National News

Winners announced at RYA Sailability Conference

Some 100 delegates from Sailability groups across the country as far afield as Scotland to the New Forest attended the fourth annual Sailability conference and dinner (Wyboston Lake, 12 February) where the winners of the RYA Sailability Volunteer Awards were presented with their awards.

The RYA Sailability Volunteer Awards presented by RYA Sailability Trustee Robyn Griffith- Jones recognise the priceless voluntary contribution by Sailability volunteers and are awarded in three categories Significant Contribution, Outstanding Contribution and Exceptional Contribution.

The winner of the Significant Contribution Award went to 88 year old Harold Codd of the Colne Valley Special Sailors (CVSS) who has multi-tasked within the group for the last ten years from tea boy through to current trustee. When presented with his award Harry was described as being ‘instrumental in recruiting new members, fundraising, building member’s confidence and helping wherever required.’

The Outstanding Contribution Award was presented to Roy Beard from Grafham Sailability for his involvement in Sailability over the past 14 years. Filling many roles within the group Roy has devoted many hours assisting disabled people to escape their disability on the water.

The final award for Exceptional Contribution was presented to Sue Collingridge from Lymington Sailability in honour of her work over the last decade. Despite being disabled herself from a stroke at an early age she works tirelessly to champion sailing for disabled people.

On receiving her award Sue said “I am very proud. Lymington Sailability have given me far more than I have given Lymington Sailability.”

The dinner also saw sailing legend Geoff Holt introduce the evening’s guest speaker, record breaking rower Sarah Outen who commented “It is an honour to be here, I have a big heart for Sailability and all that Sailability does.”

Sarah’s tale of her record breaking voyage across the Indian Ocean was both inspirational and enchanting leaving guests desperate to follow her next challenge. In 2012 Sarah will travel from one end of the world to another rowing the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, cycling the continents in-between and also various stretches of kayaking.

RYA Sailability Conference Earlier in the day RYA Chairman Richard Langford opened the conference welcoming delegates and congratulating Geoff Holt on his Yachtsman of the Year awards and Val Millward on her victory in the John Merricks Tiger Trophy.

Richard also expressed that he was keen to get even more people involved in RYA Sailability and that the current system which combines the charity, the RYA and the Sailability groups was one which is working extremely well.

Throughout the day, delegates were treated to a variety of guest speakers including the inspirational Beginner to Winner Pathway presentation from Matt Grier, RYA Disability Racing Development Coach and a talk from Keith Coxen introducing model yacht racing as a sport for all ages and abilities.

After lunch it was time for the interactive workshop sessions with six different topics available to attend including fundraising, communication and marketing your centre, the new Volunteer Log Book and training scheme, website top tips, expanding youth sailing and how to organise an event.

The sessions gave delegates the chance to get up to date with the latest advice and information as well as putting their own questions to the experts.

Nigel Thompson from Belfast Lough Sailability said “It has been a great day and extremely informative. The workshops I attended were especially helpful and it is fantastic to be able to speak to experts who really know what they are talking about. I have also really enjoyed the chance to meet people from other Sailability centres.”

Debbie Blachford, RYA Sailability Manager said: “Thank you to all the delegates who attended this year’s conference which we believe was a huge success. It is wonderful to see so many people involved with Sailability coming together and being able to receive all the latest news and information as well as being able to network with other likeminded people.

For more information about RYA Sailability visit the RYA website www.rya.org.uk

Amatuer Swimming Association - The Good Club Guide: Working with disabled volunteers.

Volunteers are hugely important within sport and a great asset to any club. They will have their own aspirations, skills and experiences however they may not know which area they want to volunteer within. This resource will assist you to ensure that you can make effective use of volunteers of all abilities.

Whizz

Brits Could Save £283m with JJB Sports’ Scrappage Scheme

Trade- in old sports boots and trainers for money off next purchase

JJB Sports, the UK’s leading sports retailer, today announces the launch of its trainer recycling initiative, the first ever scheme of its kind in the country. The new campaign encourages customers to bring in their unwanted sports shoes for recycling, in return for £5 off a new pair of footwear purchased at any JJB Sports store nationwide.

With the average price of a pair of trainers or boots costing £29 per pair at JJB, the £5 discount represents an average consumer saving of 17% per pair. The new scheme is available at all its 238 stores across the UK, and is planned to run indefinitely.

Figures from the British Footwear Association show that in 2008 c. 587million pairs of shoes were exported to the UK; with 15% of these (c.59m pairs) classified as sports shoes. If every pair that arrived in the UK in 2008 was recycled via JJB’s scheme in 2011, it would represent a total potential saving of £283,475,000.

JJB Sports is working alongside I:CO, the leading shoes and clothes recycling company, to deliver the scheme. All trainers that are brought to a JJB Sports store are collected by I:CO for refurbishment or recycling.

Trainers that can be refurbished are then sent to developing countries. For those that can’t be refurbished, they are broken down, and the materials recovered go into other rubber-based products or to provide fuel to power their recycling plant. Any profit JJB Sports make from the recycling process is then donated to Whizz-Kidz, a UK based charity that provides disabled children with special wheelchairs and other mobility equipment they need to participate in sports.

Keith Jones, CEO of JJB Sports, comments: “We know our customers want a great deal on sports shoes – and they also tell us they don’t want their old shoes to end up rotting in landfill sites. Our Footwear Recycle scheme provides great value with £5 off new boots and trainers, and helps shoppers to feel good, knowing their old shoes are being recycled and raising money for an amazing charity at the same time. .”

For more information on the new JJB Sports initiative, visit www.jjbsports.com

New Wheelchair Rugby League Structure Unvailed

The RFL has unveiled a new competition structure for Wheelchair Rugby League that features a Super League, Championship and European Club Challenge.

Wigan, Halifax, Mersey Vikings, Bury Jigsaw and Wolverhampton Rhinos will compete in the Wheelchair Super League which will run from April 2011 through to the Grand Final in September. Below this will be the Wheelchair Championship which will feature Bradford Bulls, Mersey Vikings A, Wakefield and Medway Dragons from Kent.

England Wheelchair Rugby League Coach, Phil Roberts said: “The competition is looking stronger each year which we’re very pleased about. In addition to the teams entered into the league structure this season there are also several other clubs playing at festivals which will prepare them to join the league in 2012.

This model has allowed us to manage sustainable growth throughout the country and this year will see our first regional competition take place. It’s an exciting time and this is reflected in the level of interest that the sport is generating.”

The UK Super League champions will play the French champions in the European Club Challenge in October and this will be followed by an international fixture between England and France. Below the Championship there will be a regular schedule of festivals taking place across the country involving new and existing clubs including teams from Hull and Leeds.

Wheelchair Tag Rugby League is quite unique in that it offers both disabled and non-disabled players of both sexes the opportunity to compete both with and against each other on a level playing field created by the use of wheelchairs and some slight adaptations of the rules of Rugby League.

There are five players per side in Wheelchair Rugby League. Tackles are made in the same way as tag rugby, with players wearing tags on their shoulders and opposition players having to remove a tag to affect a tackle.

The game has the same six tackle count that is used in Rugby League, with teams conceding possession of the ball if they have not scored after a set of six tackles have been completed. Offside, knock-on and in-touch rulings apply as they do in the traditional game.

Conversions are scored by punching the ball from a tee over mini-RL posts.

If you are interested in finding out more about Wheelchair Rugby League visit http://www.therfl.co.uk/play/wheelchair

Channel 4 to show Paralympic World Cup

The BT Paralympic World Cup, which takes place in Manchester from 23rd to 28th May, will be broadcast on Channel 4.

Channel 4 is also the host broadcaster for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The announcement will provide the BT World Cup with the strongest broadcast coverage ever received on UK television.

The competition will see elite international athletes competing in events such as wheelchair basketball, athletics and swimming, while boccia and sitting volleyball will be represented for the first time.

Channel 4 has revealed they will show a two hour live programme on 28th May, with daily highlights on 26th and 27th, and live streaming from each sport will be available on the Channel 4 website.

Deborah Poulton, sports editor for Paralympics at Channel 4, said: ‘alongside the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the BT Paralympic World Cup is another opportunity to help increase awareness of Paralympic sport and make the British viewing public the best informed and most engaged in the world’.

‘We believe the combination of online streaming and TV highlights coverage will attract new audiences to the BT Paralympic World Cup and give the event and its competitors the profile they deserve’.

To mark the launch of the 2011 BT Paralympic World Cup, wheelchair basketball player Simon Munn, Paralympic swimming champion Liz Johnson and recent IPC Athletics world champion Richard Whitehead took part in an underwater photoshoot at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Engaging disabled people in sport

This toolkit has been produced to provide support and guidance to NGBs and other organisations on how to engage disabled people in sport. The toolkit has been broken down into sections for reference and ease of use.

Click here to download a copy

‘Young Disabled Volunteers Back Swimming’ at DSE Juniors.

Last weekend 15 volunteers from the Young Disabled Volunteers Back Swimming programme volunteered at their first major national event – DSE Juniors.

Held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, young volunteers had the opportunity to participate in a number of event areas across the two days including assisting Team Managers, shadowing the Announcers, chaperoning swimmers, basket marshalling, stewarding, acting as front of house and volunteering on the medal table.

‘Young Disabled Volunteers Back Swimming’, powered by v, aims to increase the number of young disabled people volunteering in the swimming community.

Volunteers are currently undertaking training opportunities in their local communities and this was the first time volunteers had come together to volunteer as a team.

The young volunteers made a real impact at the event, bringing smiles to the faces of officials, swimmers, and all involved. The event announcing team were so impressed with the young people they worked with they presented signed programmes urging the young people to stay involved in the sport.

Through volunteering, young people are able to get real life experience and will feel empowered to tackle any difficult situation in the future.

Keeley Spooner, who was stewarding at the event, feels that the ASA volunteer programme has helped make her future goals to become a judge and a coach a reality as they have provided the much needed funding for her to succeed.

The volunteers are being encouraged to become role models themselves, with a number of other young people on the programme across the regions already training to become coaches and working with young swimmers.

Guillermo Romero, based in London, is also receiving support with his Channel 4 application to become a volunteer presenter for the Paralympics Games after already participating at national swimming events himself.

North East programme Mentors Lee Dalzell and Jan Papadopoulos were supporting the young people at the event and they both agreed it was fantastic to see the young volunteers enjoying themselves; their confidence is developing day by day and the volunteers are now jumping at the chance to get involved.

The young volunteers received fantastic feedback all round for their hard work at the event and are now looking forward to volunteering at the next big event in their calendars - the British International Disability Swimming Championship in April.

Swimmers Excel at Junior Championships

It was a fantastic weekend of swimming for the competitors at the Nationwide Junior and Youth Swimming Championships. The event welcomed 230 swimmers from across the country, where six British records were broken.

The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) events division organised the event on 26 and 27 February, held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. An annual event, it aims to give young swimming talent an opportunity to compete and a springboard to international success, so is a great chance to spot future stars. Double gold Beijing Paralympic medallist and London 2012 hopeful Eleanor Simmonds was amongst competitors.

Young swimmers enjoying success were Hannah Russell and Andrew Mullen. Hannah from Surrey broke four British records during the weekend in the S12 class. The 14 year old broke six in November’s National Short Course Championships and is proving to be a swimmer to watch, after being discovered through the Playground to Podium programme. At these championships, she broke the 50m and 100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and the 100m Butterfly.

Andrew Mullen from Glasgow broke two British records (S5 50m Butterfly and SB4 100m Breaststroke). Also 14, the Scottish swimmer has shown form at recent championships.

This was the first junior event of 2011 for outstanding individuals to win the prestigious Nationwide Junior Sports Awards. Winners are awarded at junior swimming and athletics and the newly named- Festivals of Sport. Swimmers who picked up trophies and invited to the end of year award ceremony were:

Jamie Warriner (North West), Amy Marren (Greater London), Jack McComish (Scotland), Bethany Firth (Ulster), James Hollis (East) and Jessica Harper (Greater London).

The East region took the winning team trophy for their excellent accumulation of points over the weekend. Two swimmers enjoying the victory were team captains James Hollis and Lauren Smith.

James who also won the award for his age group said about the championships:

“The junior event is always a fun experience. We used to be the young ones but the new swimmers coming through are proving potentially to be much better than us!”

Lauren was sad as she recalled her final swimming event as a junior. In 2012, she will be too old. She said, “I cried before the final relay as it has so many memories for me as a swimmer. I can’t believe I won’t be part of this next year!”

Annette Kerlin, Nationwide’s Head of Corporate Responsibility, said:

“Nationwide Building Society is very proud to support all the athletes who compete at these events throughout the UK. We hope our support will enable more disabled athletes to take part in these events and continue improving their times and breaking records.”

Other partners assisting the championships are British Swimming, Water Direct, Ponds Forge and the Sheffield City Council's Major Sports Events Unit.

Further information about the events programme are available on efds.co.uk and www.disabilitysport.org.uk follow the link below for the results from the championships.

Click here for results

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