Four Irish National Governing Bodies are joining forces to strengthen opportunities for women in sports officiating, with a national development and networking event scheduled for Saturday, 21 November at the Athlone Springs Hotel.
Cycling Ireland, Rowing Ireland, Swim Ireland and Triathlon Ireland are collaborating on the Women in Sport Officiating Day, with support from Sport Ireland, to give women involved in officiating across different sporting disciplines a chance to share experiences and build professional connections.
The initiative is open to women from all sports, not simply those represented by the four organising bodies, and is designed to accommodate officials at every stage of their development, from those taking their first steps to experienced referees, judges and technical officials.
The programme will focus on building confidence, creating networks, sharing practical experience and supporting progression into more senior officiating roles.
It reflects recognition that increasing female participation in sport requires attention not only to athletes and coaches but also to the officials essential to delivering competition.
Each sport has its own technical requirements and officiating pathways, but the challenges of recruitment, retention, confidence and progression are often shared.
By bringing officials together across disciplines, the initiative aims to establish relationships that can continue beyond a single development day.
The event also demonstrates how governing bodies can collaborate on common challenges rather than developing separate programmes within individual sports.
Sport for Business Perspective
Developing female officials is an important but sometimes overlooked part of the wider Women in Sport agenda.
Increasing participation creates additional demand for qualified officials, while a shortage of referees, judges and technical personnel can limit clubs’ and governing bodies’ capacity to deliver competitions.
The cross-sport approach offers a potentially more efficient use of development resources, creating opportunities for shared training, mentoring and leadership support.
It also provides a model for cooperation that could be extended to other areas, including safeguarding, volunteer development and governance.
The longer-term measure of success will be whether initiatives such as this increase the number of women progressing into senior national and international officiating roles.
Sport Ireland, Swim Ireland, Triathlon Ireland, Cycling Ireland and Rowing Ireland are full members of the Sport for Business Community. If you would like to join them and see your organisation in our content, on our stages, and in the daily conversation around the commercial world of Irish Sport, email us today and let’s see what is possible.
Image Credit: Triathlon Ireland
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