2022 was a year of highs and lows, from emerging out of lockdown to qualifying for a Women’s World Cup Finals and watching the Men’s tournament play out in the days leading up to Christmas.
Over twelve days, we are taking a back at twelve of the tales each month that captured our and your imagination over the past twelve months.
MARCH 2022
USAIN’S BOLT FROM THE BLUE FOR IRISH ESPORTS
Usain Bolt, one of the most recognisable stars of world sports entered the world of eSports with Dublin-based Wylde, an agency formed two years ago by Steve Daly, a former investment banker at JP Morgan, and David Cronin, former President & Chief Executive of the American Ireland Funds and a founding shareholder of Irish technology success story, QUMAS.
Bolt joined the business as co-owner and “will support Wylde’s mission to identify, empower and support talent whilst adopting a strong commitment to diversity and inclusivity.”
As co-owner and an active member of the leadership team, he will be involved in a range of activities focused on elevating the company’s presence in the world of eSports.
CORK GIVES WAY TO BARCELONA FOR AMERICAS CUP
Barcelona was named as the host city for the 37th America’s Cup to be staged in 2024.
Cork withdrew as a potential host city at the 11th hour after the Government decided not to proceed, a similar decision to that reached by New Zealand who won it on home water last time out and would by tradition have staged it once more.
“While Cork Harbour is potentially a great venue for the event, based on the technical assessment carried out the necessary infrastructural and planning arrangements would not be in place to host the event in 2024.”
“An event of the calibre of the America’s Cup brings with it an expectation of excellent delivery but the tight timeframe available prior to the 37th edition of the event brought with it a large risk of under-delivery.”
CAMOGIE UNVEILS NEW FIVE-YEAR CHAMPIONSHIP SPONSORSHIP
The Camogie Association unveiled Carmel Naughton and Glen Dimplex as the new primary partners of the Association and the All Ireland Camogie Championships from this year until 2027.
Carmel Naughton, who played camogie in Monaghan as a young girl, has chosen to support the sport in a philanthropic capacity with the branding rights associated with the sponsorship resting with joint sponsor Glen Dimplex, in which she owns a majority stake with her husband Martin and family.
“I have very fond memories of my years playing camogie,” she said.
“To me, camogie is ultimately about community, teamwork and how the energy, drive and passion of a group of people can deliver such dividends that benefit both local and wider society.”
The new five-year deal is a huge boost for the sport and was warmly welcomed by the Camogie Association and camogie county boards representing almost 600 clubs nationwide.
THE RACHAEL AND HENRY SHOW AT CHELTENHAM
Rachael Blackmore, Henry De Bromhead, Willie Mullins, Paul Townend, you could take your pick at who was the racing star of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival but in the public eye beyond the most deeply invested, this was once again the Rachael show.
The last time a jockey rode the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup double was 25 years ago when Tony McCoy did it. This time around Rachael Blackmore rode Honeysuckle to a 3 1/2 length win in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle, the A Plus Tard to a 15 length win in Friday’s Blue Riband Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.
That is the kind of historic performance that will be remembered long into the future and as ever the grace and charm the jockey showed in her post-race interviews would have melted the hardest of hearts.
The impact she is having and can have into the future on the sport is hard to overestimate. The crowds hit record highs in the Cotswolds with 73,754 on Thursday and 73,875 on Friday and Blackmore’s victory made the front page of newspapers across the two islands.
OLYMPIC FEDERATION LAUNCHES GENDER EQUALITY COMMISSION
Marking International Women’s Day, the Olympic Federation of Ireland has today announced the establishment of a Gender Equality Commission, a sub-committee of its Board.
The establishment of this commission reinforces the OFI’s commitment to gender balance across all areas of sport.
The newly formed Gender Equality Commission has already identified two key areas that will be targeted; visibility and the gender imbalance in high-performance coaching.
The members of the OFI Gender Equality Commission are:
Lochlann Walsh
Lochlann Walsh is an OFI Board member who was previously the President of Triathlon Ireland. He has been a member of the board since 2017. Lochlann was recently appointed to the Olympic Academy Working Group of the EOC.
Deirdre Carbery
Deirdre Carbery is a former Lieutenant in the Irish Army, Security Strategist and Gender Advisor for World Health Innovation Summit. She has a comprehensive background in gender, diversity and inclusion with the UN and NATO to progress the Women, Peace and Security Agenda internationally. Deirdre was one of the guest speakers at the inaugural OFI Gender Equality in Sport Online Series in 2020, speaking about leadership.
Bernard Dunne
Bernard Dunne is a retired Professional Boxer. He is a former WBA Super Bantamweight World Champion and also a former European Super Bantamweight Champion. Since announcing his retirement in 2010, Bernard has been a regular face on our TV screens as a popular panellist on RTÉ Sport covering everything from Boxing, Soccer and GAA to Current Affairs. Bernard is currently the High Performance Director for Irish Boxing with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association. Bernard was one of the guest speakers at the inaugural OFI Gender Equality in Sport Online Series in 2020, speaking about leadership in coaching.
Lisa Fallon
Lisa Fallon is a name known to many in the Irish footballing circles and is among the most respected coaches in the country. Holding a UEFA pro licence, Fallon has worked with highly successful international and professional club teams both in England and Ireland as well as with the Dublin Senior Gaelic footballers. Fallon also works as a regular football analyst on RTE to give expert insight to broadcasted games. Lisa currently works in the Technical Division of FIFA’s High Performance Department and was one of the guest speakers at the inaugural OFI Gender Equality in Sport Online Series in 2020, speaking about leadership in high performance coaching. Lisa was one of the guest speakers at the inaugural OFI Gender Equality in Sport Online Series in 2020, speaking about leadership in coaching.
Rob Hartnett
Rob Hartnett established the renowned Sport for Business community to connect businesses and sport through events, publications and networking. Through his work and community, he has shone the light on many key topics, most significantly women in sport, and the visibility of sportswomen in the media.
Clíona O’Leary
Former Chair of the European Broadcast Union’s (EBU) Women in Sport Expert Group, Clíona has developed expertise in the interrogation of barriers within structures and implementing measures to nullify them. Clíona worked in editorial, production and operations within RTÉ Sport for close to 25 years, completing her time there as Deputy Head of TV Sport for the last 11 years (2010-2021). She holds an MSc in Sports Management and is currently completing a Masters in Business Practice. Clíona is also Deputy-Chair of Ranelagh Gaels, which has gender equality targets and co-lead Coach with their U10 girl’s team. She worked on every Olympic Games for the organization over the last two decades; from programme editor on Sydney 2000 to away team leader in Beijing and Rio and was one of the guest speakers at the inaugural OFI Gender Equality in Sport Online Series in 2020, speaking about leadership in media.
THE BUSINESS OF SPORT IN NORTHERN IRELAND
On March 10th we gathered together a group of sporting and business leaders to look through conversation at the Business of Sport in Northern Ireland in 2022.
The event took place at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, in collaboration with the NI Sports Forum and the Irish FA.
Among our speakers on the night were Patrick Nelson, CEO of the Irish FA, Michael Geoghegan, Vice-Chair of Ulster GAA, Ashley Morrow, Sponsorship Manager at Bank of Ireland, Mark Brooks of Ulster Rugby and Richard Honeyford, the incoming General Manager of the NI Sports Forum.
NEW IRISH JERSEY LAUNCHED
Umbro Ireland revealed the Republic of Ireland Home Kit for 2022 for both the Men’s and Women’s International Teams.
The kit was released as part of the 2022 kit campaign ’This is Our Game’.
The strip aims to capture the emotive feeling that the Irish diaspora feels when they get their first sight of home soil flying back into Ireland. The world-famous 40 shades of green, the unsystematic shapes and varying sizes of the fields we see from the plane on arrival back are the focal parts in the jerseys’ design.
Unfortunately as the year progressed, the JACC Partnership came to an end and we are waiting for a replacement…
PERMANENT TSB ON BOARD WITH OLYMPICS AND PARALYMPICS
Permanent TSB has been unveiled today as the title sponsor for both the Irish Olympic and Irish Paralympic teams at the Paris 2024 Games.
Permanent TSB is the first-ever title sponsor to partner with both organisations in an Olympic cycle.
It also marks a return to the big-time sponsorship arena for the bank which is expanding in the Irish marketplace with more facilities on the ground and more accounts following the departure of Ulster Bank from the market.
ARE WE DOING ENOUGH?
Visibility is one of the key areas where Women’s sport needs to be nurtured and supported. We need to collectively work to tell the story of Women in Sport with the same interest and coverage as we have always given to men’s sporting endeavours.
While attendance at major fixtures is still geared more towards male sport this is part of a complex puzzle that people will not go until they know and they will not know until they are told.
Looking at the equation from the perspective that if they are not going, they are not as interested will condemn us to always falling into a spiral of lesser interest and lesser examples of great storytelling.
In March of 2020, we undertook an exercise to monitor the amount of coverage devoted to Women’s sport as part of the overall weight of coverage.
In February 2022 we have gone deeper, across more titles and more days to present a picture of how things have changed.
To be an optimist you can look at the figures and see that the overall coverage has risen from 7.5 per cent two years ago to 9.82 per cent in the month just past.
Is this quick enough of a change? Well, the number has actually dipped back from when we did a similar exercise in 2021, albeit by only the narrowest of margins.
DAWSON ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE
Leinster Rugby and the IRFU confirmed that Leinster Rugby CEO, Mick Dawson, will step down from his position at the end of the current season.
Dawson has been at the helm since November 2001 and has overseen a period of unprecedented success on and off the field.
Guiding the province into the professional era and developing a template for success on and off the field of play is a testament to the energy and intelligence Dawson has brought to the role.
We have had the pleasure to work alongside him on the board of the Dublin City Sports and Wellbeing Partnership and it was always a real pleasure.
IRISH WOMEN’S OPEN TO RETURN
It was announced that Dromoland Castle is to host the return of the Women’s Irish Open to the international golfing calendar.
The prestigious 450-acre estate in County Clare, with its 18-hole Championship Course, will stage the tournament from 22nd to 25th September 2022.
The tournament is run under the management of the Ladies European Tour and is also being supported by the Irish Government and Clare County Council.
THE SOFT POWER OF SPORT
As the War in Ukraine waged, we carried an editorial on the importance of the soft power of sport…
Sport has grown so much in the past two decades that it no longer has the luxury of considering itself outside the world of geopolitics and economics. The idea of sport as a healing force is one that holds some merit but healing is about medicine as well and the increased soft power that sport now has as perhaps the largest single global gathering point needs to be used where it can prevent war and humanitarian breaches like we are seeing.
In the short term, this is an obvious and important choice for sporting bodies and fans to be part of. In the longer term, it will raise questions again about the sporting caravan landing in countries that have not outright declared a war state but whose practices might not match up to international norms of decency.
