‘By 2025 we want the power of sport to be recognised and valued by all.’
In order to achieve this Mission Statement, Sport Northern Ireland wants the power of sport to be recognised and valued by all and commits to working with our partners to ensure that sport continues to play its part in delivering wider benefits to communities in Northern Ireland.
One of the key enablers in delivering this objective is the ‘development of a strong sporting system’ with the outcome being Northern Ireland athletes amongst the best in the world’.
In order to achieve this outcome it is important that Sport Northern Ireland understands the demography of our Talent & Performance Pathway and can begin to widen representation across Northern Ireland. A focus on inclusivity within our pathways will ensure that athletes are identified more often within a particular sport based on ability, suitability and opportunity rather than background and luck. A more systematic approach with a fully inclusive pathway will enable us to maximise the sporting potential in our small population and achieve greater sporting success in the future.
In order to make a change Sport Northern Ireland is committed to working closely with our Governing Bodies to enhance the diversity within performance pathways, as well as our partners across the UK and Ireland to share best practice and insight. To demonstrate this we are currently collaborating with our UK Colleagues (UK Sport, Sport England, Sport Wales & Sports Scotland) to uncover a UK Wide perspective on the demography across our Talent and Performance Pathways. Alongside the protected characteristics widely understood to be under-represented, this also includes some question’s pertinent to Northern Ireland specifically including what section of the community our athlete’s and workforce are from (Community Background) & what type of education and environment they are a product of to ensure that we can make change on all aspects of disadvantage within our Sporting System. The insight gained through this project will provide a rich source of data to inform decision making in the area, evidencing development needs/priorities and enable Sport NI and partners to put appropriate support in place to ensure our Performance Pathways are as inclusive and diverse as possible in the future. We currently have limited data in relation to the demography of our Talent & Performance Pathway. Only once we have a clear picture of the reality through this UK Wide Inclusion Project can we begin to put plans, policies and interventions in place to enhance the diversity within our pathway and therefore maximise the potential success of our Sporting System in the future and begin to achieve our aim of having more NI Athlete’s among the best in the World.
