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, the programme supports 34 sports governing bodies, from Rugby, Football and GAA to Rambling, Wheelchair Basketball and Swimming. Included in that was Basketball Northern Ireland.
Through this investment it has allowed Basketball NI to grow the staff team as well as introduce new programmes such as the Schools Outreach Programme – introducing over 900 children across Northern Ireland to Basketball, ‘She Got Game’ a Women’s Social Basketball programme – giving 180 women the opportunity to play basketball in a safe and non-competitive environment as well as allowing BNI to strengthen and build a strong Team NI pathway.
The Sports Systems Investment programme is supporting sports like Basketball 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.
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.”
Chairperson of BNI Kevin Craig commented, “We are very grateful for the financial support provided by Sport NI and the Lottery fund. There is clear and increasing demand for basketball participation and competition throughout all regions of NI. The resource provided not only enables BNI to satisfy some of that demand but also facilitates an increasing level of professionalism in the development of our players, coaches and officers. We look forward to maintaining our strong working relationship with both stakeholders in the years and seasons ahead.”
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.”
Vice Chair of BNI Marc Mulholland spoke of the positive impact this investment will have right across the BNI community, from grassroots through to elite level. “We are very grateful for the support from Sport NI and National Lottery funding as we can already see the great impact it is having on our basketball community here in NI. From our grassroots programme with the JrNBA working with 30 Primary Schools across Northern Ireland, our ground-breaking Women in Sport and FIBA Foundation ‘Basketball for Good’ ‘She Got Game – Empowering Women in Sport’ programme, celebrating social basketball for women of all ages in our diverse communities and finally our performance pathway with a rebrand and revitalised vision and plan for Team NI basketball for boys and girls at U15, U17 and Senior Men and Women programme for 5×5 and 3×3 it is an exciting time for basketball here in Northern Ireland. We have also been able to secure two staff positions within our workforce to help implement our strategy on the ground in out part time Performance Pathway Coordinator and full time Programme Coordinator. Two great additions which are a vital resource for our NGB that will continue to help us make an impact and grow our sport of basketball.”
Thank you to Sport NI and the National Lottery Funding for the continued support and investment in our great sport of Basketball. Basketball NI are committed to growing the game in all it’s forms, support a passionate basketball community and provide a pathway for every person to have a life-long relationship with our sport.