Sports
Have You a Story to Tell?
By MSP
22, Jan 2014 - 05:38

Hi All,
Happy New Year to you. Its that time of year again when we are preparing our annual reports to the Sports Council. Last year we got some really fantastic feedback from you and other stakeholders and this was very well received by those at National Level.

I know it may not be possible to help every club / organisation the way which we would like to but like everything else our resources are stretched to breaking point. However if you have some little story about how a little input from us might have helped to establish an initiative or indeed help the community in some way we really, really would like to hear about it.

The more stories we are able to pass on in our reports to those who make the decisions at national level the better. It is also important as it determines the level of financial support we receive from the Sports Council.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you and your volunteers / staff for engaging in this process with us. It really is vital that we pass on the impacts of the fantastic work that is going on in Mayo which is contributing to making the county a really active place to come and visit.

Any information or comments at all would be greatly appreciated and I have attached a sample template which was completed by one of our partners last year. Some other examples of projects etc are given below as well. Just a few concise and focused lines under any of the headings in the template would be great.

As with everything there is a deadline and my report has to be submitted by Friday 31st January 2014.

So if you can get any comments / contributions back to me by Wednesday 29th it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a million for all your help on projects etc to date. I look forward to continuing our good relationship in 2014.

Best Regards

Charlie

Sample Project Impacts for 2012

Goal To Work Programme

The Goal To Work Programme for the unemployed was piloted 3½ years ago as an FAI initative but would not have happened without the input of various agencies including the Mayo Sports Partnership who aside from the help in providing disability training, child protection courses and funding for various other courses within the programme have been a valuable service for their drive and expertise to help further progress the programme.
The Goal to Work programme has now evolved into a Multi Sport programme(FAI, GAA and IRFU) with a huge input from the Mayo Sports Partnership, which has had a profound effect on various people throughout the County. From the programme we have helped change peoples lifes and have given them a motivation to give something back to clubs/communities in their own vicinity and beyond.
As my role as a Development Officer in the FAI I have been fortunate to have found good people on this courses and we have linked them into various other programmes.
Examples
· Assisting the Moy Sports Forum in coaching children and youths from a disadvantaged background in Estates in Ballina

· Some have progressed their experience into working with females at a grassroots and elite players on a weekly basis

· Some have Worked on FAI programmes - Summer Soccer Schools, Girls only Easter Soccer Camps, Weekly Soccer Sister Programmes, Intercultural Afterschool programmes, assisting in refereeing school competitions.

· One coach progressed into working as a local sports co - ordinater in his local area and is charged with organizing sports programmes for children and adults locally.

Without the drive and expertise and funding from the Mayo Sports Partnership this programme would not be what it is currently. The positive outcomes are that we have come across people who can and are willing to work within Social Inclusion Soccer Programmes, Female programmes as well as mainstream FAI activities.

Regards

Paul Byrne
FAI Development Officer

Caman Abú

In November 2012 the MSP helped to fund a series of Camán Abú adult recreational hurling workshop sessions in Mayo. The Workshops were held in Claremorris with players invited from all over Mayo. From the workshops - two clubs sprouted - registering with Croke Park for Camán Abú - and who both now host regular Camán Abú sessions. These clubs - in Claremorris and Ballyvary - can now offer a recreational hurling outlet for adults in a fun and safe environment. This wasnt possible in the past. We now have over 30 active players ranging from ages 20 to 50. We hope to encourage two more clubs to come on board within the next few months and also hope to run a league/blitz for all these new teams within Mayo in the near future. Without the support of the MSP - both financial and psychological - we wouldnt have got this project off the ground. We now have people starting hurling later in life who have never played before.

Adrian Hession - Mayo GAA Hurling Games Promotion Officer

Tourmakeady Mini Marathon and Bike Week

In 2012 we organised our 1st marathon in Tourmakeady it was launched by Eamonn Coghlan. We were awarded a small amount of funding from Mayo Sports
Partnership. The launch and talk given by Eamonn Coghlin was very
inspiring to children and adults alike. The result was that we created
Gníomhaíochtaí Fóillíocht agus Caitheamh Aimsire. We organise in house Active Walking (originally piloted and supported by Mayo Sports Partnership) Strenuous Road Walking twice a week.. We have running groups and spinning.
We also organised two walks during the summer with Croí.

In 2012 our community group was awarded funding by Mayo Sports Partnership
to organise a programme for Bike Week. It was very successful. We now
have a growing Bike Club in Tourmakeady and have up to 25 children regularly participating. We have immense parent support and the children love this weekly activity.

Deirdre Cavanagh Tourmakeady

Child Protection in Sport

Having worked with Mayo Sports Partnership on the delivering of the Code of Ethics for Children & Young People in Sport awareness workshops, I was asked to help arrange a workshop for one of the local Martial Arts groups in the county. I contacted the partnership and they agreed to help through the provision of the participation packs, and registration of the course, and we set about arranging the date and venue.
After the presentation of the workshop I had an opportunity to visit with the club, and was delighted to see the various codes of conduct, policy statements, etc, displayed clearly in the club house. As I observed the class, I noted that the instructors were working hard to present classes which were enjoyable for the children involved, and which balanced skill development with safe enjoyment. I sat with the president of the club after the class where he asked for assistance - which I was glad to give - in wording travel permission forms for an event they were hoping to attend a couple of weeks later.
He also spoke of the difference the workshop had made in the way he viewed how he presented the club and how the leaders within the club were working. They had re-shifted their focus from only creating champions to creating an environment in which effort was rewarded, and children can develop their skills in their own time.
Since then, the club has grown in numbers, with almost 70 young people taking part in lessons every week, and it is hoped that it will continue to grow in 2013.
At the core of developing sport and physical activity opportunities within any community is the education of the leaders, and the kind of support and guidance which is available to all through the hard work and dedication of staff of MSP. I am delighted to present this small example of how, working together, sport and physical activity is growing both in popularity, and in the quality of the leaders presenting lessons and sessions on the ground, every day.

Martin O Malley Child Protection in Sport Tutor

Charlie Lambert
Sports Co-ordinator
Mayo Sports Partnership
Community and Integrated Development
Mayo County Council
Castlebar
Co. Mayo

Tel: 094 9047256
Fax: 094 9047480
E-mail: clambert@mayococo.ie
Web: www.mayosports.ie