Women in Sport
Gymnastics presents a unique and powerful opportunity to support girls to develop a strong love of sport and other physical activity at a young age and Gymnastics Ireland is committed to developing and delivering positive experiences and opportunities for all involved in gymnastics, including our teenage girls.
Women & Girls Strategy 2026 – 2028
Check out our Women & Girls Strategy 2026-2028 clicking here...
As a majority female sport, Gymnastics Ireland are committed to understanding and supporting the unique needs of women & girls and delivering positive experiences and opportunities for all involved. Our first Women & Girls Strategy 2026 – 2028 sets out our ambitions and priorities to create an inclusive, safe and positive culture that supports women & girls’ participation, growth and lifelong sense of belonging within gymnastics.
“Lifelong enjoyable involvement in sport has to be one of our main aims. In the context of women in sport doing all we can to address and prevent teenage drop out is crucial to this aim, particularly in an overwhelmingly female sport like ours.” Ciaran Gallagher, Gymnastics Ireland, CEO
This strategy focuses specifically on women & girls’ participation, our majority female workforce, and visibility. It supports our main Gymnastics Ireland strategy and wider organisational strategies and policies noted below, and is informed by Sport Ireland’s Policy on Women in Sport.
What Keeps You Here
Teenage dropout amongst girls is a widespread issue in sport and in gymnastics, which if tackled, can support lifelong involvement in sport and physical activity to improve the lives of women & girls. As a predominantly youth sport, Gymnastics presents a unique and powerful opportunity to help girls develop a strong love of sport and physical activity from a young age to nurture continued participation through adolescence and beyond to support their health, happiness and wellbeing into later life.
Through our research and beyond, we asked girls and women involved in our sport "What keeps you here?" - because what keeps you here matters to us.
Research
In 2022, thanks to a funding investment from the Sport Ireland Women in Sport programme, Gymnastics Ireland, working in partnership with Women in Sport UK, engaged in the largest member-based piece of research to date - “Keeping Teenage Girls in Gymnastics", with the voice of our teenage gymnasts at the heart of the initiative.
This research report clearly outlines what drives teenage girls' engagement and enjoyment in gymnastics and highlights areas that can be developed to enhance progression and create more moments of pride for all gymnasts and to build an inclusive, and positive body image culture in our member clubs and the sport of gymnastics in Ireland to extend girls' gymnastics journey beyond the teenage years. Our gymnasts have shared their voice, and we are listening.
