Feb 22, 2021
NCGC and Twisters Elite are gymnastics and cheer programs based in Swords Dublin. They have always known that Gymnastics and Cheer is ‘More Than a Sport’ and the current climate has emphasized even more what a huge part it plays in the growth and development of young people. Their athletes trained anywhere from 1 hour to 12 hours a week, most considered the gym a second home. When the first lockdown hit in March 2020, they knew it would have a huge impact on their lives. As it is, it is very difficult to keep children in sport especially girls and Covid has made this task even more difficult. They wanted to do their best to keep the athletes focused and continue to be involved and engaged in their sport. They started our zoom classes straight away and utilized their online social media platforms by posting daily challenges, dance sequences, competitions, throw backs etc.
Due to COVID-19 challenges the club found themselves without a facility in mid 2020. They had 2 programs of athletes and coaches all eager to get back to training but no facility to train in. In the face of the challenge they had 2 options – Close down our club after 15 years or take the very scary step of opening a full-time facility. They took the brave decision to look for a full-time premise and found a warehouse with the potential to suit all of the club’s needs. To say it needed a lot of work was an understatement but with a lot of help they opened their very own full-time facility in time for classes in July 2020. The club looks forward to making the most of the new facility when activity returns in full when safe to do so.
Feb 22, 2021
IWA Sport have launched The Staying Active Initiative which involves several online and virtual programmes. These programmes allow IWA-Sport to stay engage with their members in a meaningful capacity. This initiative aims to support health & wellbeing of the members.
Operation Transformation
The IWA-Sport Operation Transformation kicked off on the 18th of January 2021. The 6- week programme saw almost 100 sign ups. Participants from all over the country received a welcome pack including resources such as resistance bands and wellness questionnaires.
Every week had a different theme. Over the course of the programme members were motivated and challenged to create healthy habits, explore different routes for activity in their area, practice gratitude and self-care. 3 times a week they also put in a great effort to take part in tough exercise classes with coach Alan Dineen and relaxing Yoga & Meditation with Meabh Smith.
The programme is now into the 5th week and members have signed up for the nationwide Operation Transformation virtual 5k. The 5k challenge is running on the 18th, 19th & 20th of February. Members will walk, push or run the virtual 5k. Well done to everyone who is taking part!
Virtual Club Sessions
Multi-Sport Junior Club Members from IWA have been training very hard since the 23rd of January 2021. Fun physical activity sessions have been running on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings for our junior club members ages 5-15. All the participants have been putting in a great effort over the last number of weeks in different exercise sessions. There are members taking part from all corners of the country. Some have been reunited with their club mates and have even met people from different clubs who they may have not met before. Everyone is looking forward to the next session!
Spring into Fitness
The IWA-Sports Centre in Clontarf are starting a 6-week programme for their members on the 22nd of February 2021. As gyms unfortunately remain closed, the Virtual Spring into Fitness programme aims to continue to support members and help them reach their health & wellness goals. Members will have check ins and catch ups with sports centre staff and will also take part in live exercise classes and home workouts. Everyone involved is really looking forward to getting started!
Oliver Murphy Youth Leadership Programme
The Oliver Murphy Youth Leadership programme begins on Tuesday March 2nd and will run for 10 weeks. IWA members between the ages of 18 and 23 will undertake online training in leadership skills that can be applied to a variety of settings. The programme aims to support our young members with leadership skills that may benefit on a personal and social basis. Participants will develop competencies in a multitude of skills including communication, relationship building planning and problem-solving. They will also develop inspiration, vision, confidence, and action plans needed to be effective leaders. The outcome of this project will see participants become empowered to lead among their peers and become advocates for the work of IWA and disability issues through a structured education programme.
Senior Athlete Training Support Programme
On the 2nd of March 2021, IWA Sport will be commencing the 6-week Senior Athlete Training Support Programme. Members from Senior Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair rugby, Para-powerlifting and para-athletics are invited to take part in this online training programme. Over the 6 weeks, athletes will complete training with Coach Alan Dineen. They will also be attending online educational evenings which will include guest speakers covering a variety of topics such as nutrition, physical therapy, recovery, sports psychology, and mental health.
Introduction to Coaching Wheelchair Rugby Course on 30-1-21
On the 30th of January 2021 Our Coach Education, Technical and Events Officer Emily Norton delivered the introduction to coaching wheelchair course. The sold-out course saw 12 attendees (6 male and 6 female). In addition, Sport Ireland CEDO Declan O’Leary was in attendance. Attendees included IWA-Sport members/volunteers, external NGB’s (i.e. IRFU and Cork IT) as well as other sport enthusiasts. Feedback gathered was great “Overall excellent course. The content was great and the course very enjoyable.” “I would definitely think more about how we communicate as coaches”
Esports
IWA-Sport are proud to partner with Ireland Esports to host our first FIFA 21 PlayStation Championships, providing a space for all IWA and IWA-Sport members aged 18+ to engage in virtual competition. The tournament is scheduled to begin on Saturday, March 13th and the finals will be played the following Saturday, March 20th. Registration for the tournament is free and the winner will receive a football jersey from their favourite team. By hosting this tournament, we’ll be offering a fun platform for our members to engage and interact together, while competing for the right to be crowned IWA-Sport FIFA 21 champion.
Manchester Para Powerlifting World Cup 2021
There is plans for x2 Irish athletes to compete in the Manchester Para Powerlifting World Cup 2021 from the 25-28th March. Both athletes achieved their current rankings at the same competition back in 2020 and will hope to compete this year to improve current rankings and meet Toyko 2020 qualification criteria, due to take place in August. To meet Tokyo qualification criteria, an athlete must rank within the top eight (8) in the world in their bodyweight category (listed on the World Para Powerlifting Paralympic ranking list).
- Britney Arendse current ranks 5th in the world in the up to 67kg female category
- Nicola Dore currently ranks 6th in the world in the up to 61kg female category
This event is one of the final Tokyo Paralympic qualification opportunities and is recognised by the UK Government as an Elite Sport Event, permitted to go ahead under a special exemption. We have no doubt the event will be very different to the competition attended last year but we acknowledge the efforts of the LOC to ensure the essential measures are being put in place to stage the event. Our attendance will however depend on the constantly changing COVID situation.
Please see IWA-Sport social media for further updates.
Feb 22, 2021
Monday the 8th of February saw the much-awaited launch of ‘Coach Connect’. The first edition, entitled ‘I am a coach’, was the first step to creating a nationwide community of coaches in paddlesports throughout Ireland. The overarching objective is simple: “Coaching paddlesports better, together”.
Diverse in disciplines, gender, age, knowledge, level and experience; the launch conference, held via Zoom, featured three panels of incredibly passionate coaches.
The first, led by Sam Curtis, was the ‘Future panel’: three young coaches, Holly Power, Cleo Pitcher-Farrell and Rowan Johnson, who are already taking every opportunity to help others grow their passion for the sport. They all spoke with experience that many might think was beyond their years about what inspired them to take up coaching, and how being a coach brings more joy to their own paddling experience. This panel was inspiring, uplifting and highlighted that age is no barrier to making a difference and being a coach.
The ‘Development Panel’, hosted by Hannah Craig, came next. Again 3 extremely passionate coaches with projects that have made a big impact in their clubs and/or disciplines: Karen Caffrey from Salmon Leap Girls, David McClure from Southeast Freestyle and Michelle Power from Kilcock Canoe Polo CC. It was fascinating to hear how these projects went from a few athletes to high numbers and wide-reaching development in just a few years. A resounding message from this panel was the importance of creating a “safe environment” for the young participants to grow in and tailoring the programme to enable athletes to develop individually at their own rate all while learning from one another.
The Coach Connect launch culminated with a live panel discussion hosted by Canoeing Ireland Performance Director, Jon Mackey. Three highly experienced performance coaches took their virtual seats to offer insight into their thoughts and knowledge:
- Liam Moggan – the “Coach’s Coach”: a well renowned coach developer with an incredible wealth of experience. Liam has worked at the highest level across a wide range of sports with such passion and knowledge that make him memorable to all. He also has administrative experience through varied organisations from Paralympics Ireland to the Schools International Athletics Board and sits on Canoeing Ireland’s High Performance Unit.
- Dr Neil Fleming – Director of the Trinity College Human Performance Lab, PhD in Human Physiology, and coach to soon to be 2-time Paralympian Patrick O’Leary. Neil’s drive and understanding of Canoe Sprint is undeniable. Junior World Champion in Canoe Marathon and international athlete in Canoe Sprint for many years; he is impacting many athletes in his discipline by sharing those cumulated athlete experiences along with his professional expertise in physiology to design successful high performance training programmes.
- Han Bijnen – 3-time Olympic coach to 5 Olympic finalists and one Olympic silver medal. A coach for over 40 years at all levels and with international athletes from different countries, Han’s knowledge and lived experience of high performance are remarkable in both breadth and depth. Originally from the Netherlands, he has been working with athletes from Canoeing Ireland since 2002.
A week would not have been enough time to explore the depths of knowledge these 3 coaches had. The attendees still managed to get snippets of the wealth of coaching knowledge and were able to engage through Q&A. Trust, motivation, coach-athlete relationships, human impact and how we could improve coaching of paddlesports were all subjects covered in this impressive discussion. This panel opened many opportunities for future reflection.
For the closing address, we were privileged with the presence of Sport Irelands newly appointed head of High-performance coaching, Stephen Maguire. Stephen’s concluding piece summarized brilliantly the learnings from the evening. He highlighted the outstanding quality of our panellists and that by coming together, sharing our knowledge, expertise and passion for paddlesports, as coaches we can become so much more.
Canoeing Ireland is extremely fortunate to have such diversity, knowledge and experience among its coaches. We would like to extend its sincere thanks to all the panellists and Stephen Maguire who were very generous with their time, and to all attendees for making the first edition of Coach Connect such a resounding success.
This is the first step in growing our coaching community and inspiring others to become coaches. There will be many more conferences/interactions tailored to meet coaches/clubs/pathway/athletes needs. Our aim at Canoeing Ireland is for everyone engaging in paddlesports at all levels to be given the best possible experience. Coach Connect: “Coaching Paddlesports Better, Together”.
Feb 22, 2021
On Tuesday the 6th of April it is World Table Tennis Day. We at Table Tennis Ireland are celebrating World Table Tennis Day with a Women in Sport event, which will be done at home and virtually due to the global pandemic Covid-19. This event will be a fun filled day hosted by our female club members, players and coaches. Throughout the day there will be trick shots demonstrated by some of our top female players with some fun competitions to win some cool Table Tennis and Women in Sport prizes. We are also hosting a live webinar during the day with our coaches and top female players. There can only be 100 attendees at our live webinar, but don’t worry if you can’t make it! The webinar will be recorded so you can watch it back on YouTube whenever you would like.
Please keep any eye out on our website https://tabletennisireland.ie/ and our various social medias; Twitter https://twitter.com/tabletennisire , Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tabletennisireland/, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TableTennisIreland/ and our YouTube Channel Table Tennis Ireland – YouTube to hear from our players about all things Table Tennis.
Feb 22, 2021
Bike Like Me is Cycling Ireland’s overarching campaign to inspire more women and girls to discover cycling and feel confident on their bikes. The campaign aligns with Sport Ireland’s Policy on Women in Sport which intends to address four target areas- Active Participation, Coaching and Officiating, Visibility and Leadership, and Governance.
Targeting the area of Active Participation, Cycling Ireland recently launched a series of online training programmes for women and girls through the Bike Like Me campaign, which has seen over 600 women and girls signup over the past two weeks. The 8-week programmes have been designed by Cycling Ireland Coach, Jamie Blanchfield of Premier Endurance, catering for beginner and intermediate riders, and are led by inspirational leaders each week.
Cycling Ireland have also selected six new Bike Like Me Advocates who will assist in promoting cycling to women and girls in their local club and community, targeting the area of Visibility. Keep an eye on the Cycling Ireland social media accounts as a new advocate will be announced each week, sharing their story of how they got involved in cycling and their love for the sport.
ENDS
Feb 19, 2021
- Government Chief Whip and Minister of state at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht and Sport with special responsibility for Sport and the Gaeltacht Jack Chambers will join EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel on the line up of speakers addressing Federation of Irish Sport members at their upcoming CEO/Manager forum.
- The briefing will also provide updates to members on the work of the Federation of Irish Sport from CEO, Mary O’Connor.
The Federation of Irish Sport are delighted to announce that Minister Chambers will address attendees as part of the upcoming member forum to be held on March 1st. The Minister joins previously announced keynote speaker, EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, with a focus on Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, Sport and Youth.
Announcing the Minister’s attendance, Federation CEO Mary O’Connor said, ‘The Federation has developed a strong and positive working relationship with Minister Chambers and his wider team since taking office. We are very pleased he can join our member forum as it is an opportunity for members to understand and engage with the work of the Department further. We look forward to Minister Chambers’ address on the 1st of March and to continuing to work with the Minister and his department on the priorities for the sector’.
The member forum will also provide updates on the work of the Federation of Irish Sport over the past months including the hugely successful Volunteers in Sport Awards, insight into member engagement activities and advocacy for the year ahead.
ENDS.
Queries to sarah.maloney@irishsport.ie
