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Our Lady's Grammar School have won the Best Sporting School of the Year award at the inaugural Local Women Sport Magazine - Women's Sports Awards 2023. The competition was the first ever dedicated women in all-sports awards evening in the whole of Ireland and the UK and it took place in the Europa Hotel, Belfast on Friday last, April 14.
Speaking after the event Fiona McAlinden, Principal of Our Lady's said "We were delighted to be named as Local Women Sport 2023 Sporting School of the Year at an event in the Europa on Friday night.
"When announcing Our Lady's as winners, the judges referred to the school's success across a broad range of sports, including Camogie, Gaelic Football, Gymnastics and Netball.
"I would like to pay tribute to our outstanding PE teachers, as well as our coaches who invest so much of their time, energy and enthusiasm in training our students."
Sponsored by fuel provider Go, the awards are another ground breaker for Ireland’s first and only female sports publication, Local Women Sports Magazine, which has teamed up with Belfast Live as a media partner for the event.
The prestigious awards ceremony was hosted by UTV sports personality and hockey player Ruth Gorman who also joined the star-studded judging panel. Judges included former Northern Ireland women’s captain Gail Redmond MBE, who works at the Irish Football Association as women’s development manager; Ulster Rugby women and girl’s rugby development manager, Eliza Downey; Dr Katie Liston, former elite athlete and senior sports lecturer at The University of Ulster; BBC sports presenter Nicola McCarthy; Local Women Magazine digital editor Gemma Garrett; Zoe Watson from Belfast Live; Chair of the Sport NI Women in Sport Forum, Arlene Watters; Camog Catriona Channing and sales manager for GO, Laura Loughran.
Laura Loughran from GO said: “GO is proud to sponsor the Local Women Magazine Sports Awards. We nurture and admire innovation and we are delighted that, for the first time ever, women in sport will be honoured at an all-female sporting awards night. We certainly have world class female athletes in our country and the standard of entries were exceptionally high. We received hundreds of nominations, so I didn’t envy the judges their task.”
Belfast Live editor, Sheena McStravick said: “We are delighted to be on board with this fantastic event to shine a light on our incredible female athletes.
“So many women across the country are paving the way and inspiring future generations to go after and achieve their dreams in whatever sport they choose and we quite rightly should be celebrating that. It’s been an amazing year for women in sport and we are excited to see that continue and go from strength to strength in 2023.”
