Making sport accessible to all is an important part of the role that all National Governing Bodies play. Doing so tends to take place away from the bright lights and the media fanfare but is no less important for that.
Highlighting areas where this is working is also part of the Sport for Business remit, highlighting sport in all its many facets.
We are pleased then to report this morning that Vision Sports Ireland and Cycling Ireland have announced the launch of a Tandem Pilot Training course.
The course has been developed to give cyclists the skills and confidence to pilot an individual who is blind or vision impaired on a tandem bike.
Courses will be rolled out nationally over the coming years with the aim to create a National Register of Tandem Pilot Volunteers, increasing tandem cycling opportunities for people who are blind or vision impaired across the island of Ireland.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Cycling Ireland to provide training opportunities for cyclists to join a national register for tandem pilots, this will allow us to create more opportunities for our members across the country to engage in the activity of cycling,” said Pádraig Healy, National Sports Development Manager with Vision Sports Ireland.
“Tandem Cycling is a rewarding experience for both the sighted pilot and the stoker. We plan to collaborate with Cycling Ireland affiliated clubs for the role out workshops over the coming months and years.”
“We are very happy to launch the Tandem Pilot Training Course developed between ourselves and Vision Sport Ireland,” added Cycling Ireland CEO Matt McKerrow.
“We hope to encourage and grow participation for visually impaired cyclists and open up more opportunities for both pilots and stokers to enjoy cycling together, following on from the successes of our high performance Paracyclists.”
The first course will take place on Saturday, November 19th in Bray, Co Wicklow in partnership with Bray Wheelers Cycling Club and Wicklow Sport Partnership.
