January - July In This Issue. Go for Life Games Learning through Football Boccia League DCC Fencing Finglas Table Cricket

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1 January - July 2015 Welcome to the Spring/Summer edition of our bi-annual newsletter. In this edition we review some of the noteworthy programmes that took place over the first half of the year and look forward to some major upcoming events in Dublin City Council would like to take this op- portunity to thank all of our partners who have supported us during the year and special acknowledgement to the Irish Sports Council and the HSE for their ongoing funding and support. In This Issue Operation Transformation All Girls Boxing Project Ballyfermot Kayaking Project DIT Special Populations Project Schools Rowing Programme Lord Mayor s 5Alive Challenge Rugby Mentoring Programme Bike Week 2015 Go for Life Games Learning through Football Boccia League DCC Fencing Finglas Table Cricket Developing Young People through Sport & Physical Activity Upcoming programmes & events Education & Training/Contact Us

2 The Dublin City Sports & Recreation Team together with Dublin City Sports Network hosted and lead the 5th Annual RTE Operation Transformation Na- tional Walk at St Anne s Park, Raheny on Saturday 17th January at 10am. Despite the cold weather over 400 participants of all ages and abilities came along to enjoy this 3.5K walk around the grounds of the very picturesque St Anne's Park. DCSN also played a major role in hosting and organising the OT 5K finale run in the Phoenix Park on Sat- urday February 21st. This is the culmination of the 8-8 week transformation with over 5,000 people taking part! To find out more information on walking/running programmes in the city please aideen.oconnor@dublincity.ie On the 7th May 2015 the Boxing in the Community Development Team held their first all female Women in Sport Boxing Showcase Exhibition in the National Stadium, the home of amateur boxing. 40 girls, from 8 different schools (both primary and post primary) from all Dublin City Council boroughs participated in this hugely successful event. Thirteen weeks of training and preparation preceded the showcase where students with no previous experience of amateur boxing engaged in a very demanding challenge. The Boxing team would like to congratulate all of the students who engaged in the programme, from the 250 who took part in total and especially the 40 girls who completed all levels. This programme was delivered as part of the Irish Sports Council Women in Sport Initiative, a 3 way partnership between the Irish Sports Council, IABA and Dublin City Council Sports & Recreation. It is hoped that we can build on this programme in the future and continue to introduce young women to sport of boxing. For more information please contact sports@dublincity.ie

3 On the 23rd of February, the Sports Development team in Ballyfermot introduced a youth leadership partnership programme with Canoeing Ireland. The aim of the course was to identify 9 young people who had an interest in kayaking but also would be ready to take on the challenge of becoming Level 1 kayak instructors. The course has been an outstanding success with a great level of commitment shown by the young people involved. The course takes place on every Tuesday until the 23rd of November when we hope to have 9 qualified instructors. Each week a new challenge is set for the group with trips to various rivers & even some sea locations which can be very challenging. On top of this, the weather is not always good and frozen hands usually take the glamour away in the cold months when instructors exams will take place! DCC Sports Officers have also provided training for the participants in Code Of Ethics, First Aid REC and have also facilitated participants to complete work experience at the Ballyfermot Adventure Centre. This provides participants with a chance to gain some invaluable work experience with the hope that some will aspire to be employed as part of DCC/VEC student summer work programme which has been a source of employment opportunities for others who have completed the programme previously. For more informa- tion please contact Derek Ahern, Sports Development Officer for the Ballyfermot Area derek.ahern@dublincity.ie This partnership project between DCC Sports & Recreation, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and Age and Opportunity s Go for Life incorporated a Learning with Communities project into the curriculum of DIT Leisure Students. The project teaches students about how to plan, organise and deliver an exercise to music programme for older adults. Students initially received both theoretical and practical training in Cathal Brugha Street from Go for Life experts. Following this, the students worked in teams to deliver sessions to older adult groups in the community. These community sessions were coordinated and supervised by the Sports and Recreation Team and took place in Crumlin, Ringsend, Gloucester Street and Manor Street. In total 30 students and 70 older adults took part in this project. For more information please contact antonia.martin@dublincity.ie.

4 The Dublin City Council Sports Development Officer in conjunction with the staff of the Dublin Municipal Rowing Centre and Rowing Ireland delivered indoor rowing sessions to a number of schools across the city including Francis St CBS, Gaelscoil Inchicore, St Lorcan s NS Palmerstown, Our Lady of Mercy Ballyfermot, St Damien s Perrystown, Educate Together Grangegorman, and St Patricks NS Chapelizod. Indoor rowing instruction was provided for students in 4th, 5th and 6th classes of the schools with a view to each school identifying a team of four boys and girls to compete in a schools final, alongside participants from other schools in the programme. The schools final was held on the 15 April in the historical City Hall; the first time for a sport ever to be accommodated in this wonderful venue. With over 80 participants from 12 schools involved this programme it was a huge success and planning is underway for it to continue in September. For more information please contact areth.herbert@dublincity.ie The Lord Mayor s 5 Alive Challenge returned for its 4th Year in 2015 under the former Lord Mayor Christy Burke, with 340 participants signing up to run in all of the 5 Alive races. There was a targeted campaign to encourage complete beginners to take part in the challenge, resulting in the recruitment of over 100 new partici- pants. This initiative is growing from strength to strength and there is a real sense of pride and camaraderie when running the races as 5 Alivers. We work very closely with local athlet- ics clubs and the BHAA for the races and we also encourage participants to check out their nearest Park Run and Fit 4 Life groups too. Former Lord Mayor Christy Burke hosted the reception night in City Hall and all participants received a scroll. Those who completed all 5 races received a unique medallion. There were also recognition awards given to those participants who stood out for their commit- ment to the challenge and as a surprise we invited motivational guess speaker and author of Tick Tock Ten Gerry Duffy. For more info please contact aideen.oconnor@dublincity.ie

5 Dublin City Council Sport and Recreation Officer LJ Higgins and Leinster Rugby Community Development Officer Colm Finnegan began a mentoring programme in January 2015 with a service user of Work Options, St Michaels House in Whitehall. Work Options strive to maintain social and educational skills alongside raising the profile of adults with intellectual disability within the community. The following is a short summary of the experience of one of the participants on the programme: Phillip has attended numerous Sport and Recreation programmes provided by Dublin City Council but expressed a keen interest in rugby and a desire to assist with programme delivery. After completing the Irish Sports Council Code of Ethics and Good Practice for Children s Sport Workshop and also being Garda vetted, Phillip began work experience in St. John Boscos National School in Cabra. He assisted Colm with coaching rugby to over 45 children for a three week period. He acted as a referee in a citywide 6th class blitz held in Donnybrook. He also helped out at the Leinster Rugby Fun Day and it was here he put his great leadership skills to use. At one stage of the event, a child with autism was struggling to complete a hand pass. Phillip took him to one side and patiently demonstrated the skill and helped the child practice until he had mastered the skill. Phillip has gained a lot of experience through his mentoring programme and he has now become a volunteer for Special Olympics Ireland. Philip said I worked with Dublin City Council and Leinster Rugby for 5 weeks. I really enjoyed it. I learned how to work with young people. Colm allowed me to do a small session with the players. I felt shy the first week but by the time I finished my work experience I felt very confident with the group. It made me feel great. Bike Week 2015 took place from Saturday 13th to Sunday 21st of June. Bike week is a celebration of all that is great about bikes and cycling. Events were held in the Dublin City Council area, organised by the sports officers. Activities included Finglas Bicycle Clinic, Dublin North Central Bicycle Jamboree, Dublin 8 Bicycle Clinic, Matt Talbot Family Fun Cycle in the Phoenix Park, Mountain Biking skills training and Ballymun Get Back on Your Bike. In total we had over 240 people take part in our programmes.

6 Dublin City Sports & Recreation Team work in partnership with Go for Life by providing the opportunity for older adults in Dublin to take part in the national Go for Life Games held every year in June in DCU. The Sports & Recreation Officers run local community programmes in each of Dublin s administration areas for groups such as Active Retire- ment Associations so that they can become familiar with the games and rules. The games are made up of 3 events; Lobbers (a target game adapted from petanque and boules), Flisk (adapted from boccia and horseshoe pitching), and Scidils (adapted from ten pin bowling with one skittle). The local sessions attracted high numbers and gave par- ticipants the opportunity to really practice the games for future competitions. On the 29th May, all participants from Dublin city competed at the City Finals at Cabra Parkside Sports & Community Centre. Following the success of this day only 12 participants were picked to represent Dublin City at the National Finals in DCU. This was a very successful day where over 300 participants representing all the Sports Partnerships from around the country took part. Unfortunately Dublin City were not winners on the day but a most en- joyable and fun-filled filled day was had by all involved. Applications are now open for the 2015 National Grant Scheme. Closing date is 12 noon Friday 25th September For all information including application forms please visit All applications should be sent to gfl.grants@ageandopportunity.ie or forms can be posted to: Go for Life, Age and Oppor- tunity, St Patricks Hall, Marino Institute of Education, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.

7 This innovative programme was devised by Minister for Equality Aod- han O Riordain and the FAI to encourage parents and daughters to combine their efforts in football related educational tasks. The programme had many different elements including producing a scrapbook, competing in a fantasy football league competition, complet- ing weekly tasks in history and geography relating to players in their fantasy league squad and calculating transfer fees. Dublin City libraries provided library cards, magazines and a tutorial with Alan Nolan, cartoonist, to help participants create animation for their storybook. Over the 6 weeks parents and girls were brought together for football sessions with the emphasis on working together as part of a team. The 16 students and their parents were chosen by Caitriona Ni Chadhain HSCL at St Eithnes GNS Edenmore and ranged in age from 9 to 11 yrs old. At the end of the programme prizes were awarded for the fantasy league winner and best scrapbook. All participants were then brought to a closed training session in the Aviva Stadium to watch the Ireland senior team train. For more information please contact jimmy.mowlds@fai.ie. Dublin City Council Sport and Recreation in partnership with St Michaels House and Headways Ireland rolled out a pilot Boccia League in January The sport of Boccia was introduced to 11 service users of Headways Blackhall Place and 16 service users of Work Options (St Michaels House branch). Over the duration of eight weeks, both groups learned the skills, rules and tactics of Boccia. On the 27th February, a friendly competition took place between the two groups in Bally- bough Community Centre. With over 30 participants for the competition, the atmos- phere was fun filled with an emphasis on play and enjoy- ment. Of course scores had to be recorded and it was Headways who won on the day, al- though St Michaels proved tough competition. Following on from the competition, it was organised that Headways would demonstrate the sport of Boccia to members of the staff and students at Colaise Íde in Finglas. Two matches were organised in lunch time sessions to establish interest levels in the sport. Boccia proved very popular and it is now proposed to organise a college league between staff, students and service users of Headways in the new term. For more information please contact sports@dublincity.ie.

8 Momentum is an educational and support pro- gramme run by the Fingal Centre for recovering drug addicts in Finglas. A physical activity workshop was delivered to participants of the Momentum programme to raise awareness as to the im- portance of physical activity and establish the amount and types of physical activity participants were currently engaging in and explore ways they could increase levels. Following this workshop, two fencing sessions were arranged to introduce the participants to a challenging new activity. None of the participants had ever attempted to fence before so the sessions really took them out of their comfort zone. However, with the support and encouragement of the instructor, all partici- pants engaged which resulted in a real sense of empowerment. Plans are in place to introduce participants to kayaking later in the summer. For more information contact niall.mcdonald@dublincity.ie. Cricket Leinster and Dublin City Sports are de- lighted to announce that the first ever Table Cricket match in the province was a huge success. Both teams had approximately seven training sessions each prior to the game and were very evenly matched which made for an exciting and high standard match. St Michael s of Coolock won the toss and opted to bat first. They put up a good total of 282 but it wasn t enough as St. Michaels of Ballybough put up a score of 290 to just edge victory by 8 runs. Everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed themselves with great feedback received from the day s activities. Lynn Conroy, one of the participants said the training was very interesting and I enjoyed the tournament. I got to make new friends and to engage with the Lein- ster coaches again. I'd love to keep playing this game, whilst Una Hennessy said I loved the training because it's a great sport. The coaches were very good and the tournament was fantastic. We have now been able to introduce and establish Table Cricket in the area. It has been thoroughly enjoyable for all coaches and participants involved and we are looking to expand the game into new areas in the near future. For more information please contact fintan.mcallister@cricketleinster.ie.

9 The Dublin City Council Sport Development Officer in conjunction with the Dublin Institution of Technology Sports Development Officer secured funding for this programme through the DIT Foundation office, Dublin City Council and DIT Sports Office. The programme targeted 40 young people from a number of youth projects around the city. The young people targeted were aged between 14 and 17 years of age. The young people that took part in the programme came from Warrenmount Secondary School, Dublin 8, Fountain Youth Project, Dublin 8, The Liberties Club, Dublin 8, SAYS (South Area Youth Services), Dublin 2, Donnycarney Youth Project, Dublin 5, Kilbarrack Youth Project and KCCP (Kilbarrack Coast Community Programme), Dublin 5. The young people had the option of taking part in a week introductory programme in one of the following activities: Dance Fitness Kayaking Snorkelling Gym / Aerobic Fitness. Each young person had to take part in a First Aid Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) workshop and a nutrition workshop. The nutrition workshop proved very entertaining with a number of the young people tasting new foods such as pitta bread, peanut butter, celery and beetroot to name just a few. The small group of young people that chose the snorkelling programme attended training sessions with the DIT Aquatic Sub Aqua Club, where they learnt their basic snorkel- ling skills, how to play underwater hockey and as a bonus were given an introduction to Scuba Diving. The group that took part in the Aerobic Fitness attended the DIT Fit2Go club and took part in a range of classes, from spinning bikes, to rebound and TRX. The dance programme proved to be very popular with over half the group taking part in the Dancepl3y programme which qualified the young people to be Engineers of Awesome giving them skills, music and routines in dance fitness to bring back to their youth projects and to other local after schools clubs. All activities and session took place on site in DIT Kevin Street also introducing the young people to the college environment. On finishing the programme the young people were presented with certification and a DIT hoodie. For more information please contact sharon.kelly@dublincity.ie.

10 Active Community Walking Programme We are delighted to announce that Dublin City Sports has been chosen as one of the 12 local sports partnerships to deliver this programme as part of the Get Ireland Walking Initiative. Get Ireland Walking is an initiative of the Irish Sports Council, funded by Healthy Ireland and supported by other agencies including Mountaineering Ireland, HSE Health Promotion & Improvement and the Irish Heart Foundation. The Active Community Walking Programme aims to support the creation of vibrant walking communities throughout Ireland. The programme will work with communities to increase the capacity and potential of people with low levels of physical activity to become more active through walking. This, in turn, will lead to increased numbers of peo- ple participating in walking throughout Ireland. An Active Community Walking Facilitator will work with six communities with little or no organised walking activity to develop sus- tainable walking groups. By implementing a locally based and focused programme, and working directly with communities, this initiative seeks to empower local communities to increase their physical activity through walking. If you know of potential groups who may be interested in this programme please contact our Active Community Walking Facilitator David Phelan at david.phelan6@mail.dcu.ie or Great Dublin Bike Ride The Irish Sports Council, in conjunction with Cycling Ireland has teamed up with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Dublin City Council and Healthy Ireland for the Great Dublin Bike Ride, which will be held on the 13th September in Dublin. It is a bike ride for all abilities from novice to expert with a choice of a 60km or 100km route. This event will be a flagship event in Ireland for the European Week of Sport (7-13th September). To volunteer, participate or for general information, please visit European Week of Sport The European Week of Sport (7-13th September) aims to pro- mote sport and physical activity across Europe. The week is for everyone, regardless of age, background or fitness level. With a focus on grassroots initiatives, it will inspire Europeans to #BeActive on a regular basis and create opportunities in peoples everyday lives to exercise more. Dublin City Council will have events taking place across the city so keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for details over the coming weeks. For more infor- mation please contact sports@dublincity.ie

11 Safeguarding 1 Basic Awareness Workshop in Child Welfare and Protection (formerly known as Code of Ethics Training ) All Coaches, Children's Officers and Desig- nated Liaison Persons (DLP) must complete the 3 hour Child Welfare & Protection Basic Awareness Course. This course educates participants on the implementation of best practice in protecting the welfare of children involved in sport. In 2014, 374 people com- pleted this training in the DCC area. For more information on upcoming courses and dates, please contact Emmet Flinter on (01) or emmet.flinter@dublincity.ie Active Leadership We regularly run this course which is designed to provide trained, knowledge- able and enthusiastic community based physical activity leaders. Leaders will be equipped to work in a wide range of loca- tions including local clubs, community groups, workplaces, community centres and sports clubs. The intended outcome is that the trainee leader will be compe- tent and confident in taking charge of a group for physical activity sessions. For more information on upcoming courses and dates, please contact Catherine Flood on (01) or catherine.flood@dublincity.ie Twitter DCC Sports & Recreation team have recently joined Twitter. Follow and stay informed about all things #sport #recreation #wellbeing and #participation in #DublinCity Dublin City Council Sports & Recreation Section Culture, Recreation, Amenity and Community Department, 3 Palace St. Floor 4 Dublin 2. Phone: / General enquiries: sports@dublincity.ie