Donal O’Grady, the newly appointed captain of the Limerick Senior Hurling team today officially launched a new awards scheme honouring Limerick sporting achievements at the end of each calendar month.
Sponsored by Limerick-based first aid and medical device specialists Fleming Medical in conjunction with Limerick Sports Partnerships, the Performance in Sport Award will honour the best local sporting performance each month, beginning in February and running until the end of November.
Open to all 700 clubs in Limerick City and County, the winners of the monthly award will receive a €500 voucher towards the cost of a new Cardiac Science Powerheart G5 AED (Automated External Defibrillator) and a sports first aid kit worth €60.
At the end of the year the monthly winners will be invited to the County Limerick Local Sports Partnership (CLLSP) annual awards ceremony where the sporting performance of the year will win an AED (provided by Fleming Medical) worth €2400, an AED training evening for 8 people worth €600 and a perpetual trophy.
The monthly winners and the overall winner will be decided by a committee made up of LSP staff and Fleming Medical staff.
CLLSP Coordinator, Phelim Macken said the purpose of the award scheme is to “recognise the valuable contribution made by sporting clubs and organisations to community life throughout Limerick.”
“This award scheme complements the existing Gerard McDonnell Contribution to Sport Award programme which we have run for the past four years. It allows us to officially recognise some of the many sporting achievements across Limerick throughout the year, as well as raise the profile of minority sports in the county. The competition also raises awareness of cardiac arrest and AED usage in the county,” added Mr. Macken.
Elaine O Connor, Co-ordinator of Limerick City Sports Partnership (LCSP) described the new scheme as a “wonderful opportunity for CLLSP and LCSP to link with sports clubs in the promotion of best practice relating to first aid.”
She continued: “With the support of Fleming Medical, we are delighted to be able to provide a total prize fund worth €8,500 to the clubs of Limerick. There will be additional prizes of FirstAid kits for honourable mentions where the adjudication committee sees fit. Each entry to the monthly competitions will be taken on its merits meaning a lower league rugby team or an individual athlete has as much chance of winning as a high profile senior club team.
Adrian O’Sullivan, Fleming Medicals Equipment Sales Coordinator said the origins of the scheme came collectively from Fleming Medical’s “desire to make it easier for the clubs of the county to tackle cardiac arrest and a wish to give something back to their loyal local customer base.”
Mr. O’Sullivan added: “Cardiac arrest kills nearly 400,000 adults in Europe every year. The majority of these people could have been saved if they had access to an AED within the first few minutes of the incident happening. This award will raise awareness both of the need for AEDs in sporting facilities and of general best practise in first aid as well as rewarding sporting excellence. The sporting organisations and clubs of Limerick have been very supportive of Fleming Medical and our Medicare brand of sports first aid since we first started business in Limerick in 1985 and this is the latest in a long line of initiatives to give something back to the community.”
Entries must be forwarded by the clubs themselves by email to infosports@limerickcoco.ie before 1pm on the last Friday of each month before the results are published. A club can win the monthly award more than once but the overall award goes to the best sporting performance of the year and not the club who wins the most monthly awards. Winners will be published every month in the CLLSP & LCSP notes in the local media and through correspondence with Sports clubs.
For further information on the Monthly Performance in Sport Award visit www.cllsp.ie,www.limerickcitysports.ie, www.flemingmedical.ie, or email infosports@limerickcoco.ie.