The Annual Conference of the Federation of Irish Sport takes place at the Aviva Stadium and Sport for Business will be there alongside the leadership of most of Ireland’s sporting organisations to look at the primary issue of investment in Sport.
Jack Gleeson, Executive Director of the Irish Sailing Foundation will discuss how his sport has begun the reach towards new streams of philanthropic funding to bolster its programmes. He will be joined in a panel discussion on the subject by Denis O’Connor, Director of 2 Into 3 and a key mover in how sport and philanthropy should be working closer together and James Wynne, the newly appointed Client Services Director of Onside Sponsorship.
Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan will take time out from the Fine Gael Leadership campaign and the sparks flying around the Irish Amateur Boxing Association over high performance, team selection and funding to get the conference under way at lunchtime.
O’Donovan is one of those politicians not afraid to call an issue as he sees it and with the boxing row leading to threats of withdrawn funding his words today will be keenly measured on whether progress has been or is likely to be made.
The keynote address will be delivered by Sara Liebscher, Director of Athletic Advancement at the University of Notre Dame. Liebscher’s role involves fundraising for the development of the University’s world leading athletics programme and she will be offering valuable insight on the totally different way in which College Sport in the US reaches out through philanthropy rather than government subvention to keep programmes vibrant and well funded.
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To put it in perspective College programmes in the US would have budgets of up to $160 million, or three times the annual sports budget distributed by Sport Ireland in core funding. That’s for one college.
How they go about raising that kind of money and the philosophy that underpins the effort will be a fascinating taste of ‘what could be’ for for Irish sport.
Among the leaders of Irish sport who will be taking keen notes on what is said before adding their own thoughts on a second panel discussion are Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland; Ciaran Gallagher, CEO of Gymnastics Ireland, Susan Moloney from the Irish Olympic Handball Association and and Paul Green, Honorary General Treasurer of Irish Judo.
The day provides an opportunity for sport to come together and discover ways in which it can ensure off the field performance in committee rooms can match to sporting performances of the past week especially in Rowing and Modern Pentathlon where European and World Championship wins have been recorded.
With vibrancy in the sports marketing world and new partnerships forming linking sport and business ever closer there could hardly be a better time to talk, and act.
Join us through the afternoon on twitter @SportForBusines and join the conversation at #IreSport
