with tremendous positivity by camogie coaches throughout the country. The workshops provide coaches with the opportunity to self-reflect on their coaching styles and resources on how to adapt current coaching practices to reduce the number of teenage girls dropping out of the sport.”
Dec 12, 2022
‘Give the gift of nominating a standout volunteer in your club’
12th December 2022: The Federation of Irish Sport today announced the launch of the 2022 Volunteers in Sports Awards. The county awards will return to an in-person awards ceremony, recognising the army of volunteers who make sport happen in communities, in every county across the country. Nominations are now open at www.volunteersinsport.ie. The awards are #DedicatedtotheDedicated.
The 2022 awards will be celebrated in the Greater Dublin Area at the beginning of March 2023. Nominations are open from Monday 12th December via the dedicated awards website. Entries will close on the 25th January 2023. Nominations received will be shortlisted and put forward for consideration by the Judging Panel. Winners are chosen on a county basis, with 32 award recipients and one overall Outstanding Volunteer Award.
Volunteers are the cornerstone of sporting activities in clubs and communities nationwide. Unpaid, they give freely of their time, energy and are dedicated to the development of their chosen sport. Over 450,000 volunteers are needed on a weekly basis to run club activities, giving on average 3½ hours per week. The estimated economic value of volunteering in sport and physical activity is worth €1.5bn. Without them sports clubs would not exist.
Commenting on the announcement Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers, TD said, “It’s an honour to be part of the launch of these national awards, recognising the many volunteers who are the backbone of local sports clubs in every community across the country. They are responsible for making sure weekly training sessions take place, managing teams, organising inter-club matches, ensuring pitches, courts and clubhouses are kept operational most importantly bringing communities together through sport. Last year’s winners represented a wide variety of sports and all ages of volunteers. I would encourage all club members to reflect on who they know in their club that has made a difference and had a positive impact in their community through their dedication to their sport.”
Mary O’Connor, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport said, “I am delighted to launch the return of the Volunteers in Sport Industry Awards. While the awards were successfully hosted online for the last two years due to the pandemic, nothing beats the warmth and connectivity of gathering in-person to recognise the selfless work being done by volunteers behind the scenes at clubs and sporting organisations. There is a strong sense of volunteerism in sport in Ireland. We had been on track to reach the 2027 target of 55% for social participation, club membership or attendance at a sporting event. However, Covid has impacted this and we need to encourage more participation and volunteering to get back on track to reach this target. Shining a light on our volunteers in sport is a way to recognise and remind people of the invaluable role they play in society.”
Also present at the launch the of the awards was the 2020 Co. Kildare recipient Tom Egan of Salmon Leap Canoe Club and his daughter Irish Canoeist Jenny Egan a multiple World Championship and European Medallist and Multiple World Cup Medallist and currently ranked World No. 1.
To keep up to date with all the latest announcements visit www.volunteersinsport.ie and follow @iresport on twitter and on LinkedIn
#DedicatedtoheDedicated
Dec 7, 2022
Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers, today 7th Dec, published a Report on a Youth Stakeholder Forum on Sport that was held earlier this year at the National Sports Campus in Blanchardstown, Dublin.
- major Youth Stakeholder Forum attended by over 100 young people from across Ireland as well as Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Kellie Harrington
- event hears only one in seven young people sufficiently physically active
- range of conclusions contained in report to help keep more young people involved in sport including more physical activity friendly school uniform policies and greater access to sports facilities
“highly useful findings that will greatly help us to combat young people dropping out of sport in their teens.”
“The level of engagement and interest in this topic was evident all the way through the day-long forum, something that I found to be really encouraging. The variety and depth of the ideas and suggestions coming from these young people convinces me that we can solve this persistent problem in youth sport participation.
“The current situation where only one in seven young people are sufficiently physically active to benefit their long-term health is not an acceptable state of affairs. No matter what the reasons, we simply have to achieve improvements in this area. We now have a menu of potential remedies and actions which my department are now urgently examining.”
Discussions at the Forum revolved around findings of the Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2018, (CSPPA 2018). It found that only one in seven young people are sufficiently physically active to benefit their long-term health.
Describing this finding as “a highly worrying and concerning situation that clearly requires a robust and considered response”, Minister Chambers confirmed his determination to secure improvements in sport participation numbers. He highlighted the range of actions set out in the Sports Action Plan 2021-2023, published last November. One of the actions in that plan committed to the holding of this young people’s forum.
Minister Chambers also thanked Kellie Harrington for attending the forum:
“Kellie spoke with incredible passion and clarity on the challenges many young people face in staying involved in sport as they grow up. Her insights into her own childhood playing sport and her words of encouragement will no doubt be an inspiration to so many young people.”
9 main conclusions emerged from the Forum:
1. More sports facilities to address current gaps
2. Share existing facilities more, especially between schools and local communities
3. Prioritise the development of multi-sport facilities to improve range and variety
4. Develop coaching standards and capability
5. Have a physical activity friendly school uniforms policy
6. Better access for young people to sports facilities during peak hours after school
7. More active travel to and from sports facilities and improve public transport availability, especially in rural areas
8. More time dedicated to a more diverse physical education (PE) curriculum
9. Need for Gender equality
“It would be wrong to say that Ireland is doing poorly across the board. Far from it. At younger age levels, Ireland is doing reasonably well, with most school children being regularly active every day, whether through a formal sport, or just running about and playing in the outdoors. That is a good situation but there is unfortunately a very discernible deterioration in participation numbers during the post-primary period.
“The fact that this is a trend replicated in many other countries overseas is of no comfort to me or to the government and we need to change that trend. With the benefit of the views expressed by young people themselves at this forum I’m confident that we will change that trend for the better in the coming years.”
Source: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Nov 15, 2022
The Federation of Irish Sport welcomes the news announced today that Sport Ireland has today opened the application process for €35 million of funding in response to the rising energy costs crisis.
The purpose of the funding, which was secured as part of Budget 2023, is to support National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) and their affiliated Clubs with the rising energy costs associated with the provision of sport throughout the winter period.
Commenting on the opening of the application process, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, said: “Sports clubs and National Governing bodies form the backbone of many communities across Ireland and this Government is steadfast in our support for these organisations. For this reason, we are rolling out the Energy Support Scheme which we are confident will be of enormous help to those who access it.”
Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers TD, added: “This Government is committed to a healthy, vibrant sports sector as we all know the many benefits that involvement in sport and physical activity bring to individuals and communities. Grassroots clubs as well as National Governing Bodies are key components of the sports sector and I am very pleased to be able to support them through the Energy Support Scheme. This will help to ensure clubs and communities can keep their floodlights on, sports halls heated and cover a range of energy related costs over the colder, darker winter months.”
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD said: “This Government recognises the immense value of sport to communities all across Ireland and is committed to assisting the sport sector in the current difficult environment of high inflation. The Energy Support Scheme, underpinned by €35 million in funding provided in the Budget, is a timely and effective means of ensuring funding gets to local clubs. We are pleased to be able to provide this support to the National Governing Bodies and their members as the appropriate vehicle to distribute this vital funding support.”
CEO of Sport Ireland Una May said: “We are delighted to announce details of this Energy Support Scheme aimed at supporting our National Governing Bodies and their clubs at a time of need and, along with various support schemes announced and rolled out during the recent Covid-19 pandemic, it shows the commitment of the Government to supporting a robust sports sector. I would like to thank Ministers Martin and Chambers for their assistance in getting this scheme implemented and we would also like to extend our thanks to Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath.”
Funding guidelines have been disseminated to all Sport Ireland funded NGBs. The closing date for applications from these organisations will be Friday, November 25th 2022.
Clubs affiliated to Sport Ireland Funded NGBs should engage directly with their relevant NGB with any queries they may have in relation to the Scheme.
Depending on the level of submissions, the outcome of those deliberations will be communicated to NGBs in December. NGBs will begin the disbursement of this funding to their relevant clubs, affiliate organisations from January 2023 onwards.
Sport Ireland will retain a portion of the overall funding to address any anomalies or unknown need that may arise in NGBs in the New Year, or in relation to community sports facilities (e.g. swimming pools, community facilities not specifically affiliated to NGBs) which do not qualify for TBESS or other support schemes through DRCD or the Local Authorities. Further enquiries in this regard should be made directly to ngb@sportireland.ie
Nov 3, 2022
Credibility of insurance reform process damaged as liability insurers pocket benefits
- The total number of claims in the country has been falling dramatically since peaking in 2016; the 2022 total will be the lowest in over 15 years1
- Overall, the average award in Jan-Jun 2022 was €14,786, 38% lower than before Judicial Guidelines were implemented
- PIAB reports average acceptance rate of awards has risen to 48%, up from 36% in May 2021
- Liability insurance premiums continue to increase
The Alliance for Insurance Reform has called on Government to get serious with the insurance industry following confirmation from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) that the new Judicial Personal Injuries Guidelines continue to have a very positive and improving impact on personal injury claims costs.
Peter Boland, Director of the Alliance, said “We welcome today’s report from PIAB showing serious reductions in the total number of personal injury claims, the average awards and the numbers of claimants heading to litigation. Liability insurers are pocketing these benefits and it is up to Government to get serious with them to ensure that the benefits are passed on in premium reductions to SMEs, voluntary and community groups, charities and sports and cultural organisations struggling with the costs of staying open.”
Tracy Sheridan, owner of Kidspace play centres in Rathfarnham and Rathcoole and director of the Alliance said “Insurers have repeatedly and consistently maintained to the Cost of Insurance Working Group, the Personal Injuries Commission, the Oireachtas Finance Committee and elsewhere that the cost of claims drives the cost of premiums2. This analysis has been verified by the Central Bank’s National Claims Information Database3. The reforms implemented by Government and the Judiciary mean that the claims costs and future risk associated with every motor and liability policy in Ireland have reduced sharply since early 2021. This is being reflected in the competitive motor insurance market, but liability insurance premiums are actually going upwards, tracking +16% in our rolling renewals research.”
Eoin McCambridge, Director of the Alliance said “Insurers are taking liability policyholders and the Government for a ride and damaging the credibility of the Government’s insurance reform programme. From a policyholder perspective, it appears that all the gains being delivered are being used to improve underwriter profitability and bankroll the takeover frenzy in the insurance broker sector. Government must hold insurers to account to ensure that the gains from the Judicial Guidelines and other reforms are passed on immediately and in full. While Government frequently tells us that they cannot dictate premium prices, Government has enormous soft power over the insurance sector, a sector which needs our Government to allow it to function profitably. Additionally, the Department of Finance established an Insurance Competition Office in 2020 but has not yet succeeded in attracting additional underwriting capacity into the market. This office must begin yielding results soon as additional competition is the best way of keeping insurers honest.”
In conclusion Peter Boland said “The challenges of staying open for Irish SMEs, voluntary and community groups, charities and sports and cultural organisations have never been greater in our nation’s recent history. Of all these challenges, the insurance crisis is the one closest to being solved by Government. Insurers must act in good faith on the progress already made.”
For further details go to:https://insurancereform.ie/news/
Oct 27, 2022
Sport Ireland have today published the Irish Sports Monitor 2022 Mid-Year Report, showing that participation in sport continued to rise in 2022 and recover from the impact of Covid-19. During the first half of 2022, sports participation rates reached 44%, still slightly behind the 2019 level of 46% but above levels recorded in 2021.The Irish Sports Monitor (ISM) is a large population study undertaken biennially in order to provide trends in participation in sport and physical activity in Ireland.
The Mid-Year Report represents the results for the first six months of data collected on the Irish Sports Monitor 2022 (ISM 2022). Comparisons are provided between Q1 and Q2 2022, along with equivalent research conducted in 2019, 2020 and 2021 Among the other findings in the report, research shows that attendance at events has returned to the level measured in 2019, with 19% of people spectating at a sport event in the last seven days in Q2 2022.
However, the return of club memberships and volunteering has slowed in 2022, with little change in club membership (31% in Q2 2022 compared to 36% in 2019) and volunteering (9% in Q2 2022 compared to 12% in 2019). Almost one in three people, 29%, would like to try a new sport. The most popular sports people would like to try are tennis (11%), Rugby (11%), Swimming (9%), Golf (8%) and Basketball (8%). Enjoyment and fun is the most popular reason for wanting to try new sports followed by improving fitness and health.
The Irish Sports Monitor 2022 Mid-Year Report can be found here.
