Sport Northern Ireland and Coaching

Sport Northern Ireland recognises that coaching plays a vital role in developing, sustaining and increasing participation in sport, as well as in the attainment of success at international level. Great coaches guide improvement in technical, tactical, physical, mental and lifestyle skills, as well as personal and social development.

Coach Education and Development is a priority and Sport Northern Ireland will be working with a range of organisations to improve the quality of coaching through effective planning, identification and recruitment, education, management and profiling of the coaching workforce.

Sport Northern Ireland is responsible for the strategic direction of coaching in Northern Ireland. Sport Northern Ireland works closely with its partners at sports coach UK and Coaching Ireland to ensure that coaching is developed on a North South and East West basis. The UK Coaching Framework and the Coaching Strategy for Ireland provide the blueprints for raising the standard and status of coaching in Northern Ireland and identify the roles and responsibilities of all involved in the development and delivery of a top class coaching system. More information on both these documents can be found via the links column at the side of this page.

Sport Northern Ireland delivers coach education and development workshops across Northern Ireland, through Clubs, governing bodies and local authories. More information on Sport Northern Ireland’s coach education and development workshops can be found here. 

Click here for more information on the Practitioner Development Programme which aims to increase the number of high performance sport practitioners in Northern Ireland, including coaches, scientists and medical practitioners.