Community Games welcomes Sport Ireland Women in Sport funding of €50,000

Olympian Olive Loughnane with some Aldi Community Games Athletes in 2019 in University of Limerick

Community Games welcomes Sport Ireland Women in Sport funding of €50,000 for its innovative project “Our Women’s Network (OWN)” over the next two years.  #ownit
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Fiona Shannon, Recruitment Training and Development Director, Aldi Community Games commented:

“We are delighted that Sport Ireland recognises the need for specific funding for Women in Sport.  As an organisation we are striving to ensure that women are visible and heard at all stages within our structure.   Our aim is to distill to every member the availability and content of existing research and tools as well as deliver training in the sector. We will make sure that #womeninsportire is not just on the Board of Director’s agenda but our entire organisation's agenda.”

According to Sport Ireland, funding will be ring-fenced under Women in Sport for strategically important internal and NGB related events and projects under the ‘Special Projects’ funding. This may also be used to support organisations who did not apply for funding support in the current round.

In 2020, the sector delivered on a number of objectives set out in the Women in Sport policy and there were many projects of note throughout the year. The Women in Sport Leadership programme rolled out by Swim Ireland was completed by 100 women from 24 NGBs who were supported and enabled to step into positions of authority in sport; Rowing Ireland coordinated a bespoke coaching programme involving four NGBs for female coaches on the pathway to high performance coaching and programmes such as Golf Ireland “Level Par” and Tennis Ireland’s “Equal Advantage” were established to ensure equality and balance in the respective sports.

Chief Executive of Sport Ireland John Treacy added: “The appointment of Nora Stapleton as Women in Sport Lead in Sport Ireland, as well as the appointment of leads in many NGBs has led to the creation of a network with increased levels of information sharing, collaboration and delivery of joint initiatives amongst the sector. This network, along with the wider NGB sector are working hard to promote sport and physical activity to women and girls. The funding announced today will not only see a diverse range of sports available to the female Irish public but an increase in the visibility of females be that as role models on the pitch or playing field, on boards or in the media. It is important that we work together to achieve the ambitious targets and I would like to acknowledge the continued support of the Ministers and staff in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media”.

Dr. Una May, Director of Participation and Ethics, Sport Ireland commented: “The Women in Sport funding announced today will give the NGBs support and certainty to proceed with their programmes to address the target areas of the Women in Sport policy. In 2020 we saw some exciting and innovative approaches to Women in Sport including the first ever Girls Get Active Hackathon and the publication of significant pieces of research. There is a lot more planned for 2021 and beyond and we continue to work closely with the sector to achieve the objectives of the Policy”.

Speaking at today’s announcement, Women in Sport Lead Nora Stapleton said: “2020 was a difficult year and like all areas across the sector, many Women in Sport programmes and events were curtailed or had to be redesigned. Many programmes will continue in to 2021 and the NGBs have submitted applications for many new, innovative and exciting projects for the next cycle and I look forward to working with them”.