A New Life: Elaine Cullinan left her marketing job to get people fit and active in Tipperary, writes Claire O'Connell
Elaine Cullinan was at her desk one day in a marketing agency in Dublin, flicking through The Irish Times, when a job ad suddenly jumped out at her: it was looking for co-ordinators of new sports partnerships at different locations around the State.
At the time, she and her fiance, Andy, were building a house in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. And lo and behold, there was Nenagh on the list of job locations. She couldn't believe her luck.
Although she describes the interview as one of the toughest she ever did, she got the job and found herself helping communities in North Tipperary to leave the couch and get active.
Cullinan is perfectly suited to the role. "I've had a love of sport my whole life. My family is very sporty and I would have been involved in athletics and basketball competitively growing up," she says.
But, professionally, she went into business and marketing, studying to Masters level, taking up marketing posts in Dublin and working with a range of big-name clients such as Ernst & Young, Bulmers, Bank of Ireland and the ESB.
By now she was engaged to Andy, and the sports co-ordinator job in Nenagh fitted in perfectly with their plans.
"We knew we were going to come back to Nenagh; both our families are down here. I thought I would be working in Limerick, going in and out every day, then this came up.
"The title of the job attracted me to it, but the location was also very handy," she says.
Now on the go for five years, the North Tipperary Sports Partnership, which is funded by the Irish Sports Council, aims to increase everyone's participation in sport through national and unique, local programmes, says Cullinan.
"It's literally from toddlers right up to the active retirement groups, and in between you have the primary and secondary schools, clubs development work and active community programmes."
Women are a particularly important group to target, she explains.
"It is hard for women, especially after they have had a child. Getting back into exercise and fitness is not a high priority. Then they realise they would like to be doing something, and we make it more convenient for them and sociable.
"At the moment, the sport partnership is paying for swimming lessons to encourage women to take up a new sport."
The partnership also trains local people to bring groups of children out onto the greens of housing estates and get them involved in fun, sporting activities.
To ensure safety they provide workshops in first aid and code of ethics training in children's sport for volunteers.
"A lot of people are turning away from volunteering because they are afraid, but all they need is to be educated - this is what you can or can't do - but a lot of people don't have that opportunity to go to a course or find out. We provide that opportunity," says Cullinan.
The partnership has activity programmes ranging from creches to active retirement groups who want to reap the health benefits and sociability of keeping fit.
"It's all about linking up the facilities that are in an area and, with just a little bit of training and funding for the equipment, suddenly you have an active parish or community."
They target schools, in particular second-level students, as it's an age when children may lose interest in sport and health.
"It's not just physical activity, it's looking at healthy lifestyles and what the kids are eating. If there's a vending machine, get out the chocolate bars and put in the cereal bars, and put in bottles of water instead of soft drinks. And, of course, physical activity is a huge part of it."
But it's not always easy to get the message across, and teenagers can be a tough audience, she admits.
"The 12-17 age group is definitely the hardest to engage with, but we started a hip-hop class with our active community project and that went really well. You have to package it up nicely and make it interesting."
She finds that her background in marketing helps to sell the message. "In this job you're trying to change people's attitudes and shift the mindset in somebody who may be a couch potato at the moment and showing them what they potentially could do."
She also knows the benefits of advertising events through local radio stations and papers. And, to her surprise, the parish newsletter is one of the best ways of reaching people.
"If you put a notice in the parish newsletter that there's a workshop on, you can guarantee the phones will be ringing on Monday," she says.
It's a busy job, which she juggles with family life - she and Andy are now married and have a 22-month-old son, Cian.
But working in the area encourages her to make time for her own fitness.
"I've always loved keeping fit," she says. "It went a bit astray after Cian came but as soon as I could I got back to the gym and swimming and basketball.
"Because I am working with fit people, it sparks you into keeping it up."
And she still can't believe her luck in finding the perfect job. "I wouldn't change a thing. I'm in the job five years now and I don't ever want to leave," she says.
For more information see www.ntsp.ie To find out about local sports partnerships in your area, see www.irishsportscouncil.ie/developing-lsp-sll-contact.aspx