Welcome back after the summer break. Whilst the weather was not very kind to us we have been lucky to witness a fantastic summer of sport. Even now the exploits of our athletes in the Beijing Olympic Games resonate across the country whilst as we go to press Team GB Paralympians have just a few hours left to secure that 2nd place in the medal table. Our cricketers, footballers and even our tennis players also seem to have been inspired to greater heights and no one can doubt the important part that sport and physical activity plays in all our lives.
The clock to 2012 is ticking and we must all use this opportunity to inspire even more people to become involved on a regular basis. It will not just happen. It will need hard work, real partnership and open, honest and continuous learning by all of us if we are to achieve the vision of making Gloucestershire a physically active and successful sporting county. Current examples where this is happening already are the new Sport Unlimited programme and some exciting developments in disability sport in the county both of which are featured in this newsletter.
If you believe that we can help your organisation to make a contribution please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Best wishes
John ER Stevens
Chief Executive Officer
Gloucestershire's Success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2008
A number of athletes and support staff linked to Gloucestershire made their way to Beijing this summer with Team GB to compete in the 2008 Olympiad, the must successful games for a century.
14 of the Team GB athletes had links with the county and 6 of those 14 brought back a medal. If Gloucestershire had been placed in the final medal table as a country of its own we have been 19th (info from This is Gloucestershire).
Information on all of the athletes events and results can be found on our Gloucestershire's Success in Beijing page and on the Tewkesbury page a press release from Zac Purchases home coming parade and photos can be viewed.
Paralympic Handover Event
As part of the closing ceremony of the Paralympics 2008, the flame will be passed from Beijing to London during an 8 minute segment when London will get the chance to demonstrate what will be in store when the Games returns to its home in the UK.
During the Beijing Games Gloucestershire is represented in the Equestrian events by Gold Medal winner (Team Dressage) Simon Laurens and many of the paralympic riders will have trained and competed at the excellent facilities at Hartpury College. As they enter the stadium to participate in the closing ceremony, Gloucestershire will again be represented by 9 year old Gareth Picken, from Tewkesbury, and Leckhampton Primary School. Gareth has been selected through the children’s TV programme Blue Peter, to take part in the London 2012 segment alongside his hero, Wheelchair Basketball player Adi Adepitan.
On the same day, back in Gloucestershire itself, Active Gloucestershire has organised 2 events to celebrate the handover. Firstly, between 12.30 and 2.00pm, Gloucestershire will finish off a sequence of events running throughout the South West, when a Boccia competition in Dorset passes on to a Wheelchair Tennis session at Oxstalls Tennis Centre, Gloucester. The event will give a group of disabled and non disabled young people a chance to play and gain some of the racket and wheelchair skills needed to play this fast and highly competitive game.
Finally, in the evening, Gloucestershire will host a “Handover Celebration” at the newly reopened facilities at Leisure@Cheltenham by showcasing 3 more Paralympic sports - Boccia, Athletics and Football.These sports will be on offer to around 40 participants who have been identified as talented young performers through their School Sports Partnerships. Some of these will be disabled participants.
Anne-Dorte Andersen, Active Gloucestershire’s Sport and Activity Development Officer for Disabled People and a former 3 time Paralympic Swimmer herself, is delighted to be able to organise these events. Anne said “I have been keen to Promote the Beijing and London Paralympic Games throughout Gloucestershire. We have representation in Beijing through Simon Laurens and we can increase the numbers of athletes that come from the County in 2012. To do this we need to show people what the Paralympic movement is really all about and offer a wide range of sporting opportunities across the County in a range of sports for every disability group. The opportunity to build for the future starts here”.
Beijing Paralympian Stephen Thomas Comes to Gloucestershire Youth Games
On Wednesday 24th September over 350 children from 29 Schools in Gloucestershire will gather at Oxstalls Tennis Centre, Gloucester to take part in the 2008 Youth Games. The Youth Games is an event aimed to give all disabled children and children with special educational needs (SEN) from Gloucestershire Special and mainstream schools a high quality sporting experience. Activities are adapted to suit the needs of individual participants.
During the past year strong links between the Youth Games organisers (Active Gloucestershire, County and District Councils, School Sports Partnerships and the University of Gloucestershire), and event sponsors Barnwood House Trust, Gloucestershire County Council, the Rotary Club of Gloucester Severn and Highland Spring have given this event a much needed injection of support in order to raise the profile of the Youth Games in Gloucestershire.
One of this year's highlights will be the attendance of world champion sailor and Sporting Champion, Stephen Thomas, fresh from the Paralympics in Beijing. Stephen will join in with the practical sessions, help to motivate and encourage participants and will also answer any questions about his experiences in Beijing.
Throughout the day participants will have the opportunity to experience quality coaching in a range of traditional and alternative sports and physical activities. Some of the sessions on offer will be new to the Youth Games programme and will give participants new opportunities and experiences, while others will be those which have proven successful at previous games.
To ensure that this year’s event will offer a greater range of opportunities to a wider range of participants, local clubs and qualified coaches from Gloucestershire will offer sessions such as: Trampolining; Floorball; Wheelchair Basketball; Dance; Tri-Golf; Goalball; Boxersice; Rugby; and many more.
One of the new sessions available to participants will be the Paralympic Sports Skills programme. This is linked to the national Playground to Podium project lead by the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England and aims to identify talented individuals. Participants will have the opportunity to challenge themselves by trying skills which test their abilities 5 sports - Athletics, Football, Basketball, Boccia and Cycling.
As an added extra this year the Games organisers have teamed up with Gloucestershire County Council Arts Department and a band called Baby Face to run a music session celebrating the launch of the Cultural Olympiad.
Anne-Dorte Andersen, Sport and Physical Activity Development Officer for Disabled People said, “with a new drive and focus, we are confident that this year’s event will be hugely successful and we hope to see a record number of schools represented at the Games. We also hope that the event will become a stepping stone to offering young people in the county an exit route into community sport and physical activity as well as identifying any individuals with the potential to become an elite performer”.
To find out more about the Youth Games and view previous year's photos click here to go straight to the Gloucestershire Youth Games page.
Gloucestershire Sport Unlimited Programme Launched
Sport Unlimited (formally Extending Activities) is a £36 million Sport England nationwide initiative to get more children and young people taking part in sports that interest them most outside of school. The three-year programme will enable 900,000 more 11-19 year olds to choose from a vast range of sports including several in which Team GB has excelled at the 2008 Olympics such as sailing and cycling as well as less traditional sports like dodgeball, snowboarding and American football.
Sport Unlimited offers young people up to 10-week taster sessions in sports which they have requested and aims to get 300,000 participants to join clubs and continue with sport when the 10 weeks are up. Sport Unlimited will make a significant contribution to the Government’s target of giving children and young people the opportunity to do 5 hours of PE and sport a week at school and in the community. The funding is part of the additional £100 million investment in sport for young people announced by the Prime Minister in 2007.
Active Gloucestershire are leading the planning and coordinating the delivery of Sport Unlimited within the county. So far over £80,000 has been allocated to our partners to deliver a wide range of sporting activities. Examples include Cheerleading and rock-climbing in Gloucester; mountain biking and fitness classes in the Forest of Dean; martial arts and dance in Stroud; power kiting and rowing in Cotswold and basketball and dance in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury. Over 30 new activities will be delivered across the county in the next few months with the hope of attracting children and young people to try new activities and increase their activity levels.
Active Gloucestershire would like to thank it's many partners for their willingness to work with us to create the first phase of this programme within a very short timescale. We will shortly start to work with partners on phase 2 which will run from April 2009.
For further information please visit the Sport Unlimited page on the Active Gloucestershire website.
Sharron Davies to Present Awards at 2008 Ceremony
Nominations for awards which will be presented by Olympic swimmer and broadcaster Sharron Davies MBE, on Thursday 27th November at Cheltenham Racecourse, have started to flood into the Active Gloucestershire office but time is fast running out with the nomination deadline not far away.
Without the continuous effort of the many teachers, sports clubs and their volunteers, coaches, officials and administrators in our communities our aspiration of making Gloucestershire a physically active and successful sporting county would not get off the ground. John Stevens, Chief Executive Officer of Active Gloucestershire said “The contribution made by the people behind the scenes collecting the subs, keeping club records up-to-date or ensuring the goals are in place ready for a match are just as important as those who are prepared to coach or officiate. Quite simply without their time, enthusiasm and expertise sport in the County would be immeasurably poorer. The Gloucestershire Sports Awards are designed to recognise their contribution and with Sharron Davies joining us in the celebrations we hope to see a number of well deserved award winners”.
Some of the nominations submitted so far have come in from parents, clubs, and for the first time this year young people. Nominations so far highlight the work of coaches, volunteers, officials and PE teachers supporting projects such as inner-city youth, disability sports, county associations and community groups.
Some of the county’s sports clubs have also been nominated in the Club of the Year award categories and deciding these awards will “be a hard task for the awards panel” according to Active Gloucestershire’s Club and Volunteer Development Officer, Joanne Walker.
If you think you know someone who deserves recognition for the role that they play in the development of sport in Gloucestershire you can nominate them for an award online by filling out our online nomination form, by downloading a nomination form, or by visiting your local authority leisure facility to pick up a form today. The deadline for receipt of nominations is Tuesday 30th September.
Nominations open for the following awards:
Coaching Awards: Young Peoples Coach of the Year; Disability Sports Coach of the Year; Rookie Coach of the Year; and Willans Solicitors Performance Coach of the Year.
Club Awards: Junior Club of the Year; Adult Club of the Year; Disability Sporting Opportunities of the Year; Junior Club Performance of the Year; and Adult Club Performance of the Year.
Volunteer Awards: Junior Club of the Year and Senior Volunteer of the Year.
Officials Awards: Junior Official of the Year and Senior Official of the Year.
PE Teacher Awards: Secondary PE Teacher of the Year and Primary PE Teacher of the Year.
Overall Award: The HSBC Outstanding Services to Sport in Gloucestershire.
Event Sponsored by:
Gloucestershire STEP 08/09
Active Gloucestershire has worked in partnership with the County and District Councils, the Runningsports programme and Sports Coach UK to provide the Gloucestershire Sports Training and Education Programme (STEP) open to clubs, coaches, volunteers and teachers across Gloucestershire.
The education and training courses included in this programme will help develop and support coaches, officials, volunteers and club administrators, as well as providing up to date information on the issues and changes impacting on sports organisations.
With a new online booking and payment method it couldn't be easier for individuals and clubs to develop their skills and knowledge base.
A Summer of Fun and Fitness with Sport Skillz
Active Gloucestershire's summer Sport Skillz programme 2008 kicked off with football and netball players from the Gloucestershire Girls' Centre of Excellence and the County Netball Satellite Academy attending an intense training day at the University of Gloucestershire Oxstalls Campus.
The day consisted of specialised fitness training and testing conducted by a professional strength and conditioning coach from the University and activities tailored to the physical demands of football and netball. On top of this training, players also received quality coaching in their respective sports from Centre of Excellence and Satellite Academy staff.
Throughout the summer the Active Gloucesterhsire Community Sports Coaches also joined other local authority activity programmes at various venues throughout the county to deliver a wide range of fun and enjoyable activities for children aged 8 - 14. The activities included sports such as football, netball, hockey and cricket as well as alternative sports and activities like ultimate Frisbee and sudden death dodge ball! One of the most popular activities on offer was Kickboxing which was received very well with a lot of the children suggesting it was ‘brilliant…the best experience ever’. Andrew Herbert one of the Active Gloucestershire Community Sports Coaches working on the scheme said ‘the children seemed to enjoy the variety and a lot commented on how much fun it was to experience and learn new skills’.
All children taking part found their Sport Skillz experience thoroughly enjoyable and were excited by the fact that they had a chance to experience different activities. Following their experience many participants were signposted to clubs and other local opportunities in their area so that they could continue with their new interests.
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For further information on Sport Skillz please contact Active Gloucestershire's Community Sports Coach Supervisor, Alison Croad on 01242 715196 or visit the Sport Skillz page on the Active Gloucestershire website.
Active Gloucestershire Volunteers at UK School Games
The third UK School Games were held from 27th - 30th August at venues in Bristol, Bath and Millfield. Over 1500 athletes from schools all over the UK competed in 9 sporting events over 3 days. The games were officially opened by Beijing double gold medal swimmer Rebecca Adlington at a packed Bath Recreation Ground (home of Bath Rugby Club) and hosted by TV sports presenter Jill Douglas.
On the friday 9 Active Gloucestershire members of staff and 2 Step into Sport students joined 350 volunteers supporting the Games. The Gloucestershire volunteers were lucky to give a helping hand to the organisers and officials at Millfield School where the two day swimming competition took place. Duties on the day included welcoming spectators and athletes to the venue, issuing and checking tickets, selling programmes and VIP and media centre liaison. For our 2 Step into Sport volunteers a special highlight was the chance to carry the team signs on the opening ceremony parade.
Congratulations to the local organisers who delivered a great success. Overall the Games were a spectacular event and fantastic opportunity for all the athletes, officials and volunteers involved. Perhaps some of them will go on to be involved in London 2012?
Watch this space for more information on how to volunteer at the 2009 UK School Games in Cardiff, Wales.
To find out more about what happened at the 2008 UK School Games visit www.ukschoolgames.com
Your Reports
Things are developing at Mitcheldean Juniors F.C.
At their 2007 AGM the committee of Mitcheldean Juniors Football Club set themselves a challenge to achieve F.A. Charter Standard Development Club status by the start of season 2008/2009. They have achieved their goal with 2 months to spare and on June 9th they became only the 14th club in the county to achieve development club status.
At the club's annual BBQ the head of Dene Magna School Rob Broadbridge was on hand to present a plaque to commemorate the occasion. Club Secretary Rob Coopey said that "it was apt for the Dene Magna head to present the award as the school is one of 7 of the club's 'club/school links' and, being in the same village, the link is important to both organisations".
Chair Steve Whiles added that “achieving the award and being the first club in the Forest of Dean to do so shows the calibre and commitment of the club's committee and members. The club is only six years old and has grown from one team in 2002 to fielding ten teams next season”.
Article supplied through the online Newsletter Report Submission Form by Rob Coopey on 09-07-08
We Say Hello to...
Role changes at Active Gloucestershire:
Samantha Kloos, Samantha's role as Badminton Development Officer came to an end in August and has now taken on a new full time role within Active Gloucestershire as Project and Administration Officer.
Sarah Urquhart, is now Active Start Sports Coach Supervisor and Multi Skills and FUNdamentals Community Sports Coach (CSC). Sarah will spend 3 days a week delivering as a CSC and the other 2 days spent supervising the Active Start CSCs and developing the programme.
Congratulations go to Kelly Conibere (previously Kelly Farr who got married on Friday 1st August to James Conibere at Eastwood Park. We wish them both happiness in married life.
We Say Goodbye to...
Stuart McQuaid, Head of Knowledge Management, Communications and Business Support, who after 2 and half years with Active Gloucestershire is moving on to pastures new. Stuart has taken up a new role within the University of Gloucestershire as Business Process Review Manager in the ICT Services Department.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Stuart for all of his hard work and wish him the very best in his new role.
Sally Stewart, Women's and Girls' Football Development Officer for Gloucestershire has moved to Texas, USA to fulfil her ambition of coaching Women's Soccer in America. Sally has put a great deal of hard work and dedication into the development of football in the county and we are sure all the clubs and players she has worked with over the past 4 years would like to join us in wishing her all the best and good luck for her new life in America.
Huw Pritchard, Badminton Community Sports Coach has left the partnership to become the new FESCo (Further Education Sports Coordinator) for Hereford College. We would like to thank Huw for his work and wish him the best of luck in his new career.
Nathan Clarke, Paddlesport Community Sports Coach has left South Cerney Outdoor Education Centre for a new career abroad. Good Luck Nathan.
Phillip Llewellyn, Active Start Community Sports Coach as left Active Gloucestershire after a short period due to relocation. All the best for the future Phil.
