Every sport in Ireland relies heavily on volunteers. They are worth €1.5bn to the Irish economy and each week over 450,000 give freely of their time and effort to ensure sports activities take place and clubs are managed efficiently.

The Federation of Irish Sport recognizes this contribution and highlights the importance of sport to our government.

These nationwide awards recognise individual volunteers at sports clubs and organisations across the country, who give freely of their time and energy to their local club to help make sport happen.

The 2022 Volunteers in Sport Awards, supported by the National Network of 29 Local Sports Partnerships will be celebrated on the 22nd March 2023 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blanchardstown.

In light of this announcement, the closing date will now be extended to Wednesday 8th February. Nominations can be made by completing a short online entry form at this link.

The National Network of Local Sports Partnerships has a huge presence in sport at a grassroots level engaging with local communities to promote physical activity for all ages and abilities, removing barriers and increasing inclusivity. They offer a wide variety of opportunities to access training, education and targeted programmes and initiatives in sport.

Rosarie Keely of the Waterford Sports Partnership sat down with WLR Sport to chat about the awards and why people should consider nominating someone from their own club.

If you want to submit somebody from your club, click the link here.