Forerunners – Session 3- Governance with Brid Golden

Brid Golden, Chairperson of Athletics Ireland’s Coaching & Development committee, Board member and Forerunners mentor delivered a fascinating workshop into Governance for Forerunners participants. The aim of this workshop was to enable female club officers and leaders to become more efficient in their club operations. Creating an awareness and understanding of the governance principles will allow club personnel to perform club business at a higher standard and according to best practice guidelines.

Brid encouraged participants to embrace governance practices and principles as it allows for greater transparency and accountability in clubs, enables appropriate policy development, which in turn leads to more strategic development and performance results overall.

Brid explained that governance ‘exists anytime a group of people come together to accomplish an end’. Governance influences how a club’s objectives are set and achieved, how risk is monitored and addressed and how performance is optimised.  Governance is a system and process, that is a shared endeavour by the club committee, administrators, athletes and all members.

The Governance Code was introduced to participants as a voluntary code of practice for good governance of Community, Voluntary and Charitable (CVC) organisations in Ireland.

Participants had the opportunity to explore the necessary principles/steps that form the Governance Code. Shared values and integrity were identified as being cornerstones of the code when applying the principles to the conformance and performance dimensions of a club. This is a key concept of governance as striking the balance of both dimensions can provide solid foundations for a club.

Governance principles should be applied to clubs to:

• Help your club achieve its goals more efficiently and effectively.
• Provide evidence that your club is performing.
• Increase transparency - everyone will know how you are running your club.
• Help your club to avoid bad risks.
• Provide solid foundations for your club.
• Reduce your costs.

This was a topic that was very much welcomed by the participants on the Forerunners programme as it will direct, facilitate and positively influence club operations and allow participants to lead with confidence and competence.

Thank you to Brid for her honest and insightful presentation. The Forerunners group are grateful for Brid’s time and effort as the leaders are now entering a new growth phase for their club’s activity, so this presentation was very timely and appreciated!

For more information on the Forerunners programme, please contact lillyannohora@athleticsireland.ie