80K funding for Gymnastics Ireland’s Women in Sport Programme announced

Gymnastics Ireland is proud to be one of the 45 National Governing Bodies in the country to have received a funding allocation for the further development of our Women in Sport programme. The announcement was made yesterday by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, and the Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, Thomas Byrne.

Gymnastics Ireland’s Director of Participation, Inclusion and Club Development Aimi Baker who was present at the announcement, said:

"We are thrilled to once again to receive funding from the Sport Ireland Women in Sport Programme (WIS). For the 2023/ 2024 season, one of our main focuses was on increasing the interest, knowledge and participation rates in GfA Display. At our national display event The Floor this year we doubled the numbers of teams taking part compared to last year, with almost 600 participants, which was amazing! We also have a team travelling to the European Gym for Life Challenge in Norway in a few weeks and this is the first time Gymnastics Ireland has participated in this event and we already have 8 teams signed up to take part in the World Gym for Life Challenge in Portugal next year. This year’s focus (2024/2025), as well as continuing the growth of GfA display, we plan on creating a Body Positivity Campaign, as well as actioning a number of the key recommendations from our WIS research "The Gymnasts Voice". It will be a busy year! "

Gymnastics Ireland will continue to further develop our Women in Sport projects throughout 2024/2025 in the following areas:

• Further development of GfA display with increased coach education, club support, gymnasts’ engagement, a new GfA National Pathway, online resources and international collaborations.

• Continuation of our GfA Display Mentor Programme for clubs who wish to engage in GfA and take part in national events such as The Floor as well as participate in international GfA display events such as World Gymnaestrada, EuroGym and World Gym for Life Challenge.

• The development and launch of a Body Positivity Campaign

• Further implementation in all areas of gymnastics of our research "The Gymnasts Voice, harnessing opportunities to retain teenage girls in gymnastics.”

These projects support the government’s vision for women in sport as one where women have an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential, while enjoying a lifelong involvement in sport.

To read full announcement click in the Sport Ireland website below: https://www.sportireland.ie/news/record-eu4m-in-funding-for-women-in-sport-programme

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