To ask the Minister for Communities to detail (i) the number of (a) paid; and (b) unpaid sports coaches; and (ii) the support that her Department provides to encourage new coaches, and to retain existing coaches, particularly those working with young people.

My Department does not keep a record of the number of paid or unpaid sports coaches as the recruitment of sports coaches is a matter for Clubs, Sports Governing Bodies and Councils.

Sport NI provides support to the sector to encourage new coaches, and to retain existing coaches, including those who work with young people, through a number of programmes including the Club Environment Transition Programme, the Club Coach Developer Programme, the Performance Coach Developer programme, the annual SportMaker Awards and Sport NI Learning Provision. In addition, Tollymore National Outdoor Centre (TNOC) provides a range of courses for coaches in adventure sports and physical recreation.