Club development Ensure your club / organisation gets a chance at resources (grants, funding etc) Better development of clubs and activities Better development of facilities Personal Interest Keep your interest – play a role in ongoing training and development Personal interest in the sport Progress within the club Power and prestige!!

Community development Opportunities to get involved are presented e.g. LSP Promote participation Better coordination at a local level of activities on offer to the community Part of a wider desire to meet needs – providing a range of sports facilities Ensure sport and physical activities reach all social – especially those facing social exclusion or disadvantage.

Source of support – funding, advice, contacts, target group Synergies – you scratch my back, Ill scratch yours approach Advocacy and lobby for more support for sport and physical activity in general – the reason why sporting facilities have developed and there is such an interest in sport and physical activity More opportunities for public to engage in physical activity More political interest in supporting sport

A smart manager knows their playing field, their players and their supporters People who are good at influencing have their facts in order but know the tactics of influencing - Influencing is both an art (the approach) and a science (the facts)

Inform yourself on your club / organisation / local community- Know who is who and how the club or organisation works – what is acceptable to a club, who are your champions? Who are likely to resist? What is the history of people trying to change things in the past? Who is open to change? Network at a club or community level – allow other to know and trust you Start with your own club – coaches, volunteers, committees – look to influence their agenda If outside a sporting structure, look to see are there other structure you can work with? Community and Voluntary forums? Local development group?, LSP?

Clarify your own objectives what is it you want to achieve – more funding, a better pitch, a new activity, a new approach, more players, more children? Be practical and clear on what it is you want to achieve – make sure this is the position of your club or community (same hymn sheet) Look to examine where these are aligned with the interests of other agencies for example – you might want more members – the HSE want to get more children involved in sport – are these different objectives for the same eventual goal? Look for allies and networks - try to keep abreast of who is who outside of the organisation (the key agencies and the key contacts) and what are the interests of external organisations Keep a club file if necessary Make connections & Network: Use fortuitous chance as a way to network with key agencies and individuals - local sport events, launches, seemingly unrelated events – the pub even! Look for opportunities – both present and in the future

Parents, volunteers and coaches – the foundation for local sport Sports clubs Partnership companies – rural development, LCDP HSE VEC County Council LSP Governing bodies Special Olympics FAS 3 rd level sector Irish Sports Council Local media Local gatekeepers (key community figures) Schools setting – DES and locally Community Development projects

The three main functions of the LSPs are: - Information - establish a consultative forum, initiate research, compile a sports directory and database, and identify needs and resources to form the basis of local planning Education - provide quality opportunities for education and training at local level, provide training courses targeting volunteers, and provide access to sport specific courses through the national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport Implementation - develop a strategic plan for local sport, appoint a professional administrator, secure related support services, select participation programmes for LSPs modified to suit local needs, increase the impact of national programmes delivered locally, market and promote sport Wicklow, South County Dublin, Dublin City Council, Fingal, Kildare, Laois

Their primary interest : Participation in sport and physical activity Their use to local clubs / facilities Connections and information – a mine of information Information on grants, training schemes, Access to a rang of stakeholders through their partnership structure Access to programmes in different arenas – socially excluded, schools, sports clubs etc. Clubs and facilities directory – example of a promotional tool for you

Primary interest: Education and youth affiars Mandate: Responsibility for coordination of youth work in regions (youth work act) Many take a role in youth sports development (e.g. Co Dublin VEC Co. Wicklow VEC Sports Promotion Unit) Play a key role in adult education Play a key role in provision of secondary (and some primary education) Their use to local clubs / facilities Grant aid Access to facilities or programmes Training for volunteers (as part of adult education) Interest in youth development in its broadest sense – youth clubs, youth information, programmes Source of information and support

Primary interest : Participation (not sport) and in particular participation for high risk groups Mandate: Provision of Health Services including Health Promotion Their use to local clubs / facilities Mixed experience in past number of years – internal change process and pressures of resources Health promotion function greatly diminished Some physical activity officer still in place (e.g. South Dublin HSE area) Some research function

Primary interest: County development - to see facilities used to most potential for the public good – both participation and high performance Their mandate in relation to sport Sports development – sports officers / sports partnershipsParks – pitches and public playing areas Public facilities – management of facilities and building/developing facilities Information management – libraries, CONNECT Sports development Planning and development including leisure facilities Building of public leisure facilities Social inclusion – via RAPID and community and enterprise Political representation at a local level – interest in local development

The reality – often spread across county, often act as a series of micro enterprises Tied in with the LSPs so start at this level Aim to build long term relationships with the sectors and understand their brief

Everyone can influence sport You need to know the agencies out that, their interest and what you can provide which meets their objectives Take your time and take time to make the connections