Laois Sports Partnership 21st Birthday

Press Release – 18th August 2022

Yesterday Laois Sports Partnership celebrated its 21^st birthday at Laois Leisure Portlaoise. Over the past 21 years, Laois Sports Partnership proudly positioned themselves as the leaders in Promoting, Supporting and Facilitating sport and physical activity in County Laois.

To mark this special occasion, Laois Sports Partnership teamed up with Laois Leisure Portlaoise to host the 21^st birthday celebrations this afternoon. As part of our celebrations, we arranged a number of free activities delivered by Laois Leisure staff throughout the premises. We held 4 archery taster sessions, an aqua aerobics session, 2  free hours of swimming, an outdoor bootcamp and a spin class. In addition to this, Seamus Dooley delivered a basketball session for the National Learning Network, Portlaoise and Moez Toumi hosted a sit fit session for older adults and the IWA, Laois. In total, there were over 300 participants engaging in physical activity at Laois Leisure Portlaoise yesterday morning.

In the lead up to our celebration we held a number of competitions across our social media for the people of Laois. Thanks to all the sponsors who donated some amazing prizes over our 10-day campaign; Laois Leisure, Contrast Rooms, JMC Elite, EduFIT, Mindful Us, Heath Golf Club, SEVA Strength, Owen Feeney Athletic Therapy, Fun Fly Aero Sports, Colgans Sports, Jeremiah Grant Bar & Eatery and Paddleworks were the sponsors for all our prizes.

We were honoured to have had some local heroes in attendance, we were joined by members of the Laois Ladies Football Team and Laois U16 Camogie Team who both recently earned silverware at national level. The LGFA brought their 2022 trophy from winning the  All- Ireland Intermediate Football Final which was displayed alongside the U16 Camogie All Ireland trophy for members of the public to take photos with.

Both teams were presented with a gift as a token of appreciation towards their success. Laois LGFA also kindly presented Laois Sports Partnership with a signed number 21 jersey from their All-Ireland Final to mark our 21^st birthday.

Laois Sports Partnership would like to thank everyone who attended today’s event and to those who have continued to support the work of the LSP over the past 21 years.

Caroline Myers, Chief Operating Officer “We are thrilled to celebrate the success of the past 21 years. We have delivered 4 successful strategic plans and launched a 5^th . We have made many amazing memories and built many great relationships and have proudly positioned ourselves as leaders for sport and physical activity with the support of volunteers, clubs, communities, partner agencies, stakeholders, funders, and the people of Laois. We have seen huge growth and developments over the years in terms of funding but also massive growth in our output in participation, with just under 20,000 in 2021. I wish to thank the board past and present, LSP Team, Sport Ireland and all the people of Laois for their continued support which has been instrumental in our success. It is now more important then ever that we continue to invest and develop opportunities for participation for an active and healthy Laois for all abilities. We look forward to continuing our work in creating an environment that improves activity, health, and wellbeing. With a growing population, it is key that Laos Sports Partnership continues to grow its strategic capacity and it is supported as the lead agency for sports participation in county Laois. We are excited for what is to come and look forward to working with you all in delivering our 5^th strategy ‘Everybody Active in County Laois’

Best of luck to Portlaoise A.F.C U14 Girls at their awards ceremony this evening and congratulations on your fantastic achievement, unfortunately they were unable to attend yesterday’s celebrations. 

See below for a selection of photographs from the birthday celebrations.