Sport Northern Ireland Project Re-Boot: Activate has provided £5,000 of match funding
NICS Hockey Club- Junior Development Programme
Belfast, United Kingdom
Aim
NICS Hockey Club is aiming to improve participation in our Junior (U9s to U15s) sections through investment in coaching and equipment.
Who are we?
NICS Hockey Club are a Hockey Club based at the Stormont Estate in Belfast. We currently have over 300 members spread across 3 sections:
- Men's section consisting of 4 teams.
- Ladies' section consisting of 5 teams.
- Junior sections catering for boys and girls from u9 through to u15
Community Impact
We also run the following initiatives to ensure as many people as possible in the local community feel welcome to come and play hockey with us:
- Regular coaching sessions exclusivley for o40s.
- Regular mixed hockey tournaments for all members, their friends and family.
- An Inclusive Hockey Programme which aims to give children with learning difficulties an opportunity to play hockey.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are crowdfunding to raise additional funds which will help with coaching and equipment costs for the junior section of the club. Investment in these areas will improve what we can provide existing junior members and increase the appeal of NICS Hockey Club to potential new members and their parents.
Our main motivation for investing in this particular area of the club is because we feel Covid-19 has seen young people miss out on various sporting opportunities over the last few years. We hope to create an environment where anyone feels welcome to get involved in hockey either as a returning member or a complete beginner. NICS Hockey Club offers junior members the chance to make new friends as well as stay fit from a physical and mental health persective. We want as many children in the local area to have access to the facilities our club can offer.
This also happens to be the club’s centenary season and we recognise that young people are the future of our club. Ensuing they have all they need to enjoy their hockey will hopefully see the club celebrating its second centenary in another 100 years from now.
How will we use the money raised?
Most of the money raised will go towards coaching costs.
This season the club have entered into a partnership with an international level coach who has an affiliation with a local school, and this will provide us with the following unique benefits:
1. The connection with local schools will help raise awareness of our club to kids not playing sport outside of school, which will help our club grow in size and also allow new members to increase their level of participation in sport and form new friendship groups.
2. The experience of our new coach will significantly improve the standard of the sessions we provide in terms of enjoyment and technical ability.
3. The coach is also committed to helping our current senior club members develop their coaching skills which will contribute to all age groups and junior sections receiving a high standard of coaching.
Remaining funds raised will help us buy new equipment for use in training and in matches. We hope that by increasing the quality of equipment that this section of the club has access to will help juniors feel like an important part of the club.
How can you help us?
You can help up be donating as much as possible on this page. Those who donate over a certain amount amount will be entitled to claim an item of limited edition centenary kit as a reward.
Thank you in advance for your support.
This project successfully funded on 12th October 2022