Fingal Sports Office celebrates Women in Sport Week with the Exercise:Energise Multi-Sports and Activity Day

Fingal Sports Office was delighted to host the Exercise: Energise Multi-Sports  Day in the National Indoor Arena, Abbottstown, on March 5th. Councillor Tom Kitt, Chair of Fingal Sports Partnership Committee and Acting Mayor of Fingal on the day, was in attendance where he met with the enthusiastic participants and viewed the many activities taking place. The Exercise: Energise Multi-Sports Day was one of the main highlights of the many activities provided and supported by the Fingal Sports Office for Women in Sport Week 2024.

The event saw close to three hundred teenage girls participating from ten secondary and community schools across Fingal, and all the participants are enrolled in Fingal Sport’s Office Women in Sport Exercise: Energise Programme.  The Programme, funded by Fingal Sports Office’s and Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport, is established over twelve years in secondary schools and continues to expand as schools seek out opportunities to keep their students active and engaged in sport. It specifically targets girls who are not involved in sport or physical activity, and it provides them opportunities to choose a sport or physical activity to try either after-school, during lunchtime and outside the core PE curriculum.

The aim of the Exercise: Energise Multi-Sport Day is to celebrate, inspire and support these teenage girls to be active by introducing them to a variety of sports and physical activities in a welcoming environment.  Fingal Sports Office’s co-funded National Governing Body Development Officers from the FAI, Tennis Ireland, Cricket Leinster, Leinster Rugby and Hockey Ireland provided fun training sessions alongside activities such as Karate, Long Jump, Ultimate Frisbee, Tug O’War and Cheerleading and the day was completed with a mass Zumba session. The activities were backed by the musical sounds of a DJ who fielded requests from the girls and this provided a fun background and atmosphere to the event.

Fingal Sports Office had a strong supporting partnership from Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport team, led by Nora Stapleton, leading up to the event and on the day. Their Her Moves Campaign zone proved popular with the attendees, creating friendships bracelets, facepainting and giving their vote by fingerprint on why they would drop out of sport.  A big draw in the Her Moves Campaign zone was the Active Cities Smoothie Bike, a novel way to introduce healthy eating. The bike generates the power for the food processor by pedal power. The Her Moves ethos is similar to the Exercise: Energise Programme both empowering young women and providing motivation to find something that gets them moving and active.

At the start of the school year Fingal Sports Office introduced a new element to the Exercise:Energise Programme a short video competition. The winner of the competition was announced at the Exercise: Energise  Mult-Sports Day. The video requirements were that the girls gave their views on why girls drop out of sport, what they enjoyed about sport and what would keep them active. The competition entries, both in Irish & English, were of a high standard with sharp editing and insight with students putting a lot of energy into their production.  After long deliberation by the judging panel the winner was chosen and Blakestown Community School were awarded the prize. Councillor Tom Kitt was delighted to congratulate Blakestown Community School on their achievement.

Councillor Tom Kitt commented: "As Chairman of Fingal Local Sports Network Committee, it fills me with immense pride to see the ongoing increase in participation and sport development of females in the Fingal area and it is fantastic to see almost 300 teenagers taking part with such enthusiasm in the wide range of sports and activities in the Exercise:Energise event here today.’

 “This year the Exercise:Energise Multi-Sports Day was made memorable for participants by the support of the Fingal Sports Team, the co-funded development team, Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport and the coaches who brought energy and enthusiasm and especially by the girls themselves”.   according to organiser, Caitríona Geraghty, Fingal Sports Development Officer.

More information on Exercise: Energise Programme Caitríona Geraghty, Fingal Sports Office