The state of sport
Northern Ireland’s sportsmen and women are enjoying a run of successes one year before London 2012. agendaNi sums up the year so far and the province’s sporting plans.
It’s clear that Northern Ireland is excelling at sport in 2011.
At the highest level stand the golfing achievements of Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, following on from Graeme McDowell’s victory last year (see pages 106-107).
Major personal achievements have also been chalked up by our athletes. Jason Smyth set a new Northern Ireland 100m record (10.22), a 0.1 second improvement on his previous best. Fifteen year old Sally Brown won a 200m bronze at the International Paralympic Committee World Championships. Ciara Mageean also set a new Irish junior indoor mile record (4:38.81).
Kelly Gallagher claimed a gold medal in the slalom at the Europa Cup Finals. Aileen Morrison won the European Triathlon Union Cup race, before taking a silver at the International Triathlon Union contest two weeks later.
In badminton, Madeline Perry won the Singapore Masters and enters the Australian Open as the defending champion.
Linfield won its 50th Irish League title in May. Northern Ireland, at the time of going to press, had won two of its Euro 2012 qualifiers, lost one and drawn three.
Ulster teams have won the Sam Maguire Cup four times since 2000, with Down narrowly losing out last year. Tyrone dropped out in this year’s quarter-finals but Donegal has progressed one stage further. Antrim reached the semis in this year’s All-Ireland U21 Hurling Championship. Meanwhile in rugby, Ulster reached the Heineken Cup quarter- finals.
Strategy
More and more people are also taking part in sport. In 2005-2006, 29 per cent of people regularly participated but this rose to 37 per cent in 2009-2010.
This is welcome progress in reversing the decline in exercise by 2013, one of the main goals in the Executive’s ‘Sport Matters’ strategy. Objectives for its finish in 2019 include:
• winning at least five medals at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games;
• 100 Northern Ireland athletes gaining medals at the highest level in their sport;
• 45,000 part-time and 700 full-time coaches.
In school, children should receive at least two hours of PE per week plus two hours of extra-curricular sport and recreation. A physically active lifestyle should become the norm as people grow up.
Sports bodies and local councils are to organise more events in disadvantaged areas and appoint 36 development officers to encourage people to take part: 18 for women and 18 for disabled people. Forty club support officers would keep up good links with local schools.
Performance would be improved by creating a high performance sports network (24 coaches plus 10 sports scientists) and a 100-strong network of full-time club coaches.
The most visible result will be the upgrading of Windsor Park, Casement Park and Ravenhill (worth £110 million). Other construction projects include constructing Bangor’s 50m swimming pool, completing the Sports Institute’s high performance centre and redeveloping the Tollymore Mountain Centre.
For the many people who prefer less intense exercise, publicly owned lands across Northern Ireland will be opened up for walking. All public rights of way will also be mapped out.
London 2012
As the clock counts down, all eyes are turning to the London 2012 Olympics (27 July to 12 August), followed by the Paralympics (29 August to 9 September). Local athletes have the choice of competing for Great Britain (officially Great Britain and Northern Ireland) or Ireland.
Getting the Australian boxing team to locate in Belfast is a significant achievement. The province’s rings have produced six Olympic medallists since 1956 (most recently Paddy Barnes in 2008). Australia has had no success since 1988 but has participated in every games since then. The team hopes to qualify 13 boxers: 10 men and, for the first time, three women.
Furthermore, two Chinese coaches inspected the Salto Gymnastics Centre in Lisburn in July. Chinese gymnasts won 18 medals, including 11 golds, at the 2008 Beijing games.
Indonesia’s badminton team is considering the Lisburn Racquets Club as a training camp. Five of its players trained there in early August, preparing for the Badminton World Championships in London.
Our progress has been slow compared to the Republic, which will host four watersports teams: Hungarian and British water polo, US synchronised swimming and British Paralympic swimming.
That said, most teams and indeed athletes are waiting to see if whether they have qualified.
Northern Ireland’s first Paralympic qualifier took place with the World Boccia Championships in Jordanstown (18-27 August). An international wheelchair basketball tournament will take place in the province in January-February 2012.
Back in Lisburn, badminton players will be ranked for the Olympics at the Yonex Irish International Badminton Championship, scheduled for 8-11 December. Two hundred players from over 30 countries are due to take part.
The province has missed out on hosting Olympic events, due to the failure to build the Maze stadium and the delay in upgrading Windsor Park. Meanwhile, both Hampden Park and Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will host Olympic football matches.
Over 600 volunteers will carry the Olympic torch through the province from 3-6 June. Following on from this year’s achievements, the Olympics are a unique opportunity for Northern Ireland’s sportspeople. London last had the games in 1948 and this chance may not pass our way again.
Olympic football: pros and cons
A ‘Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ Olympic football team has been proposed by the British Olympic Association and Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington is happy for his players to take part. FIFA has pledged that the Celtic nations will not lose their status and a UK team did compete up to 1960. Individual footballers are free to decide whether they want to compete. Eighteen players will be in the men’s squad: 15 under-23s and three of open age, possibly including David Beckham.
The Irish Football Association has long been opposed (along with its Scottish and Welsh counterparts), claiming that this would undermine Northern Ireland’s independence in FIFA. Founded in 1880, the IFA is the fourth oldest football association in the world. Many Northern Ireland supporters distrust FIFA, especially with the ongoing bribery allegations, and their top priority is the World Cup rather than Wembley in 2012.
