2 Important Connections are made through Sport ‘Strengthening the bonds with our wider Trinity community from students to alumni and friends and from our local neighbours to government’ iv (Strategic Plan, Trinity College Dublin). Sport connects people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, building relationships and creating valuable networks for life. These networks are recognised by the University as key enablers for delivery and support of the University mission to ‘encompass an ever more diverse student community and a transformative student experience’. Sport has a powerful ability to deliver this through the many environments in which sport gathers - at sporting venues, on the side-lines, in meeting rooms and functions. Sport provides the settings for excellent networking connections which can generate business, attract sponsorship, donations and philanthropy. Sport enables the academic mission of research and excellence through support and the provision of resources for projects, collaborations and partnerships. Many of these extend further than sport specific topics to include the strategic research directions of the University such as ageing, health and society. Internal current examples of sport collaborative developments include support for the School of Physiotherapy cancer project (Movember GAP4) and the newly emerging Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine clinic located in the Sports Centre. Externally, Trinity Sport is involved in the European Commission Work Plan for Sport 2014-2015v, and the Physical Activity and Health in Ageing project (PAHA)vi. These collaborations and partnerships are an important dimension of the University’s contribution to society and global issues. iv Strategic Plan 2014-2019, Trinity College Dublin, Goal C9.4 Delivering our Mission v European Commission, Work Plan for Sport http://ec.europa.eu/sport/policy/cooperation/expert-groups-2014-2017_en.htm vi Physical Activity and Health in Ageing, European Active Project 2015 http://www.ehfa-programmes.eu/paha RAISING OUR GAME A Strategy for Sport at Trinity 2015 - 2018 3 “Trinity Sport has been there with me during the highs and lows of my life. As a student I was an active member of the Boat Club and even though I lost my sight, I stayed involved. I then became an adventure athlete, trekking to the South Pole, and then in 2010 I was paralysed following an accident. I am now pioneering research into a cure for spinal injury. I will always be connected with Trinity Sport and the Boat Club, it is my way of life. I surround myself with inspirational people as I aim to waken my paralysed body.” Mark Pollock, Graduate & Boat Club member
TCD Strategy Document for Sport
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