Dear Clubs,
Welcome back to the start of a new season!
As expected there has been a low uptake on applications for the Skills Academy this season due to the fact that eligible athletes may not have been members of clubs or competed two years ago when they were only 9 or 10 years old.
We would like to ensure that all interested and eligible athletes have the opportunity to register for the programme especially in current times when every attempt to engage with the athletes could make the difference to their continuation and progression in the sport.
For this reason we will reopen applications for the Skills Academy from 27th September to the 8th October 2021 and ask that clubs forward this information to their members born 2009 and 2010. Hopefully this gives clubs time to complete affiliation!
Regional Skills Academy
The programme is open to registered competitive swimmers born 2009 and 2010 who are looking to improve as a person and as an athlete. No competitive results are required.
The Skills Academy Programme is very much about building a love and interest in the sport of swimming. It will provide support in areas that can help young people as they start their swimming journey, a journey that will hopefully see them achieve their goals, develop life skills and offer fun experiences.
It is very likely that some athletes born 2009 have never competed in a Regional or National competition because of Covid-19, so if you are new to the sport this could be a great way of getting involved in a programme that will involve up to 400 athletes from all clubs across the country and hopefully you will get to meet some of these athletes at competitions over the next 12 months.
If you are interested you can find out what the programme can offer and apply via the Swim Ireland Regional Programme 2021-2022 webpage.
