Skip to main content
N I Direct government services

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
  • Contacts
  • Help
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • RSS

Translation help

Translate this page

Select a language

  • Afrikaans — Afrikaans
  • Albanian — Shqip
  • Amharic — አማርኛ
  • Arabic — العربية
  • Armenian — Հայերեն
  • Assamese — অসমীয়া
  • Aymara — Aymar aru
  • Azerbaijani — Azərbaycan dili
  • Bambara — Bamanankan
  • Basque — Euskara
  • Belarusian — Беларуская
  • Bengali — বাংলা
  • Bhojpuri — भोजपुरी
  • Bosnian — Bosanski
  • Bulgarian — Български
  • Cantonese — 廣州話
  • Catalan — Català
  • Cebuano — Sinugbuanong Binisayâ
  • Chichewa — Chichewa
  • Chinese (Simplified) — 简体中文
  • Chinese (Traditional) — 繁體中文
  • Corsican — Corsu
  • Croatian — Hrvatski
  • Czech — Čeština
  • Danish — Dansk
  • Dhivehi — ދިވެހި
  • Dogri — डोगरी
  • Dutch — Nederlands
  • English — English
  • Esperanto — Esperanto
  • Estonian — Eesti
  • Ewe — Eʋegbe
  • Filipino — Filipino
  • Finnish — Suomi
  • French — Français
  • Frisian — Frysk
  • Galician — Galego
  • Georgian — ქართული
  • German — Deutsch
  • Greek — Ελληνικά
  • Guarani — Avañe’ẽ
  • Gujarati — ગુજરાતી
  • Haitian Creole — Kreyòl ayisyen
  • Hausa — Hausa
  • Hawaiian — ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
  • Hebrew — עברית
  • Hindi — हिन्दी
  • Hmong — Hmoob
  • Hungarian — Magyar
  • Icelandic — Íslenska
  • Igbo — Asụsụ Igbo
  • Ilocano — Ilokano
  • Indonesian — Bahasa Indonesia
  • Irish — Gaeilge
  • Italian — Italiano
  • Japanese — 日本語
  • Javanese — Basa Jawa
  • Kannada — ಕನ್ನಡ
  • Kazakh — Қазақ тілі
  • Khmer — ភាសាខ្មែរ
  • Kinyarwanda — Ikinyarwanda
  • Konkani — कोंकणी
  • Korean — 한국어
  • Krio — Krio
  • Kurdish (Kurmanji) — Kurdî
  • Kurdish (Sorani) — کوردی
  • Kyrgyz — Кыргызча
  • Lao — ລາວ
  • Latin — Latina
  • Latvian — Latviešu
  • Lingala — Lingála
  • Lithuanian — Lietuvių
  • Luganda — Luganda
  • Luxembourgish — Lëtzebuergesch
  • Macedonian — Македонски
  • Maithili — मैथिली
  • Malagasy — Malagasy
  • Malay — Bahasa Melayu
  • Malayalam — മലയാളം
  • Maltese — Malti
  • Maori — Māori
  • Marathi — मराठी
  • Meiteilon (Manipuri) — ꯃꯤꯇꯩ ꯂꯣꯟ
  • Mizo — Mizo ṭawng
  • Mongolian — Монгол хэл
  • Myanmar (Burmese) — မြန်မာစာ
  • Nepali — नेपाली
  • Norwegian — Norsk
  • Odia (Oriya) — ଓଡ଼ିଆ
  • Oromo — Afaan Oromoo
  • Pashto — پښتو
  • Persian — فارسی
  • Polish — Polski
  • Portuguese — Português
  • Punjabi — ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
  • Quechua — Runa Simi
  • Romanian — Română
  • Russian — Русский
  • Samoan — Gagana Samoa
  • Sanskrit — संस्कृतम्
  • Scots Gaelic — Gàidhlig
  • Sepedi — Sepedi
  • Serbian — Српски
  • Sesotho — Sesotho
  • Shona — Shona
  • Sindhi — سنڌي
  • Sinhala — සිංහල
  • Slovak — Slovenčina
  • Slovenian — Slovenščina
  • Somali — Soomaali
  • Spanish — Español
  • Sundanese — Basa Sunda
  • Swahili — Kiswahili
  • Swedish — Svenska
  • Tajik — Тоҷикӣ
  • Tamil — தமிழ்
  • Tatar — Татар теле
  • Telugu — తెలుగు
  • Thai — ไทย
  • Tigrinya — ትግርኛ
  • Tsonga — Xitsonga
  • Turkish — Türkçe
  • Turkmen — Türkmençe
  • Twi — Twi
  • Ukrainian — Українська
  • Urdu — اردو
  • Uyghur — ئۇيغۇرچە
  • Uzbek — Oʻzbekcha
  • Vietnamese — Tiếng Việt
  • Welsh — Cymraeg
  • Xhosa — IsiXhosa
  • Yiddish — ייִדיש
  • Yoruba — Yorùbá
  • Zulu — IsiZulu
  • Breadcrumb

    1. Home
    2. Family, home and community
    3. Leisure and recreation
    4. Outdoor recreation and sport

    Sport and leisure

    Taking part in a sport or leisure activity is a great way to meet new people, have fun and stay healthy. There are many activities out there and it’s easy to get started

    Benefits of sports

    Getting into sport can help you feel good about yourself. Whatever sport you choose, what matters is that you are out and about and having fun.

    Taking part has many benefits for individuals and society. Regular physical activity:

    • helps reduce body fat
    • strengthens bones
    • improves coordination, balance and flexibility
    • boosts stamina and concentration
    • helps fight depression and anxiety

    Sports and leisure activities

    As there are so many sporting and leisure activities going on, it can be difficult to find out what exactly is on offer in your area. 

    If you’re not sure where to start looking, you can check out your local council's website or search online for sports clubs or centres near you.

    • Local councils in Northern Ireland
    • Sport Northern Ireland
    • Disability Sports NI website
    • Outmoreni 
    • Active Living:No Limits

    Sports' governing bodies

    You can take part in a variety of sports, including team sports and individual sports.

    There are many governing bodies for sport in Northern Ireland. These governing bodies are made up of member clubs. There may be a club for your chosen sport in your area.

    For information and contact details, visit Sport Northern Ireland.

    Youth clubs

    Your region’s Education Authority (EA) or organisations like your local church may run youth clubs or drop-in centres for young people where they can catch up with friends and meet others.

    You can also find out if the EA in your region runs any classes that you may be interested in. They may organise a whole range of activities, such as drama groups and sport classes.

    • Education Authority

    Ideas for your spare time

    From taking up a sport, learning a new skill, or finding out more about your local history, there's something for everyone.

    • Family history, heritage and museums
    • Arts Council of Northern Ireland
    • National Museums Northern Ireland
    • Everyday life and leisure
    • Volunteering

    More useful links

    • Public transport
    • Sports and people with disabilities
    • Physical Activity
    Share this page Share on Facebook (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share on X (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share by email (external link opens in a new window / tab)

    Outdoor recreation and sport

    • Angling
    • Coasts and beaches
    • Country parks
    • Football banning orders
    • Forests
    • Nature reserves
    • Parks and green spaces
    • Public rights of way
    • River Lagan
    • Spectator behaviour at sporting events
    • Sport and leisure
    • Stormont Estate
    • The Countryside Code
    • Waterways
    • Wildfowling
    • Wildlife reserves and designated landscapes

    Help improve this page - send your feedback

    What do you want to do?
    Report a problem
    Which problem did you find on this page? (Tick all that apply)

    Messages

    You will not receive a reply. We will consider your feedback to help improve the site.

    Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

    What is your question about?

    What to do next

    Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

    If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

    Carer's Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912
    Email 
    dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

    Call 0800 587 2750 
    Email 
    customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

    Disability Living Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912 
    Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Employment and Support Allowance

    Call 0800 587 1377

    Jobseeker’s Allowance

    Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

    Personal Independence Payment

    Call 0800 587 0932

    If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

    For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

    For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

    For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

    If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

    • Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
    • Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

    For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

    Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

    For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

    For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

    For queries about your GRONI account, email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme,  email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about:

    • Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
      contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
       
    • Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
      contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

     

    For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

    For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

    If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

    If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

    For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

    For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about  60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

    If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly.  We don't have access to information about you.

    Related sites

    • gov.uk
    • nibusinessinfo.co.uk

    Links to supporting information

    • Accessibility statement
    • Crown copyright
    • Terms and conditions
    • Privacy
    • Cookies
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • RSS