Sport Ireland Institute 2018 Review Published
- Annual Sentiment Survey of athletes list high impact of Institute services on athlete performances at major championships
- Institute strategy to 2024 developed and implementation on track
- Ground breaking partnership with the Olympic Federation of Ireland represents a major system alignment for Olympic Games preparation
Sport Ireland today published a comprehensive review of the work of the Sport Ireland Institute in 2018.
A key feature of this year’s review is the inclusion of the first annual Sentiment Survey of athletes, which gauges athlete views on their experience of the facilities and professional services available through the Sport Ireland Institute. Feedback from the athletes engaged by the Sport Ireland Institute demonstrated the high impact of Institute services on athlete performances at major championships over the course of 2018.
Sport Ireland Chief Executive, John Treacy, said: “2018 was a significant year for the Sport Ireland Institute in its support of our top athletes. This was underpinned by the ground-breaking partnership with the Olympic Federation of Ireland which introduces a new aligned approach in the Irish High-Performance System toward Olympic Games preparation and performance. It is welcome to see such positive feedback from athletes on their experience of the Institute and its staff both at home and abroad at training camps and competitions. Sport Ireland looks forward to seeing continued growth of the Institute and its services as we head into critical period ahead of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
The partnership with the Olympic Federation of Ireland has led to greater system alignment with the Sport Ireland Institute having provided support to Team Ireland at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. This agreement was complimented by the signing of key agreements with the National Dairy Council and analytics company SAS.
2018 also saw the development of a new Sport Ireland Institute strategy for the period up to 2024.
2018 was a pivotal year in the evolution of the Sport Ireland Institute with the completion of the strategy with six key priorities through to 2024 providing a clear focus for the development of our support offering to Ireland’s high performance sports, the athletes and their support personnel. The strong athlete response to the annual sentiment survey attesting to the impact the support services provided by the Sport Ireland Institute Team has on their major championship performance is the reason we exist and a fitting testimonial to the team of highly professional and experienced service practitioners we have.
We are committed to further supporting the athletes, particularly those targeting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and reflecting the new alignment in Irish High Performance Sport, are in detailed planning with both the Olympic Federation of Ireland and Paralympics Ireland to support the Tokyo mission.
Other key developments in 2018 include the launch for Sport Ireland Institute’s Athlete Friendly Employer Network, the hosting of a Dual Careers Event with Student Sport Ireland and the commencement of the Sparking Performance development programme for Performance Directors.