Athletics Ireland, Cycling Ireland, Irish Athletic Boxing Association, Rowing Ireland and Triathlon Ireland have once again collaborated to bring an exciting and innovative event to the female coaches within their respective sports.
The Women in Sport Female Coaches Networking Day will take place on Sunday 6th November at the Clayton Hotel, Liffey Valley, Dublin from 10 am – 3 pm where female coaches will get an opportunity to network and learn from one another.
The event has come about from overwhelming feedback from coaches who have gone through the Women in Sport Coaching Pathway Programme over the last two years, another initiative the five National Governing Bodies collaborate on.
The coaches have spoken about the need for more networking events and the benefit they get from meeting up and learning from one another.
At Sport for Business we know the value of shared experience and meeting up with peers. It is great that these are once more happening with vigour and this is a great opportunity.
Lisa Fallon and Cliodhna O’Connor both spoke at our Women in Sport Conference at the Aviva Stadium in May about the focus that needs to be centred on the female coach, not only in Women’s sport, and this is a great way of bringing that forward.
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Local Sports network is doing a similar event next week with Niamh Tallon of Her Sport, albeit aimed differently at coaches and mentors of girls and women’s teams, so open to all but again with a focus on encouraging female coaching talent.
Lisa Fallon has in fact been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the November event. She is currently working at the highest level of World Football in FIFA’s High-Performance Division in their Global Football Development Division, Fallon was Ireland’s first-ever female Head Coach of a men’s professional football club when appointed by Galway United in 2021.
In 2013 she became Ireland’s first-ever female manager of a men’s football team. She also serves on the Board of Paralympics Ireland, is Chair of their High-Performance Committee and is on the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s Gender Equality Commission.
Dr Phil Kearney, Lecturer in Motor Skill Acquisition, Coaching and Performance at the University of Limerick will be on hand to deliver an education session on “Layering 4Cs into your coaching for optimal athlete development”.
“The female coaching networking day is a fantastic initiative,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing coaches from Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Rowing and Triathlon coming together to share their experiences, learn from each other and build the connections that can help them achieve their coaching goals.”
This event would not be possible without funding from the Women in Sport programme at Sport Ireland. Nora Stapleton, Women in Sport Lead at Sport Ireland says a key aim is to increase the number of female coaches from grassroots to high performance.
“Recognising the importance of networking and peer support, it is fantastic to see each of the five sports come together for this Women in Sport Coaching Networking Day,” she added.
“Learning from coaches within your sport is beneficial but learning from those in other sports provides even more opportunity for upskilling and education.”
“I want to congratulate each of the sports, and in particular their Women in Sport Leads, Elaine Cahill, Cycling Ireland, Louise McKenzie, IABA, Lilly-Ann O’Hora, Athletics Ireland, Anna Grealish, Triathlon Ireland and Ceara O’Connor, Rowing Ireland. It is because of their drive and passion, that programmes and events such as these take place. ”
“Through the supports provided by the sports, and additional opportunities for coaches to upskill, learn and receive dedicated mentoring on their coaching journey, we hope to continue to progress females on the coaching pathway.”
Elaine Cahill, Women in Sport Officer for Cycling Ireland speaks of the importance of the networking event.
“I’m really excited about it, the collaboration between the five sports over the last few years has been instrumental both personally in terms of being able to bounce ideas off peers and in terms of being able to work together on Women in Sport programmes.”
“The networking event will allow coaches from each of the five sports to form those connections and relationships across sports to strengthen their network and learn from one another to not only help them as coaches but ultimately have an impact on the people they coach also.”
“It’s great to have a programme which highlights our female coaches.,” said Matt McKerrow, CEO of Cycling Ireland.
“This networking day will be a fantastic event where female coaches will be able to liaise with one another, and learn from each other which will in turn lift the level of coaching that’s available to everyone in the Irish sports sector.”
