The idea
BAC plans to engage with local primary schools in the Dublin 11 & 9 catchment areas to work collaboratively to encourage juvenile athlete aged 8-18 to engage in athletics. Athletics is viewed in our community as an inaccessible sport particularly for young people due to financial and social barriers.
This project is captured in two ways. Following recent consultation with local primary school principles, the roll out of a Homework pass initiative where by a juvenile will receive a homework pass for their particular school if they attend an initial athletics session. In BAC results have show that 99% of initial attendees have stayed engaged with the club for longer than 12 months.
The second part is by removing all financial barriers for juvenile athletes. BAC is the first athletics Ireland affiliated club that is completely free from registration, event fees, insurance and club gear. Crowdfunding support would support the club to maintain this value and meet this need.
What we'll deliver
- Increase juvenile athlete engagement in the club by 50 runners
- Deliver 50 additional sets of free club gear
- Increase the number of Ballymun juvenile athletes competng in local, regional and national athletics championships
Why it's a great idea
The increase in juvenile engagement will bring a improvement in areas of youth development (socially mentally and physically)
Ballymun has extremely high levels of deprivation on the deprivation index as well as high levels of childhood obesity and youth mental health disorders. Ballymun Athletics club is more than an athletics club when it comes to youth development.
Juvenile and parents' feedback to date have included weight loss, improved mental health, significant improvement in focus both in school and at home and also significant improvement in pro social behaviours in the community.
Steps to get it done
- Organize training sessions for the juvenile runners to enhance their coaching skills and build their knowledge
- Establish partnerships between Ballymun Athletics Club and primary schools in the community.
- Recruitment: Engage juvenile runners from the Ballymun Athletics Club to act as mentors for primary school students.
- Collaborate with primary schools to incorporate Ballyrun into their regular physical education curriculum.
- Raise awareness about Ballyrun through various channels, such as social media, newsletters, and community events
- Conduct periodic evaluations to assess the impact of Ballyrun on the participating children's levels of activity.
