The awards will take place virtually on December 7th, 8th and 9th and will see Stephen, along with volunteers from across the island, honoured for their amazing dedication to volunteering across a variety of different sports.
For over 20 years, Stephen has acted as photographer, public relations contact and, more recently, social media manager for Clogher Valley Rugby Football Club. In this time, Stephen has substantially raised the profile of the club throughout the Clogher Valley area and further afield.
Every week, he can be found taking photographs at the club’s matches, regardless of level or age grade, and regularly travels substantial distances, giving freely of his time, to ensure all local papers have match reports and pictures. He set up, and is solely responsible for, the club’s website and social media platforms and, through his hard work and dedication, the club has enhanced their community relations enormously.
IRFU President Des Kavanagh said, “I’d like to congratulate Stephen on his award and thank him for all the time he has dedicated to his club and to rugby in general. Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our clubs and the sport. Every hour that someone gives to their club is invaluable and makes the club and the community a better place for their involvement.
This award is a wonderful recognition of Stephen’s commitment to Clogher Valley and I thank him and all our volunteers for their time, passion and love of the game.”
The Volunteers in Sport Awards celebrate the contributions of the band of volunteers across the country who give their time to Irish sport and physical activity every year.
This equates to approximately 37.3 million hours of volunteering across Ireland’s 13,000 registered sports clubs and associations and, according to Sport Ireland's 2021 'Researching the Value of Sport in Ireland' report, is worth an estimated €1.5bn to the exchequer.
Throughout September and October members of the public, sports clubs and governing bodies were invited to nominate an individual whose contribution to sport and physical activity in Ireland has made a real difference to their community, club or county.
The nominations and award recipients were selected by a judging panel consisting of 12 individuals drawn from sports administration, the volunteer community and media, and included former Director General of the GAA, Paraic Duffy, RTÉ broadcaster, Marie Crowe and CEO of Gaisce, Yvonne McKenna.
The awards will be streamed live each evening from 7pm on the Federation of Irish Sport’s Facebook page with the awards schedule listed below:
- Tuesday, December 7th: Leinster and Special Recognition Award
- Wednesday, December 8th: Munster, Connacht and Special Recognition Award
- Thursday, December 9th: Ulster and Outstanding Achievement Award
For more information on the awards, visit http://www.volunteersinsport.ie/