The Her Sport Awards celebrates Ireland's sportswomen and all of their magnificent achievements.
Katie coaches with North East Thunder, a wheelchair basketball team that competes as part of the National Leagues in Ireland.
As well as coaching, Katie is genuinely part of the heart and soul of the club, also trying her hand at everything from bus driving to first aid.
It comes as no surprise to us that Katie bagged the award, but she herself was shocked. She tells us “Genuinely I was amazed and shocked to win it!”
Katie also revealed it was a huge honour to appear alongside the other exceptional nominees, Marguerite Cunningham (Erin’s Own Ladies Club, Cork), Nicci Daly (Olympian + Forumla Female) and Robert Bonello (Women’s National League, Dundalk FC).
Katie tells us about the impact her work with North East Thunder has had on her life. “My work honestly means the world to me,” she tells us. “There is no better sense of happiness than seeing the members I work with develop, grow and achieve great things in their lives. It is a very rewarding job and I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with.”
“There is no better sense of happiness than seeing the members I work with develop, grow and achieve great things in their lives.”
Katie adds “The best way I can describe it is that the kids are like my own children and the adult members are like a family to me who never fail to make me laugh and smile.”
After her big win, Katie is looking forward to the future and is already building on her incredible achievements. She also hopes to work with more women in the sport.
“My aim in the future for this job role is to get more people with disabilities involved in sport. That is the main purpose of the job,” she tells us. “I hope to expand all our clubs and to get more females on board also. It is always lovely to have new members join and to help them develop in sport”.
Huge congratulations to Katie and all the winners + nominees of the Her Sport Awards.
