Going Green: A Round-Up From the “Updates from Across the Pond” Blog
(11-5-09) Boston, Mass. - Our travels through Ireland left us invigorated and inspired. On our week-long journey we were thrilled to see Sport in Society’s values of community, inclusiveness, respect, health, teamwork, and service playing an active role in sports, both in Northern Ireland and the Republic. It is a powerful moment when you connect with others who are striving to ensure these positive values are at the core of sports globally.
Discrimination, instances of poor health, and rising rates of obesity are not unique to the US, so we met with leaders of Irish sports leagues to learn about the efforts they are taking to address these issues. We were impressed to learn that the leagues provide extensive resources to fight sectarianism, racism, ableism, sexism, heterosexism, and health disparities through sports at every level, from youth sports to professionals. They distribute pamphlets that include background information on each issue, how to address it, and interactive activities, and videos.
Integrating these values are a whole different beast in the US, of course, in part due to how sports are structured. In the US, youth sports, interscholastic sports, professional sports, and club sports all operate independently, whereas Ireland has a central body for each sport (or group of sports, in the case of Gaelic games) that governs novice through elite teams. This system lends itself to strong community ties and enforceable values because people stay with the same club throughout their life. According to a popular saying, “You don’t join a club, you inherit it.”
We learned that Ireland’s sports leagues have a strong curricular base and well-established channels for implementation. Their greatest concern is measuring the impact of this seemingly strong foundation. The leagues have identified the need to monitor and evaluate programs, but the hardest part is putting the measures in place.
In addition to meeting with the leagues, Dave served as a guest lecturer to University College of Dublin and University of Ulster’s sports management students. Professors at the universities were excited to learn about our Master in Sports Leadership program. We are eager to expand these educational opportunities for our respective networks through improved graduate and undergraduate coursework.
Overall, we found there is no lack of passionate people in the world of sports who doggedly strive toward ever-higher standards – many of them want to work with us, and we look forward to seeing these relationships come to fruition!