IABA launches inaugural Women in Sport Policy

IABA News

To mark International Women’s Day, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association is formally unveiling its inaugural Women in Sport policy.

This Women in Sport policy is rooted in the IABA’s core values of trust, teamwork, inclusion, respect, excellence, integrity, and leadership. We commit to leveraging these core values in the implementation of all aspects of this policy.

Context

The IABA is home to 355 boxing clubs on the island of Ireland, with more than 18,000 members.

  • Between 75% and 80% of our members are under the age of 18.
  • 12% of all qualified IABA coaches are women
  • 5% of coach tutors are women
  • 17% of participants in our sport are female.
  • 38% of all volunteers are women.
  • 26% of all committee members from club level, upwards, are women.

This policy will seek to ensure that every woman or girl who wishes to participate, at any level, in boxing is facilitated and supported in so doing.

And, the policy includes ensures:

  • The IABA continues & develops its practice of providing leadership training & upskilling to women in sports administration, coaching and officiating roles.
  • The IABA will promote & platform the visibility of women and girls in boxing across its social media platforms in participating, competing, sports administration, coaching and officiating roles.
  • The IABA will create and deliver specific programmes and campaigns designed to support and encourage the participation of women and girls in the sport of boxing. This will include programmes and campaigns which are participation focused, and programmes and campaigns which are focused on competing.
  • The IABA will fund and deliver coach education for women at all levels of the Coach Education Pathway.
  • The IABA fund and deliver officiating education & training for women at all levels of the officiation pathway.
  • Staff and members of the IABA Board will undergo diversity and inclusion training, so that these principles may inform decision making.
  • The IABA will conduct Women in Sport policy audits of the organisation and its membership annually to form a greater understanding of the boxing community and to signpost the evolution of WIS actions.

This WIS policy was adopted by the IABA’s Board of Directors at its meeting on March 2nd, 2023.