March has been a busy month with the launch of campaigns and events for International Women’s Day. All the buzz around women in sports is infectious and makes us at the Female Sports Forum more excited to see how we can continue highlighting those involved in sports and supporting them to reach higher and farther!
Starting off the month, Commonwealth Games Athlete Kate O’Connor finished in the Top 10 when she represented Ireland at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. She had notable performances in the 60m hurdles and the Shotput. The event itself consists of 60m Hurdles, High Jump. Shot Put, Long Jump, and 800m puts to the test the athlete’s strength, agility, and endurance. Northern Irish athletes competed in numerous other competitions like the Irish Universities Cross Country Championships with Róise Roberts (North Belfast Harriers) who presented DCU and finished in 2nd, while Queen’s University student, Hannah Gilliland (Annadale Striders) was just behind her in 3rd. Lastly, Lauren Roy who currently competed for the University of Texas at San Antonio started off the outdoor track season strong with 5th place in the 100m with a time of 11.61 sec and then in the 200m she placed 4th with a time of 23.66sec she had a PB and was .14 sec off the NI Record.
International women’s day was a flurry of events and to hear an update about what events we went to go to the INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’s DAY RECAP. It was so nice to be included in events surrounding IWD and look forward to continuing to support keeping and getting women and girls active in sports and physical activity.
As award season seems never-ending, we continue to celebrate the many women honoured throughout Northern Ireland. While it would be a disservice to name a few and miss the many more that have been celebrated the Female Sports Forum would love to say congratulations to all those nominated and all the winners of the council awards.
Over St Patrick’s Day weekend, Bethany Firth placed first in the MC 200m Freestyle at the Citi Para Swimming World Series Great Britain. She had a great weekend and cannot wait to see her defend her times at the world championships later in the year. The Female Sports Forum supported Basketball NI’s Junior Finals Day for the 2022/23 season with U12-U18 playing games throughout the day! It was great to see all ages playing and enjoying basketball! Down Senior Camogs had a great win against Limerick, at home, as they progress through their league and prepare for Championship.
The weekend of the 25th starts the Women’s TikTok 6 Nations. With the Grand slam victory of the men’s team, it is exciting to see the women play this coming weekend. This year the 6 nations present a great opportunity to build a strong squad as this team prepares for more international appearances. Ulster players are Sadhbh McGrath, Neve Jones, Fiona Tuite, Brittany Hogan, and Vicky Irwin. GOOD LUCK WOMEN!
Their Fixtures are:
- Wales v Ireland, Saturday 25 March, Cardiff Arms Park, 2.15pm
- Ireland v France, Saturday 1 April, Musgrave Park, 3.15pm
- Italy v Ireland, Saturday 15 April, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 4.45pm
- Ireland v England, Saturday 22 April, Musgrave Park, 2.15pm
- Scotland v Ireland, Saturday 29 April, DAM Health Stadium, 7.30pm.