Athletics Ireland has secured the hosting of the European Cross Country Championships for the second time. Members of the bid committee presented to the European Athletics Council in Budapest and emerged as winners.
The European Cross Country Championships will take place at the National Sports Campus on Sunday 13th December 2020. Athletics Ireland bid for this championship was supported by Fingal County Council, Sport Ireland and RTE.
Hamish Adams CEO, Athletics Ireland said ‘We are delighted to have secured the hosting of the European Cross Country Championships for 2020. We look forward to working with Fingal County Council, Sport Ireland and RTE to ensure the event is a world class experience for both athletes and spectators.’
Mary Godwin, Senior Executive Officer, Fingal County Council added “We look forward to working closely with Athletics Ireland and the other partners to ensure we host the best European Cross Country Championships to date.”
Sport Ireland also welcomed the news that the 2020 European Cross Country Championships will take place on the purpose built cross country track on the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus.
News of Athletics Ireland’s successful bid for the major championships was announced by the European Athletics Council in Budapest today. This will be second time the prestigious event visits Irish shores following the successful hosting of the event in Santry in 2009.
Welcoming the news, Chairman of Sport Ireland, Kieran Mulvey, said: “On behalf of Sport Ireland I would like to congratulate Athletics Ireland on their successful bid for the 2020 European Cross Country Championships. Ireland has a rich history in cross country running and we are delighted to host this event on the purpose built cross country track here on the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus.”
Chief Executive of Sport Ireland, John Treacy, added: “This is a great example of agencies coming together to showcase Ireland as a top destination for major sporting events. We look forward to working with Athletics Ireland and the other partners to deliver an excellent event here on the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus, which will be broadcast right across Europe.
“I would like to pay tribute to Athletics Ireland Chief Executive, Hamish Adams, bid coordinator Liam Hennessy and all involved with the bid on their hard work in securing the championships for Ireland.”
Congratulations to Hockey Ireland who have secured the support of Turkish Airlines for the Men’s team heading out to the World Cup in India next month.
Here are some of the other commercial partnerships signed by Irish sporting bodies in recent weeks…
Well done to the FAI who secured the backing of Brendan O’Carroll and his wife Jennifer Gibney of Mrs. Brown’s Boys fame to the tune of €420,000 for the FAI Mrs Browns Boys Heart Care programme rolling out screening for young players from January 2019.
Subway are back for a fourth year of sponsorship of Basketball Ireland’s massively popular schools cup tournaments.
The same brand is also backing Schools football with the FAI.
JLT are back on board as sponsors of the Gymnastics Annual Awards taking place next month.
As part of a monthly feature, we get to know a little more about the organisations and the individuals that support the work of the Federation.
This month it’s the turn of Larry Fenelon of Lemans Solicitors, a true man of many sporting interests.
Can you tell us a little about how your business partners with the Federation and its members?
We are the official legal partner to the Federation. We work closely with the federation to educate its members on their legal responsibilities. We act for over 30 NGB’s from the largest to the smallest. We are the only law firm in Ireland to have a dedicated and experienced sports law team.
What are some of the ways in which members might use your services?
We help NGB’s to be better run organisations. We draft constitutions and Memorandum & Articles of Association to reflect a modern and fit for purpose organisation and to improve governance.
We also are renowned for drafting complaints and disciplinary rules, selection criteria, data protection policies and sponsorship or partnership agreements.
What is your personal background in sport?
I played Rugby. I’m a Dubs fan and love all things GAA. I play squash and cycle in response to my mid-life crisis. As a night owl I’ll watch anything from Motor Sport to American Football.
What do you find most interesting about working in and around the sporting sector?
If you can marry sport and work, you are doing well. Working with passionate and dedicated people who are largely volunteers is very uplifting.
Sport matters to a lot of people. It matters to me. We are usually at the coal face of resolving disputes for NGB’s which can be very fast paced and interesting.
What was the last sports event you attended?
My son’s debut for Wanderers U7’s against Lansdowne and also my daughter’s Camogie match for Clanna Gael Fontenoy against Erin Go Bragh on the same day.
Before that the Men’s All Ireland Senior Football Final in Croke Park.
If you had an open ticket which sporting event around the world would you attend?
The 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
And if you could arrange for one victory for a sports team or star that matters to you what would it be?
Dublin to lift Sam Maguire for an unprecedented 5 in a row, with Diarmaid Connelly as captain!
The Federation is pleased to welcome the publication of a new five-year strategic plan for Irish Rugby, taking the sport through to 2023.
There are specific targets in terms of performance which reflect Ireland’s strength in the game but also plenty at the structural and grassroots level, including in the area of the Women’s game.
The IRFU has targeted for the Men’s team to make it to the semi-final stage of the World Cup in 2019 and 2023. It has also tagged the words ‘or better’ to that ambition in a statement that mirrors the rising expectation around Joe Schmidt’s side ahead of next year’s tournament.
Two or more Six Nations titles, two or more European titles and two or more PRO14 titles are also on the list of targets set out for those who currently hold the shirts at the highest level and while they are a stretch, as they should be, there is no reason to be any less ambitious.
Launching the plan in Dublin CEO Philip Browne recognised some of the challenges faced by the sport, not least in terms of funding in order to grow.
“The increased profile of rugby driven by on-field success has resulted in an increase in participation, especially through age-grade and the use of modified formats.”
“But of course we recognise the many challenges the game faces and we have sought to address these in this Strategic Plan as part of our effort to ensure the game, over the next five years and beyond, will be put on an even stronger footing for the generations to come.”
“The game continues to expand at every level and central to this expansion is funding. Currently, our professional teams, at national and provincial level, account for 93% of the game’s revenues, of this some 80% is generated by the men’s international team.”
“This stark statistic is reassuring and concerning in equal measure; the former as it recognises the phenomenal attraction of our senior international team to television rights holders, sponsors and supporters alike, while the latter highlights the extremely narrow base from which every other strand of the game must be funded.”
Only 16 percent of expenditure goes directly towards the international teams that generate the 80 percent, with 39 percent going towards the Provincial structure, 14 percent towards the domestic game and 11 percent towards elite player development.
The full document runs to 40 pages and is an impressive laying out of the principles behind the targets as well as how the growth and sustainability can be created.
In terms of player numbers, the sport is looking at an overall 8 percent growth in registered numbers to 210,000 by 2023, catered for by a growth of 11 percent in teams from 1,706 to 1,900 over the same period.
Commenting on the performance goals outlined in the plan, IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora said: “The focus will be to drive alignment across the game and ensure the talent pathways feed the high-performance side of the game with a particular emphasis on Sevens and the interface between clubs and schools and the professional game.”
“Key areas of focus will be the further advancement of the player management programme, coach education, talent development, investment in research and data analytics and the recruitment and retention of world-leading experts across the range of high-performance disciplines. The delivery of a world-class high-performance centre will be a key element in driving the performance goals targeted over the next five years.”
Women’s rugby features prominently in the plan.
“To achieve our objectives for female rugby, we recognise the need to build from grassroots to create a sustainable model for the game,” said IRFU CEO Philip Browne who will himself sit on the Committee overseeing progress.
“This entails attracting more adult and young female players into the game and providing sustainable and accessible opportunities to play the game through both 15s and Sevens.”
“We aim to create a structured pathway which attracts young female players to club rugby where they can progress their rugby careers through Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 levels towards the senior Women’s game,” added Mary Quinn, Chair of the IRFU Women’s Sub Committee.
“In schools, we are committed to creating opportunities for female students to experience rugby through a Rugby7s and Sevens pathway.”
“Increased participation through a quality player development pathway that enables players to achieve their full potential. This, in turn, will support an increased flow of talent through the Women’s All-Ireland League and provincial panels into national squads.”
Speaking about driving competition at representative level and growing female participation in volunteerism and game administration Su Carty, IRFU World Rugby representative, added: “We aim to build depth to drive greater competition for representative places which will propel Ireland’s representative sides towards consistently strong performance levels on the international stage.
“We want to grow the number of female volunteers working in support of these programmes as coaches, referees, managers and administrators. Furthermore, we want this growth reflected in the governance of the game at club, provincial and national level.”
20×20 is a new campaign aimed at creating a measurable cultural shift in the presentation and perception of Women’s sport in Ireland.
It is a broad-based approach with three key metrics in mind to boost media coverage, attendance at key events and participation each by 20 per cent between now and 2020.
The campaign was launched this morning at the Google Foundry in Dublin and is an initiative driven by the Federation of Irish Sport and originated and developed by the creative agency Along Came A Spider.
Mary O’Connor and Roddy Guiney as CEO and Chairman of the Federation have been the driving force behind the campaign, working closely with Sarah Colgan and Heather Thornton of creative agency Along Came a Spider.
It will be championed by Ireland’s National Governing Bodies of Sport and Local Sports Partnerships, and is being backed by AIG, Investec, KPMG, Lidl and Three all of whom are already significant and committed supporters of women’s sport through their sponsorships of Dublin GAA, Women’s Professional Golf, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, National Football League and the Ireland Senior Women’s National Football Team.
A host of Irish female sporting heroes including Louise Quinn (Irish International and Arsenal Footballer and Three’s Ambassador for 20×20), Sarah Rowe (Mayo Senior Ladies Footballer and Lidl’s Ambassador for 20×20), Laura Twomey (Dublin Senior Camogie Player and AIG’s Ambassador for 20×20) as well as Irish professional golfers Leona Maguire (KPMG’s Ambassador for 20×20) and Stephanie Meadow (Investec’s Ambassador for 20×20), joined forces with Head Coach of Manchester United Women and former England Women’s National Football player, Casey Stoney MBE, to lend their support to the 20×20 campaign.
They were joined by the CEO of Swim Ireland Sarah Keane, 18 Time All-Ireland Cork Camogie and Ladies Football Champion Rena Buckley, Irish Women’s Hockey Head Coach Graham Shaw, Olympian and leading Horse Trainer Jessica Harrington as well as Sport Ireland CEO, John Treacy to discuss the campaign which has the overarching objective of inspiring Ireland to culturally embrace women in sport, so that they can become part of who we are and what we follow.
Pledge
Clubs, universities, schools, leisure centres, community groups and the general public are being asked to pledge one action to show their support by doing anything that can accelerate progress for women’s sport in Ireland and realise the key objectives.
International strategies and research reports, which aim to improve female participation, acknowledge that the shortage of female role models is a significant factor.
20×20 will showcase the range and breadth of Irish females involved in sport. As part of this Along Came A Spider are creating five short films on different themes that impact on women in sport.
The first of these will be available to view on www.20×20.ie as well as on the campaign’s social channels later this morning.
Individuals are being asked to share their pledge idea by visiting the 20×20 Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages on social media.
People can also show their support by simply putting the two 20×20 stripes on both cheeks and posting using #20×20, #ShowYourStripes and #CantSeeCantBe online.
Research
Research commissioned by 20×20 and conducted by Nielsen as part of the campaign found that significantly less than 20% of all media coverage is dedicated to women’s or mixed sport.
RTÉ Sport, Off The Ball (Newstalk), SportsJOE and Her.ie are also early supporters of the campaign as Media Partners and significantly have each committed to increasing their own coverage of women in sport by 20% over the course of the initiative.
“It is true that women’s sport in Ireland receives less recognition and acclaim and as a consequence is undervalued broadly in Irish society,” said Federation of Irish Sport CEO Mary O’Connor speaking this morning.
“The aim of the 20×20 movement is to give increased profiling to girls and women involved in sport at all levels. We want this campaign to stimulate behavioural change to ensure that subsequent generations have female role models to emulate as athletes, coaches and referees.”
Positive Influence
“We aim, through the 20×20 campaign, to showcase the importance and positive influence sport and physical activity has on girls by increasing media coverage and increasing attendances at competitions and events.”
“Sport provides such incredible opportunities,” said Casey Stoney, Head Coach of Manchester United Women and former England Women’s National Football player.
“As a young girl I was told that football was just for boys and yet, I went on to play 130 times for England including at World Cups, European Championships and even representing GB at the London 2012 Olympics.”
“I now find myself as Head Coach of Manchester United’s first women’s team. I firmly believe our 21 players will be history makers and as the biggest football club in the world can truly transform women’s football not just in England but around the globe.”
“It is so important that girls and women have role models to whom they can relate. It is for this reason that I was so excited and delighted to get the opportunity to come and lend my support for the launch of 20×20. I believe if supported by all involved in sport it really could be a landmark moment for sport in this country.”
“By increasing the visibility of women’s sport, whether through increased coverage, attendances or participation, we make it a greater part of our culture. We’re a proud nation of sport lovers and have a huge amount to gain by fully embracing the sport of 50 per cent of our population.”
“By clubs giving greater parity to female teams, schools creating new opportunities for girls in sport, sports fans attending women’s events and parents encouraging their daughters, we’re hoping everyone will pledge one action to grow women’s sport in Ireland.”
JLT Ireland has signed up for a second year as the headline sponsor for the 2018 National Gymnastics Awards evening on Saturday 17th November.
“We are very proud to be back to support the 2018 JLT Gymnastics Ireland National Awards,” said Amanda Harton a Partner at JLT Ireland.
“The sport continues to grow in numbers year on year and there have been some amazing results such as with Rhys McClenaghan’s historic European championship win.”
“JLT Ireland is glad to be able to support an event that recognises the key achievements of the Gymnastics Ireland community from club to national level.”
McClenaghan’s Gold was a major highlight not only for Gymnastics but for the whole of Irish sport over the summer and was shown live on RTÉ Television despite being one of the busiest Sunday’s of the year with action from those Championships, the GAA Championship season and the Dublin Horse Show vying for attention.
Gymnastics Ireland also signed a new multi-year sponsorship deal with Nestle Cereals and was awarded as Sports Governing Body of the Year at the Federation Sports Industry Awards.
Membership has grown by ten per cent and is now over 30,000 making the sport one of the largest in the country in terms of registered participants.
“2018 has again been a huge year,” said Gymnastics Ireland CEO Ciaran Gallagher.
“This event has established itself as a real celebration of all things gymnastics and serves as a great social occasion for our members and community to get together outside of the gym or competition arena. It is great to have JLT Ireland back on board as sponsors once more.
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