Lidl Ireland has opened applications for the latest edition of its #SeriousSupport Schools Programme, extending one of the most established participation initiatives to emerge from its long-running partnership with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association.

Twenty-six schools, one from each county in the Republic of Ireland, will be selected for the 2026/27 school year and receive a programme of mentor workshops and training sessions designed to tackle the drop-off in sporting participation among girls aged 11 to 14.

A further post-primary school from each of the six counties in Northern Ireland will be selected to participate in the related #LGFASupport Programme.

Now entering its eighth year, #SeriousSupport has visited more than 180 schools and reached almost 4,000 girls since it was established.

The programme is supported by the LGFA and delivered by Youth Sport Trust, with sessions led by current and former inter-county footballers.

This year’s athlete mentor panel includes Méabh De Búrca of Galway, Cathy Carey of Antrim, Charlene Tyrrell and Muireann Delaney of Leitrim, Hannah Tyrrell of Dublin, Therese Scott of Monaghan and Laurie Ryan of Clare.

The mentors use their own experience of elite sport to discuss the physical and mental health benefits of participation, as well as the resilience, confidence, friendships and wider life skills that can emerge from involvement in team sport.

The programme is built around five values — Performance, Respect, Trust, Grounded and Belonging — with a particular emphasis on keeping girls involved in sport through the transition into their teenage years.

Each successful school will also receive a new set of team jerseys.

Community Nominations

Rather than relying solely on schools applying directly, Lidl is again encouraging shoppers, families and members of local communities to nominate schools in their county.

Entries close at 5 pm on Friday, September 18.

“Lidl’s #SeriousSupport Schools programme is now open for entries, and we would encourage all schools to call on family, friends and members of the community to enter on behalf of your school,” said LGFA President Trina Murray.

“With only one lucky winning school per county, you don’t want to miss out on all of the amazing benefits this programme has to offer.

“Not only do young students develop key life skills, but they also get to hear from our inter-county stars who are working as athlete mentors.”

Ali Oliver MBE, CEO of Youth Sport Trust, highlighted the importance of intervention during the age group targeted by the programme.

“Beyond physical health, engaging in physical activity provides immense benefits during these formative years, including boosted wellbeing, resilience and the development of key life skills,” she said.

“Team sports in particular support improved social connection and communication.”

The programme represents another strand of Lidl’s sponsorship which has increasingly moved beyond visibility around elite competition into participation and social-impact activity.

“As long-standing partners to the LGFA, and as champion supporters of women in sport across Ireland, we’re delighted to bring our #SeriousSupport Schools Programme back for another year,” said Eimear O’Sullivan, Corporate Affairs Director at Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“Team sports play a vital role in supporting young people’s wellbeing and, working with the LGFA, Youth Sport Trust and our dedicated team of athlete mentors, we remain committed to empowering and motivating young girls throughout the country through their participation in ladies Gaelic football.”

A Decade of Investment

The programme comes during a significant year for the Lidl-LGFA relationship.

Lidl first came on board as a major partner of ladies Gaelic football in 2016, when major corporate investment in women’s team sport in Ireland was still relatively unusual.

Earlier this year, the retailer extended that relationship through to 2030, committing a further €7.5 million to the partnership.

That will take Lidl’s total investment in ladies Gaelic football to €22.5 million since the partnership began.

The longevity is significant, but so too is the breadth of activity that has developed around the sponsorship.

Elite visibility remains important, but initiatives such as #SeriousSupport give the partnership a direct link to one of the biggest challenges facing Irish sport: retaining teenage girls within organised physical activity.

That makes the programme more than a sponsorship activation.

By using elite players as relatable role models, placing activity directly into schools and giving communities a role in selecting participants, Lidl and the LGFA have created an intervention that connects the top of the sport with its future participation base.

 

Sport for Business Perspective

The strongest sponsorships increasingly have to demonstrate what they change as well as what they promote.

Lidl’s decade with the LGFA has become one of the clearest Irish examples of that evolution.

A €22.5 million commitment provides the scale and headline value, but programmes such as #SeriousSupport give that investment a tangible expression at grassroots level.

The 11-to-14 age range is particularly important. It is a period when sport competes with changing social pressures, school demands and confidence issues, and when the loss of participants can become permanent.

Keeping even a proportion of the almost 4,000 girls already reached by the programme engaged in sport for longer represents a valuable legacy beyond the conventional measures of sponsorship exposure.

Nominations for the 2026/27 #SeriousSupport Schools Programme remain open until 5 pm on Friday, September 18. 

 

 

 

Lidl Ireland and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association are full members of Sport for Business. Lidl are partners of our Women in Sport coverage.

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Image Credit: Lidl Ireland

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