SASSOT receive Clubmark license

Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (SASSOT) have become the first county sports partnership in the West Midlands, to be awarded the license as a Clubmark certified organisation from KKP who manage the Clubmark programme on behalf of Sport England.

This means that SASSOT can accredit clubs with Clubmark from those sports who affiliate to a Sport England recognised National Governing Body, but which doesn’t already have an accreditation system.

As part of the licensing process, SASSOT had to work with a pilot club to test our methods of promotion and assessment, and to make sure we provided sufficient human and learning resources to support the achievement of the accreditation.

The pilot club was Sporting Club Tamworth Youth Bowling Club (ten-pin bowling), and they have now become the first sports club within the county to be awarded with the SASSOT Clubmark.

Club Development Manager for Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, Chris Turner said "SASSOT recognises and values the commitment made by sports clubs to develop high quality, welcoming environments for young participants, and we would like to congratulate Sporting Club Tamworth YBC on achieving Clubmark. The accreditation portfolio of evidence was outstanding and the club showed tremendous commitment and enthusiasm throughout the whole accreditation process, and they very much took a whole club approach in collating the evidence and meeting the required standards for Clubmark. Club officials, young members and parents all had a part to play, and because of this consultation and input, everyone involved in the club has some ownership of the award and the club embraced the ethos of Clubmark."

Sporting Club Tamworth YBC has been operating for 15 years and currently have 40 members aged between 5 and 18. The club's main goals for 2010 are to increase the number of bowlers who attend the academy, progress the instructors through higher levels of training, and develop partnerships with other sports clubs and schools, and working through the Clubmark criteria has assisted the club to achieve its own aims and ambitions as well as making the club more effective and sustainable.

Steve Allen (club secretary) and the club’s committee will now guide other Youth Bowling Club's within the county towards Clubmark through a series of workshops to be arranged later this year.

For further information on Clubmark, please contact Chris Turner, cturner@staffordbc.gov.uk

Chris Turner
Club Development Manager
T: 01785 619681
M: 07800 619681
E: cturner@staffordbc.gov.uk