March/April 2011 £2.75Sport and fitness for today’s youth

By Louise Cordell

A HEAD TEACHER tasked with organ-ising one of the nine School Gamespilots has spoken out about hisattempts to ‘achieve the impossible’.

Billy Downie is head of the StreetlySchool in Sutton Coldfield and chair ofthe Local Organising Committee forthe Black Country School Games pilot.

He has been working with countysports partnerships, state and inde-pendent schools NGBs, disability sportorganisations and young people topull together a one day event set totake place this summer.

He said: “To be honest, our first feel-ing about the new initiative was anger.

“We were nine of the country’s mostpassionate head teachers sat in ameeting, but our first conversationwas ‘look at what they are doing to us’,

“But we had to get over it and we hadto utilise that passion to deliver some-thing worthwhile instead – a levelthree competition, on time and on abudget of £45,000. It felt like we had toachieve the impossible.”

However, on 8 July his event will takeplace, featuring eight Olympic and fiveParalympic sports, across six venues,

covering four local authorities andinvolving over 1,320 young athletes.

It is hoped that this day, along withthe other pilots, will give organisers achance to test the School Games for-mula.

Billy, who was speaking at the YSTSports Colleges conference, added: “Ithasn’t been easy, but this will be asgreat as we want to make it – to moveforward now we need passion, advoca-cy and leadership. We owe it to ouryoung people to offer them opportuni-ties and to inspire as many of them aspossible and the School Games willgive us the opportunity to do that.

“The ins and outs of it will be tough,but I am now sure it will engage manymore young people than we already doa brilliant job with. I am very excitedabout our event in July and aboutengaging young people for life.”

Schools around the UK will soon beable to register their own interest inbecoming involved in the SchoolGames and, until then, they are beingadvised to start establishing their ownLocal Organising Committee and plan-ning the logistics of their own eventprogression.

Achieving theimpossiblewith games

WORLD Football Freestyle champi-on John Farnworth appeared tohelp launch a new hybrid sportsgame designed to get young peopleactive and promote communitycohesion.

The Street Snooker event attractedover 300 young people, who wereentertained by John’s freestyle tricksbefore trying out thefootball/snooker hybrid game forthemselves.

Guinness World Record holder

John said: “I wish there had been agame like this around when I wasdeveloping my skills.

“It’s great to see young boys andgirls enjoying the game.

“It’s rare that such an inclusiveand exciting game is made availableto the wider community and I thinkWelwyn council have been pioneersin hosting one of the first StreetSnooker games.”

� See Page 6 for more information

John Farnworth

World champ John helpslaunch sports game

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Contacts www.futurefitness.uk.net

Dress codecounts forcoachesBy Louise Cordell

SPORTS coaches who wear suits onmatch days and tracksuits whentraining are likely to have the bestperforming teams, according to newresearch.

The University of Portsmouth’ssports scientists have studied theeffect a coach’s appearance had onthe players’ impressions of their com-petence and the work has been pub-lished in the International Journal ofSport Psychology.

Lead author Dr Richard Thelwellsaid: “We have found that the cloth-ing coaches wear can have a directeffect on the players' perceptions ofthe coach's ability.

“Players look to their coach to pro-vide technical skills, to motivate themand to lead them.

“A coach in a suit suggests strategicprowess – which is obviously ideal fora match.

“In our study, coaches wearing asuit were perceived as being morestrategically competent than thosewearing sporting attire.

“However, when wearing sportingattire, they were perceived to be moretechnically competent than those in asuit.”

The researchers rated the reactionsof 97 men and women who looked atphotographs of four different ‘coach-es’ – lean physique and dressed in atracksuit; large physique and dressedin a tracksuit; lean physique anddressed in a suit; and large physique

and dressed in a suit.The coach who was of large build

and wearing smart clothes wasranked the lowest in terms of theircompetence to motivate, developtechnique, develop game strategy,and build athlete character.

The coach who was lean and wear-ing a tracksuit was rated best fortechnical and character-buildingabilities – skills most required attraining and development of players;and was rated equal best for 'abilityto motivate players'.

However, the coach who was leanand smartly dressed was rated best asa strategist – the skill most expectedand required at matches.

Dr Thelwell added: “First impres-sions can have a powerful and long-lasting effect, no matter how quicklythose judgments were made.

“From the research that has beenconducted by individuals within ourgroup, we know that sportsmen andwomen make snap decisions abouttheir opponents based on firstimpressions.

“Such impressions then often influ-ence the expectations of the perform-ance outcome that ultimately resultsin success or failure.

“While we are becoming moreaware to how athletes might judgecoaches, we are still unaware of theprocesses that athletes go through tobe able to develop impressions ofcoaches and this is something thatwe are now starting to look at.”

By Dominic Musgrave

A TALENTED Newcastle school boyhas been offered a rugby scholar-ship to join Leeds Rhinos JuniorAcademy.

Sixteen-year-old Sinclair Matthewswas top try scorer in 2010 for ama-teur club Wallsend Eagles, played forScotland U18 Rugby League team lastyear and was voted the ‘Rising Star’for Sport Newcastle 2010, amongother achievements.

Barrie McDermot, Rhinos head ofyouth development, said: “There is somuch competition for young athletesso we look for the best possible talentwhether that is on our own doorstepor further afield.

“Because of our record with youngplayers here at Leeds Rhinos theyknow that we can develop potentialtalent and we are pleased to includeSinclair in that process.”

The Rhinos have their ownAcademy programme for U13s toU16s with up to twenty boys in eachage group, however, the spaces arenot automatically filled and playersmust show enough promise to merita place.

Sinclair is also currently studyingfor his GCSEs at Heaton Manorschool and will complete his A Levelsthere.

He said: “Being offered a scholar-ship from such a prestigious andhugely successful League Club is adream.

“Sport Newcastle supported andencouraged me at school, and thenbeing selected as an elite athlete onthe Newcastle School SportPartnership’s ‘One of Us’ programmehas opened doors for me.

“I’m really looking forward to someserious training at Leeds.”

Pictured, from left: Rhinos player Rob Burrow, Head of Youth Development BarrieMcDermott and Sinclair Matthews

Teen rugby playeris offered Leeds Rhino scholarship

DOUBLE Olympic gold medallistRebecca Adlington has spent a daywith pupils from The Dearne HighSchool in Goldthorpe.

She made the visit after studentssecured enough votes to win anonline contest run by her sponsorSpeedo.

Rebecca coached the children in asession at the Dearneside LeisureCentre swimming pool

She said: “Swimming is one of thebiggest life skills you can learn – it is

so important to know that childrenare safe and able to look after them-selves in the water.”

Martin Prest, the centre’s facilitymanager, added: “Rebecca was talk-ing to the pupils from the schoolabout the importance of learning toswim, not just for safety reasons, butalso to improve their health and fit-ness and encourage positive, compet-itive spirit.

“She was a real inspiration to theyoung people.”

Rebecca Adlington passes on swimming tips to school pupils

Gold medallist Rebeccacoaches winning pupils

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THE Durham City School SportPartnership have put on a NationalSchool Sport Dance event to cele-brate 555 days until the start of the2012 Olympics and raise the profileof SSPs.

The 555 date was chosen to repre-sent SSS – Support School Sportand at 11.40 (20 to 12) on that dayPartnership schools performed thedance in their classrooms, schoolhalls or at central venues as a showof mass participation.

Paul Donaghy, School SportCoordinator, said: “Whilst fundinghas been found to see out this aca-

demic year there will be cuts ofabout 80 per cent from Septemberonwards and the impact on schoolsport will be enormous. We arecontinuing to campaign so that asporting legacy in schools can becontinued beyond 2012 and believethat the fantastic work of the part-nerships should not be sacrificedfor the sake of just ‘competition’.”

The aim of the National SchoolSport Dance was to raise the profileof School Sport Partnerships at thesame time as giving young peopleanother opportunity to be physical-ly active and the change to attempt

a world record for simultaneousdancing.

Paul added: “We hope that thisevent can celebrate the power ofschool sport in uniting people andshowcase the strength of SchoolSport Partnership Network.”

The dance was created by youngambassadors and set to the song ‘ILike to Move It’.

It is hoped that the event has set aBritish Record by creating thelargest simultaneous dance everrecorded with 600 schools aroundthe country, from Durham toDorset, joining in.

It is estimated that around100,000 pupils participated and thePartnership is now planning onanother attempt during NationalSchool Sport Week, when they willtry to break the current WorldRecord, which stands at 264,188.

Paul added: “We will be continu-ing the campaign in order to keepup the pressure on the Governmentto provide funding so that everychild gets the chance to take part ina range of sporting opportunitiesincluding leadership, gifted and tal-ented, competition and attendinglocal clubs.”

Partnership steps up for Olympics

Wolves basketball teamruns club at schoolTHE South Worcestershire SchoolSport Partnership has been keepingits pupils busy since the start of thespring term.

A new basketball club has been cre-ated at Evesham High, run by BBLclub the Worcester Wolves.

The Partnership funded taster ses-sions in schools before Christmas inorder to engage students in the sport,before giving them the chance toattend the new community club.

The aim of the club is to increaseopportunities for young people totake part in physical activity, to pro-vide competitive opportunities withother Wolves satellite clubs in thearea and also to feed gifted and tal-ented players into the Wolves.

This term has also seen the intro-duction of the Partnership’s gymnas-tics club, where 30 feeder first andmiddle school pupils attend sessionssupported by young leaders atEvesham High School.

Sam Hook, partnership develop-ment manager, said: “We have also kick started the year with dance sessions for our feeder firstschools.

“We have a dance teacher whodelivers sessions in four of the part-nership schools for the clusterschools to attend and currently all thesessions are at full capacity.

“We are now looking forward to see-ing the finshed results at an end ofterm performance.”

‘Cricketers want to win at all costs’WHEN it comes to cricket, Englishkids want to win at all costs, whileAustralian youngsters are more gra-cious in defeat, according to a newsurvey.

A poll carried out by the CricketFoundation claims to turn the sport-ing stereotypes of the competitveAussie and the gentlemanly Brit ontheir head. It found that more thanfour out of five English parents saytheir child is either ‘quite competi-tive’, ‘competitive’ or ‘very competi-tive’; compared to three quarters ofAustralian parents.

In addition, twice the number of

English parents think winning is thesingle more important factor for theirchild when taking part in sport - tenper cent, compared to five per centfor Australian parents.

Australians place more emphasis onhaving fun in sport, with 55 per centsaying this is more important thanfactors like ‘winning’ or ‘never givingup’.

Wasim Khan, Cricket Foundationchief executive, said: “The surveychallenges certain stereotypes, whilehighlighting the benefits of competi-tive sport.”

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Online danceinstructor hasover 60 classesBy Louise Cordell

A NEW online PE programme thatgives primary schools access to awide range of dance classes has beenlaunched.

Cyber Coach Smart is an online vir-tual dance instructor that let pupilstake part in over 60 dance orientedclasses, hosted by expert instructors.

Jodie Williams, a teacher at AntonJunior School in Hampshire, said:“We use the programme every day with pupils as part of our 15-minute morning physical activity ses-sions.

“The aim of these sessions is towake the children up and help themto engage their bodies and minds.

“We have found these sessions are avery effective way of doing this as it has a wide range of classes so thechildren never get bored, it is easy toset up for non PE specialists and requires very little space andequipment, therefore it can be usedin the classroom if the hall is unavail-able.

“We also use it in warm ups for

dance lessons and in the after schooldance club.”

Last term the school also ran aCyber Coach club after school andduring these sessions parents wereinvited to take part alongside theirchildren.

This was a big success and theschool is planning on running theclub again this year.

Jodie added: “The pupils reallyenjoy it and it seems to be particular-ly effective in engaging those whohave a tendency to be disengagedfrom PE. I think the children like theway it provides a different face infront of them with a different style ofteaching.

“They also like the way the sessionsare split into small sections of time sothey can see how much longer theyare working for – this makes themwork harder.”

More than 100 schools acrossEngland have now signed up to CyberCoach Smart system, with a largenumber of these funded by SchoolSport Partnerships and Primary CareTrusts.

RUGBY star Mick Slicker has beenappointed head coach for theHuddersfield Giants Under 18s’Academy.

The former Giants and IrelandInternational captain, pictured above,has been working with the club’sscholarship players for some timeand, last year, took the talentedyoungsters on an Australian tour.

He said: “It’s a great progression forme to take on the job as coach of theUnder-18’s and I was delighted toaccept.

“I have been involved with thegroup since they were Under-15’s andI’ve worked closely with them for

quite a long time.“I am pleased with how much we

have managed to achieve as a groupso far and it’s great that the club haveoffered me the opportunity to have ashot with them at the Under-18’scompetition.

“The experience that the playersgained from the tour of Australia willprove outstanding for their develop-ment and the club will see the bene-fits on the back of that.

“There are potentially a handful ofplayers from that group who couldquite easily become Super Leagueplayers in the next few years if theycontinue to work hard.”

Mick touches down asnew academy coach

PUPILS at St Stephen’s Church ofEngland Primary School in WestLondon are celebrating after winningthe UK’s Fitter Primary School Award.

The Fitter Schools programme isrun by Fit for Sport and aims toencourage children to engage in ahealthier and more active lifestyle bytaking part in a 12-week challenge toimprove their fitness levels.

The pupils were presented withtheir trophy by Olympic silver medal-list Roger Black, together with theirprize bundle, consisting of 100,000school vouchers from Tesco for newsports equipment and a dancemachine from Pulse.

Lucy Cohen, acting head teacher,

said: “This is the fourth year thepupils have taken part in the chal-lenge so it’s a great delight for themto have won.

“Improving our pupils’ fitness levelsis a key focus for me and the FitterSchools Challenge has helped theschool to achieve this.

“I’ve seen an incredible improve-ment in the pupils’ speed, enduranceand enthusiasm for sport, as well asprogress in their attitude towards tak-ing part in challenges and competi-tions across all subjects.

“I’m incredibly proud of our pupilsand I know they are looking forwardto taking part again next year.”

West London schoolcelebrates successTHE national launch of the first

Street Snooker games in the UKhave taken place in WelwynGarden City in Hertfordshire.

The new football/snooker hybridsports game, designed to get youngpeople active and develop com-munity spirit, was unveiled to over300 local kids by world footballfreestyle champion JohnFarnworth, Olympic medallist GailEmms and pro snooker player AlfieBurden.

The young people took part in aBrazilian Skills football workshopand tried out the Street Snookerinstallations, which will now bepermanently available atMoneyhole playing fields, WelwynGarden City and BeversbrookSports Facility, Calne.

The game is the first in a series ofoutdoor activities designed byPlayinnovation, whose aim is tooffer a range of exciting, high-qual-ity gaming solutions to councilsand youth providers.

Alfie Burden, who is also a formerArsenal trainee, said: “I thought itwas very good, and I loved theconcept of marrying the snookerup with the football, my two bigsporting passions in life.

“There are a lot of young kids outthere who don’t know too muchabout snooker, but love their foot-ball.

“And if this is going to get intoschool playgrounds and playingfields, it can only get youngstersinterested and involved, which isgood for the growth of the game.”

Street snooker launch

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Cash boost for ‘doorstep sport’By Louise Cordell

STREETGAMES has announced a new partnership with Sport Wales that will see £25,000 invested into helping young people across the country access ‘doorstepsport’.

The scheme is aimed at improving youth sportparticipation throughout Wales by enabling tennew projects to be developed that will deliver‘doorstep sport’ – sport delivered in a style thatappeals to young people at a location, time andprice that suits them.

The money will also help to organise eightsports tournaments, to set up three new sportsprojects in Community 1st areas and start threenew pilot projects with National GoverningBodies of sport to target young people fromdeprived areas.

StreetGames already provides doorstep sportthrough 16 projects across Wales and these,together with the new initiatives, will helpensure that improved participation is high onthe agenda in the build up to and following the2012 Olympic Games.

Gordon Clark, senior regional officer for Sport Wales, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with StreetGames andhelping to expand their successful brand inWales.

“We are sure that StreetGames will contributesignificantly to our vision of every child hookedon sport for life by providing much neededsporting opportunities in some of our most dis-advantaged communities.”

The Sport Wales funding will also expand theaward-winning Co-operative StreetGames Young

Volunteers programme – a scheme that helpsyoung people to gain sports qualifications andcommunity leadership skills whilst volunteeringat local projects.

Caro Wild, Wales development manager forStreetGames, said: “This partnership shows thatSport Wales are keen to support doorstep sportas a way of increasing participation and sustain-

ability in some of the most hard to reach areas ofWales. The extra funding will allow us to workwith even more groups to set up new projectsand also inspire more young people to volunteerin sport.

“I hope this partnership will go on to biggerand better things, benefitting even more youngpeople in Wales.”

100m GB sprinter Tyrone Edgar and former Commonweath gold medallist Diane Modahl with the young athletes

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By Louise Cordell

GEOFF Howsan joined KingstoneSchool in Barnsley as its extendedservices manager two years ago.

The school, which has over 1,400pupils, is also home to a modern,30 station Technogym equipped fit-ness facility that is open to the gen-eral public.

When he arrived, one of Geoff’sjobs was to increase membership,while balancing the needs of thecurriculum with the need to gener-ate income and to cater effectivelyfor the local community.

He said: “This kind of extendedservices certainly presents chal-lenges, but can also be incrediblybeneficial for both students andlocal people.

“Our first task was to change atti-tudes internally – getting childrenand staff to stop calling the gym a‘sports hall’ and realise that it is afitness centre, like any other privateor council gym.”

To help people get the right idea,the fitness suite was rebranded as‘The Kube’ – a self contained gymwithin the school premises.

The school’s dance studio wasalso renamed the ‘Dance Kube’ andis used by pupils during the dayand community members at night.

Geoff added: “The concept ofbranding has been very wellreceived – it encourages people to think differently about what we

can offer.

“We want to give our members acommercial leisure experience –but what many schools don’trealise is that marketing andrebranding doesn’t have to beexpensive.

“We painted the centre and creat-ed logo prints and pictures our-selves and these small toucheshave made all the difference to theoverall image.”

As well as being used duringschool hours as part of PE sessions,

the school has also introduced ascheme called ClubFit.

It runs Monday to Friday for anhour straight after school and forjust £1.50 a week, pupils get fitnessprogrammes, equipment training,healthy eating advice and struc-tured workout sessions.

It’s aim is to bring young peopletogether after school and get theminterested in health and fitness,and so far it has been a resoundingsuccess - with pupils even request-ing and buying ClubFit t-shirts.

On top of this, the centre receivesaround 80,000 visits from its com-munity members each year, and isparticularly popular with parentswho time their visits to coincidewith their children’s after schoolclubs.

Geoff added: “The centre is goingfrom strength to strength and Ireally believe that fitness facilitiescan provide a fantastic opportunityfor schools to benefit pupils andgenerate money.

“However, most schools havemore to learn from the commercialside of things.

“I would recommend involvingpeople who can bring that angle tomake sure you see all the possibili-ties that are available – for exam-ple, cross borough membershipschemes between schools.”

Kingstone now aims to keep making the public more aware ofthe services they offer, while continuing to explore new businessideas ranging from corporate link ups to income generatingevents.

Geoff added: “Schools really cancompete with private and councilgyms if they pull together – it isdefinitely achievable.

“The important thing is to capi-talise on what you’ve got – greatprices, diversity and a welcomingatmosphere – and membershipswill follow.”

Rebranding its fitness suite has helped Kingstone School attract new members, from the student body andthe general public. Future Fitness found out how small changes can make a big difference when it comes tocatering for such a diverse audience.

Rebranding pays off forschool fitness centre

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By Louise Cordell

A DANCE routine, put together byWitchford School Sport Partnershipto help get pupils excited about theOlympics, is now being rolled outacross the county.

Partnership development managerDiane Baker came up with the idealast September after deciding to startlinking all sports competitions to theOlympics.

She said: “We wanted to get thechildren involved in the run up to theGames, so we thought we wouldinclude opening and closing cere-monies. One of the team then cameup with the idea of an Olympic dancethat would be taught to all the pri-mary pupils, so they could perform itat these ceremonies.”

Dance teachers choreographed theroutine, trialled it with some pupilsand it proved so popular that thedecision was made to involve all theschools in the Partnership.

Young ambassadors from differentschools then came together to helprun a training day for the pupilsinvolved.

Diane added: “We mentioned whatwe were doing to the Olympic coordi-nator for Cambridgshire and theythought it was a great idea and want-

ed to film it. The children have lovedgetting involved and are now com-pletely fired up about the whole proj-ect. The video is great because youcan really see the concentration andenjoyment on their faces.”

The film is currently being editedand will go out to all the schools inthe Witchford Partnership and theother four Partnerships in

Cambridgshire later this month. Then, on the anniversary of 500

days until the Olympics, as manyschools as possible will be joiningtogether to do the dance live in cele-bration.

Diane added: “It is a challengingtime for School Sport Partnerships,but we hope that by doing this wewill be leaving our pupils with a lega-

cy. The plan is for the dance to bedone every 100 days during thecountdown to the Games, filmed byindividual schools each time and forthat footage to be added to the origi-nal video.

“Our aim is that this will provide thekids with a project that they canenjoy and be proud of, right up until2012 and beyond.”

Olympic dance routinerolled out across county

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School Sport was back in the spotlight for the Youth Sport Trust’s National Conference in Telford last month. More than a thousandheadteachers, directors of specialist and leaders in school sport attended, to explore how schools can maximise learning and achievement foryoung people through sport. The two-day event included workshops, seminars and networking that allowed schools to share ideas andinnovations on how sport can be used right across the curriculum to improve performance.

School Games plans rolledout at Trust conferenceNEW plans for the SchoolGames and funding for 450School Games Organiserswere revealed at the confer-ence in a speech by JeremyHunt.

The Secretary of State forCulture, Olympics, Media andSport set out his vision for theSchool Games tournamentand called on head teachersto get behind the competi-tion.

He stated that a combina-tion of government and lot-tery funding will give thou-sands of young people theopportunity to take part incompetitive sport throughthe initiative.

Mr Hunt said: “I want toharness the energy, enthusi-asm and commitment teach-ers have shown over manyyears to help move schoolsport to the next level in thiscritical year of opportunity.

“We have worked closelywith sport experts to try andcome up with something thatwill allow us to do what isbest for our young people.

“We do not want to dupli-cate what already exists, wewant to work with structuresthat are in place.

“We will not have the sameamount of resources andthere will be challenges – butI hope we can move forward.”

He confirmed that the gov-ernment will be funding 450School Games Organisers forthree days a week and thatthey expect those who havebeen working within schoolsport partnerships to applyfor the roles and incorporatetheir experience.

Plans were also unveiled forthe inaugural finals of thefirst School Games to be heldin the Olympic Stadium as atest event in May 2012, inorder to gain the best mediaexposure and to motivate thechildren taking part.

The government will now bepublishing a prospectus forschools – setting out exactlyhow teachers and coachescan get involved in theGames, including registeringonline.

THE School Games tournament – inspiredby the London 2012 Olympics andParalympics – will aim to give every childthe opportunity take part and compete.

It will be a four level competition:

Level One – 500 schools across nineregions will pilot an annual School GamesDay: a ’finals’ day stemming from a pro-gramme of intra-school competitionwhich will offer disabled children as many opportunities as non-disabled chil-dren.

Mr Hunt said: “This will be particularlyimportant for schools who are not yetmaking the most of the full power of sport.

“It should be be a culmination of sportthroughout the year, encouraging regularparticipation and also including a culturalelement, providing opportunities for artand music within schools.”

Level Two – A rolling programme ofleagues and tournaments will promotemore competition between schools at atown or district level.

Mr Hunt said: “This level will be veryimportant for the new School GamesOrganisers and also a great opportunity fordisabled children, becuase it will be achance for them to compete with a widerrange of pupils.”

Level Three – Up to 60 new, county or city-level ‘Festivals of Sport’ will showcase thebest of local competitive sport in the inter-school finals.

Mr Hunt said: “Nine pilot Festivals will betaking place this year and to run these wehave been looking at successful modelslike the Kent School Games.”

Level Four – The most talented youngsports people will have the chance to rep-resent their schools in a high-profile,national event.

Mr Hunt said: “We want to make thislevel an evolution of all the leagues. I wantto combine the inspiration of ourOlympians for young people with theinspiration teachers are providing everyday on the ground.”

An opportunity for every child

Sue Campbell

Trust chair reflects onturbulent year and looks to the futureAT THE conference BaronessSue Campbell, chair of theYouth Sport Trust, spoke to delegates about the challenges faced over the last year and governmentplans for new funding to support the School Games sscheme.

She said: “It has been a greatjourney since the first sportscolleges conference and wehave been an important vehi-cle for change for sport in edu-cation.

“The last year has been tur-bulent and we are now havingto face a change in our overallway of thinking.

“We know that it will be diffi-cult and we know that we willhave to make every penny wespend count – but we alsoneed to see the opportunities.

“We are not going to be ableto stop the change, so we willhave to innovate and move

things forward and during thischange it is more importantthan ever that we work together and support eachother.

“I know that we have all beenasking ourselves: ‘Are westrong enough to cope withthe tough times ahead and willwe be thrown off course?’

“But I have visited a lot of thebest sports colleges in thecountry – these have beenbuilt on sound and enduringvalues.

“We just need to rememberto keep going back to whatreally matters – we are in this to change young people’slives.

“Our mission is still to getevery young person participat-ing. We want them to getinvolved in competition atevery level, but we also wantthem to achieve excellencethrough reaching their person-

al best.

“Staff will have to be adapt-able and courageous to stickto our vision and the best toolwe have is innovation - letyour creative staff unleashtheir potential.

“Working through the SchoolGames may not be way wewould have chosen, but wemust live in the reality of themoment and learn to work inthe context we find ourselvesin.

“We have demonstrated thatPE can be a driver for wholeschool achievement andproved we can improve aca-demic achievement throughsport.

“I think we have shown wecan achieve the impossibleand there is no going back –only moving forward.

“I know we will achieve theimpossible again.”

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THE conference also played host tothe YST Sports Colleges Innovationand Recognition Awards for 2011.

These awards recognise the waysports colleges are using their spe-cialism to have a positive impact onthe curriculum and their pupils’ lives.

Steve Grainger, YST chief executive,said: “The work of these sports col-leges demonstrates how powerful atool sport can be when used tounlock the potential in young people.

“I hope that other schools areinspired by these example of innova-tive working and are encouraged tolook at how they can use sport tomeet their own priorities.”Innovations Awards� Willenhall School Sports College,won the award for ‘Innovative prac-tice in core physical education at KeyStage Four’. They received the awardfor the way they are putting youngpeople at the heart of their teachingplans, delivering personalised PE les-sons.� Budehaven Community Schoolwon the award for ‘Using the special-ism to strengthen links with the widercommunity’. The sports collegeempowered a group of students todevelop a project that would providetheir peers an exciting range out ofschool activities – the result has beena positive impact on the community.� Denbigh High School won theaward for ‘Embedding the specialismto narrow the gap in whole schoolattainment’. Setting up a SportsAcademy within the school, they havebeen using sports based examples intargeted lessons across the curricu-lum to help students develop writingskills and number work.Recognition Awards� Hipperholme and Lightcliffe HighSchool and Sports College receivedthe Sky Sports Living for Sport award,given to the school using the SSLfS toraise attainment and achievement in

a core subject. They received theaward for the way they have beenusing the scheme to help pupils withtheir speaking and listening Englishcoursework.� Chadsgrove School and SpecialistSports College collected this year’sSainsbury's Active Kids award, givento the school that has shown thegreatest innovation in parentalengagement. A special school forchildren with physical disabilities,Chadsgrove gave parents the oppor-tunity to share their views and helpthe school create a wish list of activi-ties that the parents would like to trywith their children.� Bridgemary Community SportsCollege were presented with theLOCOG award for successfully joiningthe Get Set network and their out-standing work using the Olympic andParalympic Values to drive wholeschool engagement. Their pupils con-sistently displayed the Olympic val-ues needed to achieve personal excel-lence, respect, friendship, inspiration,determination, courage and equality.� The Sutton Academy collected thisyear’s Lloyds TSB National SchoolSport Week award given to the schoolwho has demonstrated the best useof School Sport Week across theschool. They put on an extensiverange of sporting activities for pupilsduring the 2010 week and used sportacross the curriculum to encourageactive learning.� Bacon's College won the AdidasYoung Ambassador award given tothe sports college that has demon-strated the best use of Platinum, Gold and adiStars YoungAmbassadors to increase participa-tion in sport, PE and raise the profileof London 2012. Through their owningenuity and perseverance theseYoung Ambassadors worked withschools across their SSP and raised £50,000 to be volunteers at the firstever Youth Olympic Games inSingapore.

Sports collegesrecognised at2011 awards

Denbigh High School

Willenhall School Sports College

Budehaven Community School

11 7/3/11 15:41 Page 1

design and build12

SINCE its arrival in the UK in 1985,Pulastic 2000’s multi functional,seamless, polyurethane sports floorsystem has been supplied andinstalled, by Sports Surfaces (UK) Ltd,at well over 350 establishments.

Kate Jones, project manager atSports Surfaces has a wealth of expe-rience within the sports surfacingindustry and explains the benefits ofworking with Pulastic.

She said: “Practically every indoorsport can be played on Pulastic 2000.

“It is resilient, non-reflective, tough,long-lasting and safe. It is a particu-larly good for schools as it is a top-performing playing surface that is

versatile enough for everything frombadminton to boccia.

“Pulastic 2000 provides a balancebetween shock absorption, traction,ball bounce and aesthetics – impor-tant characteristics when determin-ing a suitable multi-sport surface.

“Pulastic 2000 9+2 meets theEuropean Standard for sports hallfloors and due to its versatility is avaluable part of our business.

“We find Pulastic 2000 is the facilitymanager’s choice as it is so low main-tenance and can be used for non-sports activities such as plays, exams,parents evenings; even as a diningroom floor.”

Flooring that’s resilient,tough, long-lasting and safe

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design and build 13

Advertiser’s announcement

WITH a design model in place, set toraise the game in five-a-side soccerprovision, Pulse were looking for asuitable public sector partner toshare their vision of creating the ulti-mate soccer and fitness venue andPhoenix Collegiate rose to the chal-lenge.

As the UK’s leading ‘Total LeisureSolutions’ provider, Pulse were ableto use all their expertise in creatingquality self-financing leisure facilitiesand developed a £2.7m state of theart five-a-side soccer and fitness con-cept, that also includes luxury teamand fitness change accommodation,sports cafe bar and interactive studio.

This exciting new model waslaunched at the start of 2011 follow-ing a 36 week build programme inpartnership with Phoenix CollegiateBusiness Enterprise and SportsCollege in Wednesbury, WestMidlands.

The college have the benefit ofaccess to the soccer, fitness and stu-dio facilities during school term andthey will also receive a shared incomestream for the full term of the part-nership, without investing any capitalor needing to meet any ongoingoperational costs.

The new centre, which is open tothe local community seven days aweek, includes eight third generationfive-a-side pitches and a dedicated60m x 40m coaching arena.

The 6000 sq ft pavilion offers chang-ing room provision for both male andfemale players, a state of the art fit-ness suite with a 55 station Pulse gymcomplete with SmartCentre virtualtrainer technology with separate maleand female gym changing, a dancestudio and function suite incorporat-ing the latest interactive entertain-ment and gaming systems and a largestylish big-screen sportsbar andlounge.

This latest business model fromPulse shows how educational estab-lishments can work hand-in-handwith private business, to createleisure facilities that are beneficial forentire communities, that are not onlyself-financed, but fully self-sufficientincome generating business units.

The Pulse Solution:£2.7M Pulse investment; design,

build and operate; latest 3G pitchtechnology; next generation fitnessequipment; sales and marketing sup-port; membership services andshared income stream.

Phoenix rises to the challenge

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design and build14

THE Community College,Whitstable, has opened a £162,500fitness suite as part of its upgradeunder the Building Schools for theFuture programme.

The redevelopment, designed and carried out by Createability,included linking the main schoolbuilding with its sports centre andusing the’ link’ area, which was pre-viously an open air plant room, as agym.

Use of the school’s sports and fit-ness facilities, which are managedby leisure trust Active Life, havenow been extended to the localcommunity in the evenings and atweekends.

Neil West, Active Life CEO, said:“We have carried out other projectswith Createability and were confi-dent in their ability to deliver aquality product.

“Createability’s approach, as adevelopment partner rather thansimply a building contractor, savedus a lot of effort, time and conse-quently money as they provided allthe project requirements in a one-stop shop.”

Ian Cotgrave, Creatability MD,said: “The ‘development partner’approach is fundamental to thewhole process, from designonwards.

“Over the years we have createdstrong working relationships with arange of experts that help us todeliver this complete solution toour clients.

“At The Community College wepartnered with Zynk design, whoenhanced the cosmetic appearanceof our initial gym design with con-temporary lighting, ceiling and wallfinishes.”

Createability also partnered withLife Fitness to kit out the gym withits Express workout circuit, ideal for

both school and community users,as more people can be accommo-dated in less time, reducingdemands on curriculum and per-sonal time.

Neil added: “Createability hasdone a great job.

“What was a derelict building now looks stylish but is also

very functional.“We understand there were prob-

lems with an old overflow pipe, butthis wasn’t even brought to ourattention until it had been dealtwith, reinforcing why we are com-fortable with Createability, as this istheir area of operation and expert-ise, not ours.”

Upgraded college opens fitness suite

‘SportsArt were extremely enthusiastic,supportive and interested in our plans’AS PART of the investment in a new£6m sports centre development onsite at the Stockton RiversideCollege’s Bede Sixth Form Billinghamcampus, SportsArt was one of severalcompanies invited to tender for thesupply of cardio and strength train-ing equipment, before finally beingawarded the contract.

Ged Coull, associate principal said:“The SRC sports centre was anextremely exciting development thatenabled us to offer a huge range ofsports opportunities to both the stu-dents at the college and the widercommunity.

“So when it came to fully stockingthe gymnasium with the latest high-specification equipment, we invitedseveral companies to tender for thecontract including SportsArt FitnessUK, who had been recommended byone of our known trusted colleaguesand existing SportsArt customer.

“From the outset, SportsArt took onboard our requirements and wereextremely enthusiastic, supportiveand interested in our plans.

“They discussed our original equip-ment selection, offered alternativeprofessional proposals to enhancethe fitness training and even recom-mended a change of layout to takeadvantage of the natural daylight. “Allof this reinforced and built our confi-dence in SportsArt as they used their

experience to gently guide us onproduct selection and enabled us tooptimise on utilisation of availablespace, whilst providing for a safe flow of people between workstations.”

SportsArt Fitness UK supplied some20 training stations that includedfour new eco-powered treadmills thatoffer a maintenance free drive systemthat uses up to 32 per cent less ener-gy than traditional treadmills.

Other cardio equipment included

elliptical, recumbent and uprightbikes, plus the revolutionary X-train-er that provides for dual-action exer-cise, combining cardio and inde-pendent lower and upper body resist-ance to provide a smooth, all-roundefficient workout for all levels of fit-ness and age groups.

A range of strength equipment wasalso selected to provide a proficientworkout for all the major musclegroups.

Ged Coull added: “Apart from pro-

viding Stockton Riverside Collegewith premier products, SportsArtwere very supportive in the build upand successfully completed the proj-ect to our satisfaction.

“This success has also been bornout by the fact that our students andmembers have reacted veryfavourably to SportsArt fitness equipment and largely through their recommendations, ourmembership level is growing

daily.”

14 7/3/11 16:02 Page 1

news 15

HIGH points of Cardiff OlympianMichaela Breeze’s sporting lifeinclude taking gold at theMelbourne Commonwealth Gamesin 2006 before bowing out at thetop of her 18 year career by takingsilver at the Delhi CommonwealthGames last year.

She credits her success, in part, topositive early experiences in schoolsport and has always juggled com-petition and training with a fulltime job teaching physical educa-tion.

She said: “Teaching PE is a greatway for me to put something backinto sport and positively influenceyoungsters.

“I believe having positive rolemodels in PE lessons is key to pro-moting a healthy and activelifestyle long term.

“Being passionate about whatyou do is important and a PEteacher’s input can potentially bemassive.

“The majority of those who makeit at the highest levels in sport have

a lot to thank their PE teachers for– I certainly do.”

Michaela believes that sportshould sit at the top of the widercurriculum because of its power toproduce healthier, more alert andmore engaged individuals.

She points out that training andcommitting time to sport can alsoassist in developing other skills andbehaviours including time man-agement, perseverance, team skillsand communication.

She added: “We need to makesure that those who are working insport are supported to provide the

best possible experiences for chil-dren and young people.

“We need to make sure that ourfacilities are accessible to all andthat any cost or charge associatedwith sport is appropriate anddoesn’t act as a barrier to participa-tion. I want to see a Wales wherewe’re all working together to createopportunities for participation andencouraging our children andyoung people to take part.”

Research carried out by SportWales has found that young peopletend to drop out of sport after theage of 15, and that this is particu-larly the case for girls.

Michaela is now keen to look atwhy this is happening and howsports organisations can engagewith young people to keep theminvolved.

She added: “Are there financialbarriers? Is it that they are notaware of the opportunities avail-

able to them, or are the opportuni-ties in our communities not whatthey want to participate in?

“It’s crucial that we have a widerange of diverse opportunitiesavailable to our young people if weare to achieve the benchmark of aminimum of five hours of sport aweek for our young people.

“As for getting more girlsinvolved, I would like to see moreTV time for female athletes, whichwill in turn provide more role mod-els and greater awareness of whatsports are on offer.

“It is astounding how often signif-icant achievements by our sports-women go unrecognised, com-pared to the high profile of somemore male dominated sports.”

Her aim now is for Wales to beable to measure itself against othergreat sporting nations like Australiaand New Zealand by taking up thechallenge to grow participationand raise performance.

She added: “My dream is for sportto one day become an inseparabledaily ingredient of Welsh life.

“I believe that Wales’ record inproducing world class sportingstars demonstrates that we canachieve this, if we start young andwork together.”

� Find out more about the Visionfor Sport in Wales at www.sport-wales.org.uk.

As a PE teacher and Wales’ most successful female weightlifter ever, Michaela Breeze is well qualified toinspire young people into taking up a more active lifestyle. She is now working with Sport Wales to helpthem achieve their aims of getting ‘every child hooked on sport for life’ and building a ‘nation ofchampions’.

Why Michaela is workinghard to get ‘every childhooked on sport for life’

‘I believe having positive role models in PE lessons is key to promoting a healthy and activelifestyle long term. Being passionate about what you do is important and a PE teacher’s input can potentially be massive.’

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news16

DW FITNESS inAberdeen has intro-duced the FreemotionDual Cable Cross to itspersonal training zone.

Stuart Davidson, oneof the club’s personaltrainers, said: “The freemotion cable cross sys-tem allows me as atrainer to get over thepreconceptions myfemale clients haveabout resistance train-ing and entering thefree weights area.

“It allows me to giveclients dynamic move-ments that challengeboth motor skills andbring about a neuro-muscular adaptation instrength, essential forany training pro-gramme.

“In my opinion thebest thing about thefree motion is it allowsme to push my clientsthrough various fullbody workouts thatwork all the planes ofmovement, allowingclients to get stronger,leaner and more pow-erful.”

Systemproves a hit inAberdeen

MANCHESTER United SoccerSchools are making their worldrenowned football training pro-gramme available to school footballteams for the first time.

MUSS has linked up with PGL toprovide the programme as bothorganisations are focussed on sup-porting the development of youngpeople with courses that are chal-lenging but achievable.

The courses are open to both boysand girls from age 11 to 16 and the four residential weekends will run between September 2011 and

April 2012. Run by coaches from MUSS and

based at the PGL Liddington outdooreducation centre, the football train-ing will be supplemented with PGL’soutdoor adventure programme, fur-ther enhancing teamwork, peer sup-port and team spirit.

Teachers are also being offered totake part in a one off launch weekendin April to preview the offering.

Those attending will be able toexperience the coaching, take part inactivities and view the accommoda-tion and facilities.

Red Devils’ chance for schools

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news 17

YOUNG sports fans from NorthdownPrimary School in Kent were giventhe chance to take part in an exclu-sive skills session at the LondonSoccer Dome to launch the annualfootball fundraising initiative for can-cer charity CLIC Sargent.

World champion John put on ademonstration of freestyling skills forthe pupils, before giving them sometips on perfecting core skills like‘keepy-uppies’ and BBC Five Livepresenter Mark ‘Chappers’ Chapmanalso attended to help pupils create avideo of the event for Kick! partici-pants.

John, winner of both the World andEuropean Freestyle Championships,said: “I couldn’t perform my freestyletricks if I didn’t regularly practise keyskills like dribbling and headers andI’m delighted to share some of mytips to support the Kick! campaign.

“From a simple sponsored kickabout to perfect their passing, to akeepy-uppy rally, it’s really fun andeasy for kids to develop their skillsand fundraise for charity at the sametime.”

The Kick! events are fun footballfundraisers for young people of allages and abilities.

Schools and youth groups areencouraged to hold their own eventto help students learn new skills and get active, while also raisingmoney.

Since the campaign’s launch in 2005over 576,000 children have taken partand £880,000 has been raised.

Lisa Sparkes, sports coach at

Northdown Primary School, said:“The pupils had so much fun atJohn’s skills session and were given areal boost knowing the money theyraised would go to help children andyoung people with cancer, and theirfamilies.

“Through Kick! I have found thatputting on your own event is a bril-liant way to focus your students andbring them together through foot-ball.”

CLIC Sargent provides free eventpacks for teachers and coachesincluding fundraising tips, publicity

advice, event ideas and template cer-tificates and schools also have theoption of keeping 25 per cent of themoney raised to develop their ownactivities or facilities.

John added: “The initiative is allabout getting the kids involved insomething a bit different.

“I did a talk and a demonstrationand the kids seemed to really enjoythat, as well as getting the chance totry it out for themselves.

“The great thing about freestylefootball is that every child can getsomething from it – it doesn’t segre-

gate between those who are goodand those who aren’t – because everyperson is only trying to beat them-selves rather than being in competi-tion with others.

“It also gives kids the chance to becreative while they are staying active,which a lot of sports don’t allow.

“I think teachers should look atwhat the kids enjoy and try to creategames around this – kids like to challenge themselves so it is easy to use that and create somethingthat they really want to get involvedin.”

World champion freestyle footballer John Farnworth has teamed up with CLIC Sargent’s Kick! campaign to getschools across the UK showing off their students’ skills.

John Farnworth and Team Kick

Freestyle footballer Johnbacks Kick! campaign ...

Teachers from Bury St Edmuds School Sport Partnership have taken part in a Boxercise training course to help getits school pupils active. Funded through Sport Unlimited, the teachers will be delivering Boxercise sessions back attheir schools, supported by specialist equipment including focus pads and sparring gloves. Neil Johnson, partner-ship development manager, said: “This will provide an entirely new opportunity for students in Bury St Edmundsto take part in physical activity. We have been talking about introducing boxing type activity for some time andthis course was a great success, with 78 per cent of the secondary schools in the partnership attending.”

Over 100 attendfree conferenceBy Dominic Musgrave

OVER 100 head teachers and other education professionals attended the YST ‘From Outstandingto World Class’ conference at the Kia Oval thismonth.

The free conference explored how schools can use academy freedoms to maximise school performance through PE and sport – and wasdesigned for schools who have converted,or who are in the process of converting, to an acad-emy.

The Youth Sport Trust charity is focused on building a brighter future for young people through PE and sport, and has worked with manyschools through the process of becoming an acade-my.

A spokesperson said: “This period of transition isoften a time when schools look for ways to injectadditional pace into improvement initiatives or aresearching for a different focus to bring about fur-ther transformation.”

17 8/3/11 12:28 Page 1

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Training &Qualifications

YMCA FIT111 Great Russell StLondon, WC1B 3NPT: 0207 343 1855W: www.ymcafit.org.ukE: info@ymcafit.org.uk

Central YMCA Qualifications111 Great Russell StLondon, WC1B 3NPT: 0207 343 1800W: www.cyq.org.ukE: info@cyq.org.uk

CYQJason Fragola112 Great Russell StreetLondonWC1B 3NQE: j.fragola@cyq.org.ukW: www.cyq.org.uk

Jump Rope Uk Ltd16 Riverside ParkWimborneDorset, BH21 1QUtel: 01202 840590fax: 01202 840577jumpropes@ntjr.co.ukwww.ntjr.co.uk

National Extension CollegeThe Michael Young CentrePurbeck RoadCambridge, CB2 8HNT: 0800 389 2839 W: www.nec.ac.ukE: info@nec.ac.uk

Sports FacilityDevelopment

Sports Solutions GBSuite OneCopse FarmSouth Marston ParkSwindon, SN3 4UQT: 01793 833456W:www.sportssolutionsgb.co.ukE: chris.bevan@sports-solu-tionsgb.co.uk

Training EquipmentCrazy CatchWall Tree House FarmSteaneBrackley, NN13 5NST: 01295 816765W: www.flicx.comE: ricx@flicx.com

Cyber CoachUnit 1a Britannia Business ParkUnion RdThe ValleyBoltonBL2 2HPT: 0845 869 2848W: www.cyber-coach.co.ukE: info@cyber-coach.co.uk

Fitness EquipmentSportsArt Fitness2 Dean CourtUnit 10 Shuttleworth Mead BusParkPadiham, LancsBB12 7NGT: 01282 779234W: www.sportsartfitness.comE: mark.turner@sportsartfit-ness.com

Mark HarrodUnit 1 Tilla CourtBeccles Business ParkWorlinghamNR34 7BFT: 01502 476882W: www.markharrod.com

Hexa Sports LtdNew Bond StreetBirmingham, B9 4EJtel: 0121 7720724sales@hexasports.co.ukwww.hexasports.co.uk

Football Facility BuildGoals Soccer Centres plcOrbital HousePeel ParkEast KilbrideG74 5PRT: 01355 234800W: www.goalsfootball.co.ukE: keithm@goalsfootball.co.uk

ProfessionalAssociationsAssociation for PhysicalEducation (afPE)Room 117, BredonUniversity of WorcesterHenwick GroveWorcesterWR2 6AJT: 01905 855 584F: 01905 855 594W: www.afpe.org.ukE: enquiries@afpe.org.uk

British Colleges Sport2/3 North Street WorkshopsNorth StStoke-Sub-HamdonSomersetTA14 6QRT: 01935 823444W:www.britishcollegessport.orgE: kate.paul@britishcollegess-port.org

Climbing WallsFreedom ClimberCherry CottageGuildford RdCranleighSurreyGU6 8LST: 07554 016220W: www.freedomclimber.co.ukE: info@freedomclimber.co.uk

Audio EquipmentSound Dynamics51 Bridge St, BelperDerbyshire, DE56 1AYT: 01773 828486F: 01773 828475W: www.sound-dynamics.co.ukE: support@sound-dynamics.co.uk

Sports ClothingKitking9, Upper George StreetLeicester, LE1 3LPT: 0116 262 7332E: sales@kitking.co.ukstrskitking@aol.com

Installation & RepairsRenovate Contracts LimitedUnit 812 Moat WayBarwell, Leicester , LE9 8EYT: 01455 851900E:duncan@renovatecontracts.–

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Sports SurfacesSports Surfaces (UK) LtdP.O Box 1010ChesterCH1 3WNTel: 01244 321200Web:www.sportssurfacesuk.comE-mail: info@sportssurface-suk.com

365 directory

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