Sport Ireland has launched a new Statement of Strategy which will set the tone for the next four years and bring its own planning up to the conclusion of the ten-year National Sports Policy which has been a consistent guide since it was first launched in 2018.
We are looking at a number of key elements within the Statement of Strategy, diving into the 28 High-Level Strategic Objectives across three Core Focus Areas of Sport Development Services; Leadership and Governance; and Social Responsibility.
At a time when coaches are as much a part of the celebrity culture of sport as many of the players, and when Irish Referees are performing on the world stage at the elite level but exiting the sport at grassroots this is a key area.
Sport Ireland Strategy – Coaching and Officiating
Coach Development – Lead in the support, training and development of the sport coaching system, raising the standard and recognition of coaching in Ireland.
The main reference is to deliver on the 32 policy actions included in the Sport Ireland Coaching Plan that was published in 2020 and runs through to 2025, the halfway point of this Strategic Plan.
Much of the spotlight in this area falls on the High-Performance sector where coaches are professional or semi-professional and are judges based on the results they are securing.
The vast majority of coaching though is in the voluntary sector, often parent-driven at a very local level.
Most NGBs have now introduced minimum coaching standards that are a requirement to coach and have placed their securing alongside the essentials of Garda Vetting and Safeguarding.
The habits that are formed when a child first comes into a sport are often either the ones that will carry them to the highest level they are capable of, or limit them from ever achieving that.
The National Framework of Qualifications provides a pathway towards making sure that the technical skill of being able to coach extends beyond once having played a sport.
A challenge here is that the more cumbersome and time-consuming you make the process of being a coach, the less likely you are to attract people toward it.
Post Covid we have seen a decline in the number of people volunteering within sport at all levels, at the same time as seeing an increase in the number that want to play.
That is a divergence of interest that cannot be sustained and we need to ensure that the journey towards being a coach is as simple as possible, deliverable on a flexible timetable to as great an extent as we can, and yet produces coaches capable of helping children to enjoy sport and to improve.
Extend the role of Sport Ireland Coaching to include support for and the further development of officiating.
The role of referees across the major field sports has been in the spotlight more than ever with sports coming together to back a Respect campaign aimed at changing behaviour towards refs that was threatening the pipeline of those wanting to enter the space or willing to stay in it.
While this area is not specifically referenced in the Strategic Plan we can only hope that the reference to delivering a technical officials development plan with the National Governing Bodies will include it.
Ireland is providing an assistant referee in the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup and two Television Match Officials on the panel in France. Michelle O’Neill was on the referee group at the FIFA Women’s World Cup over the summer.
Officiating can be seen as the less glamorous end of an involvement in sport but it is one where there is a financial reward from a young age and a way of staying involved in sport in a crucial way.
With Ireland being seen as a friendly country on the world stage we can shine in this area, once a clear focus is given to it.
Sport Ireland Strategy – Volunteering and Workforce Development
Sport Ireland Strategy – Structures, Programmes and Project Development
