I wish to begin by referring back to one of the opening points regarding volunteerism in sport and the Special Olympics, in particular, and how easy it appeared to recruit so many volunteers and to get more than it can handle. This is a pet subject of mine because in my previous employment of 12 years working with the GAA as the policy and planning manager I had responsibility for providing supports and resources to volunteers within the sport nationwide and outside of Ireland. Apart from the fact that it is a one-off high profile event, the reason the Special Olympics was successful in recruiting volunteers was that it asked. In sports, we are all guilty of not asking and if we do ask we do not give enough detail and enough indication of support to the individual being approached. Deputy Wall will agree with me that, in the GAA context, somebody is afraid to take on a position of secretary of a club because they see the current secretary, who may be in the post for ten years, running around like a headless chicken. There is no job description, no back up and no support service. Many of our sports at club level are run by one or two individuals or by a very small committee. We are not good at recruiting as governing bodies and, certainly, as a federation.
The last point related to what the Federation of Irish Sport does. This is the practical side of it, the area in which I am most interested, to see how we as a federation can stop the duplication and the waste of energy among volunteers and full-time personnel with the sports and to try to provide resources and supports to volunteers, through training or through the provision of resource material, through a common mechanism. In other words, rather than have the GAA, Irish basketball and sailing going to one venue to deliver training courses to their PROs on how to deal with the media, for example, or tips on sponsorship, that would mean all sports, tied in with the local sports partnerships would come together in a region for generic material that would help them in their voluntary role.
There is also a great deal of pressure on the current voluntary base in terms of the code of conduct for dealing with children and the whole area of insurance. They are off-putting and the people who are in the positions currently do not always get the best support in that regard. They are frightened away from being volunteers. People like to be volunteers and I do not believe the Celtic tiger, whatever is left of it, busy lifestyles or anything like that will stop people volunteering. People like to support something outside of their workplace and their home life, but it is up to us to encourage that. In that regard, the federation has a strong role in providing generic supports, advice and resources. We are looking at the possibility of web-based supports which are employed in Australia and New Zealand, for example, where the sports structure and the infrastructure is to be envied across the world. We have an important role to play in directing people to where they can get help, regardless of the sport in which they are engaged.
With regard to the insurance issue, interestingly, around this time last year or a little earlier - before the federation got off the ground - the Irish Sports Council e-mailed all of the governing bodies asking them if they were having difficulty. Obviously it had been approached by a number of governing bodies which were hitting panic buttons because they had seen an increase in their premiums. In fairness, the council asked the governing bodies to give details of their insurance situation, when they were up for renewal, etc, with a view to trying to do something as an umbrella organisation for all the sports. By the time the data was gathered, if any was put forward, policies had been renewed and the worries went away for another year.
Insurance is a major area which the federation will examine because it is crippling sports in the same way that it is crippling small business. We see evidence of that on the television and read about it in the newspapers all the time. It is an area we need to examine and there is a role for the committee in that because the market is too closed in and there is not enough information available to people who want to purchase insurance.
On the question of women in sport, I would look at it from both sides, not just from the participation aspect but the important area of decision making within sporting bodies. I will not say there are not that many women in sport - I would have to do research on that - but I know, from meetings of different federations under the Sports Council's annual gatherings or from speaking to people, that it is unusual to find females at decision-making levels on the administration side of sport, unless it is a specific women's sport. As we used to say in the GAA, we see women washing the jerseys and making the tea and sandwiches, but that will not help the case for women in any sport unless they feel they have a say and are involved in the policy-making and decision-making of a club or a regional section of any given sport.
A great deal of assistance is required for women in sport. There have been a number of conferences on women in sport and I compliment Deputy Deenihan on the women in sport forum which, unfortunately, I was unable to attend because we had our own national cup weekend in basketball, so I decided that was where I should be. The more of that kind of discussion and fora we have, the better it will be but we need to find ways to give practical assistance to the sports in which women are involved.
The points made in regard to sponsorship and the profile of women's sports are valid. The Fair Play magazine, which is having an impact, focuses on women's sports, but it is an attitudinal thing to a large degree. I often hear people say that men's sport is more exciting and who wants to watch women's sport? I do not buy into that.
Getting away from competitive sport, which is what we have been talking about, a number of people here have said that one does not have to be the best. Recreational sport is an area that needs to be addressed. I am talking about taking part in sport simply for the fun of it and as a social outlet. The competition aspect of it is not important. Many people fall into that category, but I am not aware that a sufficient number of sports provide a recreational aspect because there is a huge focus on the competitive aspect. Sport is a social outlet, particularly for women. I see it in basketball. That is where we have the most recreational activity. Women do sports to keep fit and for social gathering, etc.
Those are some broad views but we will be gathering more data. On the basketball side, I will gather more data in advance of the meeting which will deal specifically with the women's side of sport. I would like an opportunity to present that data at that time.
