Keeping the Flame at the Optimum Level

The Irish Presidency of the European Union and the Irish Sports Council hosted a major EU Conference on Sport at Dublin Castle on Thursday, March 7th.  All this week we are looking at different aspects of what was discussed, and considering the long term implications for how sport is organised and promoted.
The session on perspectives from Irish practitioners included an inspiring talk from Keith Wood on the effort that went into creating a community sports project in County Clare which we will report on later and a punchy presentation from Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane which covered areas from the strengths and weaknesses of the volunteer model in Irish sport to the need for business planning and a desire to build new revenue streams.
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[ismember]Perspectives from Irish Practitioners
Sarah Keane, CEO, Swim Ireland
“Swimming in Ireland has come from a bad place in 2004, when we were faced with litigation and liabilities; a strategic plan that had no awareness within or outside the sport, an unwieldy board structure and no real functional relationship with key stakeholders.”
“By 2008 we had gone a long way towards resolving many of these issues.  We had paid off large debts, developed a clearer and better understood strategy and positioned the sport to move on rather than look back.”
“This year we will have our first unqualified audit report in 16 years and we are well positioned to concentrate on the building of our sport rather than just managing its administration.”
“One of the greatest challenges in sport is to manage the passion.”
“If the flames are too high, and expectation is raised to a level that cannot be consistently achieved then that is as damaging as if the flames are too low and interest in what we do wanes in the public and the commercial eye.”
“Economic sustainability in sport is about achieving consistency.”
“This applies to the people within our sports as well as to general planning and development.”
“We need to be always looking for the right balance, from board room to poolside among people who remain enthusiastic but who are willing to learn along the way and make positive contributions.”
“The volunteer ethos in which Irish sport is so firmly rooted is its greatest strength but when management sytems are not in place, it can also be a terrible weakness.”
“We are blessed with huge levels of enthusiasm but there can often be a deficit in the knowledge of how to do things most effectively.”
“We know there are lessons which business can learn from the world of sport but so too can sport benefit to a great extent from processes and practices that are essential to a healthy business.”
“Governance and evaluation of performance is commonplace among the sporting public we serve but we need to make sure the same measurements are applied to those in charge of delivering sport and sports enablement.”
“I believe that sport in Ireland delivers a service to the population that is essential but is often undervalued.  Our funding system is based on grants but if we are providing a valued public service then we should be treated as doing so.  A change in mindset from a culture of grant entitlement to service provision could lead to great improvement in the way in which sport is managed and delivered.”
“Sport generates far more financially for the nation than it takes from central government.  This is in areas such as international and local tourism, betting and other taxes and in longer term areas like savings on health care.”
“And yet the tax system we work under has anomalies.  A swimming lesson and a fitness class are treated as separate services and are taxed for VAT at different rates.  Why is one deemed more valuable of encouragement through progressive tax than the other?”
It was a barn storming speech from Keane, delivered in a manner which will have left EU delegates in no doubt about the careful thought that goes into developing sport as a service for the people of this country.
There is a natural reluctance to credit administrators of sport for delivering the emotional highs that it is capable of and lauded for.  Without ‘the suits’ though it would not be possible.
Sports governance in Ireland is raising itself to a level of professional competence and at times excellence that will derive greater confidence from commercial partners and a greater return for the areas in which it is engaged.
Sarah Keane is at the forefront of that continuous improvement.[/ismember]
Coming later this week –
Wednesday: The Viewpoint of the elite athlete with Olive Loughnane and Eoin Reinisch.
Thursday: The Legal twists and turns of sports rights with Benoit Keane and how Public Service Broadcasting retains its vital importance with Ryle Nugent of RTE.
Friday: The value of sport in lifting spirits through great performance versus the deeper benefit of giving opportunities to play with Stefan Szymanski.
Discover more of our recent comment and analysis of Sports Governance including Munster Rugby’s new Commercial Board, Domestic Soccer getting back in the black and how GAA Revenues have continued to rise.