Four more Higher Education Institutions have been awarded the Sport Ireland Institute Accreditation for Student Athlete Support (ASAS), which recognises good practice in ‘dual career’ support for student-athletes.
This area was a hot topic of discussion at this year’s Sport for Business in Education event where we brought together colleges from Ireland and the United States in November.
Emma Saunders outlined the programme and what was planned in this area and it is great to see that expanding to more institutions.
Dublin City University and Ulster University have been awarded full accreditation in conjunction with Student Sport Ireland, with the National College of Ireland and University of Galway being named as an ASAS Affiliate recipients.
These awardees join the inaugural group of six HEIs awarded accreditation earlier in 2022 – Queens University Belfast, Setanta College, Technological University Dublin, University College Cork, University of Limerick along with Trinity College Dublin.
The programme is based on providing equal opportunity to all high-performing student-athletes to combine sport and education and is grounded in the right to education.
The accreditation outlines clear dual career criteria that third-level institutes must have in order to receive the accreditation. The accreditation aims to identify and establish a network of accredited institutions who support elite athletes to achieve dual career excellence by applying guiding principles.
“The ASAS initiative is a very welcome addition to the high performance sport landscape, recognising the important role that our third level institutions play in the development and support of our student athletes,” said Minister of State Jack Chambers speaking at the announcement.
“Having an athlete centred approach makes pursuing education and sport at the highest level a viable and worthwhile option for athletes. All ASAS accredited third level institutions are to be commended on their work to date, and I look forward to seeing many more join them in the years ahead.”
“It’s no surprise that high-performance athletes have unique demands in comparison to the non-student athlete population,” added Sport Ireland CEO Dr Una May.
“Because of increased time and energy demands, increased accountability to various support providers, international travel and competition requirements, athletes require flexible and supportive structures in order to successfully attain a dual career.”
“Creating an environment that supports dual career athletes is a key success factor. A suitable dual career environment requires understanding and consistent, structured support, and that is what our successful ASAS are providing on an ongoing basis. A lot of work has been put in behind the scenes to make this accreditation possible, and the team in the Sport Ireland Institute and Student Sport Ireland are to be commended for bringing this to fruition.”
“The main aim of the ASAS programme is to formalise and raise the level of dual career support for student athletes throughout the higher education sector in Ireland,” concluded Sport Ireland Institute CEO Liam Harbison.
“Our goal is to have a majority of Higher Education Institutions ASAS Accredited by 2025. A promising start has been made towards this target, with ten now fully accredited or on the journey to doing so. Sport Ireland Institute will be seeking applications for accreditation once again in 2023, and we are encouraging all HEIs to work towards the ASAS standard.”
Ends.
For Further Information:
Peter Sweeney
psweeney@sportireland.ie
086-9293041
