Sport NI boosts local sport with £8m National Lottery investment

Sport NI is investing more money into sport than ever before through its £8m Sports Systems Investment programme.

Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, Ulster GAA is one of 34 sports governing bodies supported by the scheme.

The Sports Systems Investment programme is supporting sports to grow and thrive; to retain and increase their memberships and to build the right environment and pathways for athletes to succeed at the highest levels of their sports.

Richard Archibald, Interim CEO, Sport NI said:

“Our National Lottery funded Sports Systems Investment programme is making an incredible impact on the sport and physical activity sector in Northern Ireland. At Sport NI we believe in the power of sport to change lives, and we are working with governing bodies to ensure they have the resources and expertise they need to grow their sports and support their athletes to compete among the best in the world.

“We set an ambitious target to increase sports club membership to 500,000 by 2027-28 and we are already well on our way, reaching 433,000 last year, an increase of 47 per cent from 2017/18. Thanks to this current investment clubs will grow their memberships even further this year.”

The investment supports the whole sporting system, from community and club level to high performance and elite athletes competing on the world stage. It has a clear focus on making sport more inclusive and accessible for everyone in Northern Ireland, supporting sports to address the inequalities within the sector and provide more opportunities for underrepresented groups including women and girls, people with a disability and those living in areas of high social deprivation.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said:

“Ensuring that sport and physical activity is inclusive and accessible to all is a key aspect of ‘Active Living’ the Sport and Physical Activity Strategy for Northern Ireland, which aims to get more people, more active, more often.

“In line with this, I welcome the additional funding for Sport NI’s Sports Systems Investment Programme. This significant investment will benefit our sports clubs, athletes and communities and contribute to the achievement of our collective goals to grow and promote sport.”

Medals and More

In 2023/24, 19 Sports had performances at World/ European Level, including 28 Medals, 30 Top 8s, 22 Top 16s and 25 Top 32s and medal hopes are high for this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.

Sport NI’s Sports Systems Investment programme is enabling sports to develop athletes to reach the highest levels of their sport and compete for international medals.

The funding supports talent pathways across a wide range of sports including Ulster Rugby’s women and girls, from under 16 through to Ulster senior women, increasing opportunities for players with elite aspirations, and Table Tennis which provides training and coaching opportunities for Ulster performance squad players and new regional development squads.

Thanks to this National Lottery investment, Disability Sport NI run their Wheelchair Basketball and Boccia academies which support talented para-athletes.

Rhian McCarroll, Performance Pathways Manager, Disability Sport NI said:

“The Sport Systems Investment funding has been pivotal in allowing Disability Sport NI to develop and progress the sports of Wheelchair Basketball and Boccia. While we continue to grow participation in both sports, the NI Academy programmes, funded though the SSIGB programme, ensures that there is a pathway from club level to performance level that allow athletes to excel in their sport. The investment provided helps to support and develop talented athletes and provide the opportunities to excel at European, World, Commonwealth and Paralympic level within Boccia and Wheelchair Basketball.

“By creating pathways which provide opportunities for talented athletes to achieve medals, the investment will help to align with the wider work of Disability Sport NI by building a more inclusive society with more disabled people inspired to lead healthy and active lifestyles through sport and active recreation.”

This investment programme was made possible thanks to National Lottery players, who raise £30m for good causes every week.