County Sports Partnership Update

Special School children challenge Olympic medallist

Over 300 pupils from 12 of the County’s Special Schools enjoyed a day to remember at the Sport Across Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent (SASSOT) Sports Festival held on 2^nd July.

The festival, sponsored by Qualitel Business Telecoms Specialists, provided a day to celebrate sport and to develop pathways for pupils to continue to take part in sport outside the school environment.

This year the youngsters had the opportunity to shoot against SASSOT Physical Activity Manager and former Olympic medallist, Alison Williamson, in an archery masterclass. As well as the archery taster session, schools also competed for medals in, athletics, badminton, canoeing, cricket, football and tag rugby.

Fountains School

Pictured above: Pupils from Fountains High School, Burton

Former GB Paralympian, Marcus Asbury was also in attendance. Marcus has had first hand experience of competing at the highest level in the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992. " The event is of great value and significance for many reasons, as it provides an opportunity for disabled people to engage in sport alongside other like minded sports participants in a competitive environment. Many of the participants potentially have little opportunity to try a range of sports and this event provides a platform for them to demonstrate their skills and abilities"

Mark Thornewill, SASSOT Partnership Director was thrilled with the success of the day. “A massive thank-you to our sponsor and also to the event volunteers from Stafford Grammar School and Burton College who helped the day to run smoothly, but the real stars of the day are the athletes and the support staff who’ve made the festival such a success. The festival provided a day to celebrate sport and to develop pathways for pupils to continue to participate in sport”

Special Schools Sports Festival

Picture above: Athletes with (left to right) Mark Thornewill, Director and Aldwell Bosanquet, Business Manager, Qualitel

SASSOT works on a number of disability sport programmes and has produced a ‘Disability Sport & Activity’ guide for children who want to experience the benefits of sport and physical activity. For more information or a copy of the guide click here or contact:

Naomi Bird
Knowledge, Communications & Equalities Manager
T: 01785 619585
E: nbird@staffordbc.gov.uk

To view the event results click here.

SASSOT gets into gear for engagement with NGBs

SASSOT (along with all other CSPs in England) has been contracted by Sport England to provide a nationally agreed range of services that will support the 46 priority National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGB’s) to deliver their 2009-13, Whole Sport Plans, this is usually referred to as the CSP Core Offer.

Following the recent sign off of the NGB Whole Sport Plans by Sport England, NGBs are now in a position to discuss with CSPs how they intend to work in each sub-region and what aspects of the Core Offer they want to access. To manage this process and ensure a consistent approach nationally Sport England has developed a prescribed engagement process for CSPs and NGBs to follow.

This process will involve Sport England agreeing with each of the 46 NGBs one of four approaches for engagement with CSPs. This will be established at meeting between the NGB lead national officer, Sport England CSP team and a CSPN representative. The four approaches will be:

One to one meetings with CSPs
Regional meetings with CSPs aligned to geographical priorities
Cluster meetings with groups of individual CSPs pulled together from different regions aligned to geographical priorities
Email communication from a national officer direct with CSPs identifying core offer requirements

The end result of this engagement process will be a formal agreement between the NGB and SASSOT outlining the services that will be provided. SASSOT is currently working to ensure that we are well placed to provide all of the services identified in the core offer. Supporting NGBs in the delivery of their plans is a key area work for the partnership and Sport England will measure SASSOT’s effectiveness.

Please see the engagement process flow chart for more information.

For more information contact:

Ben Hollands
Acting Sports Manager
Tel: 01785 619187
Email: bhollands@staffordbc.gov.uk

Coach Scholarship Scheme – application deadline approaching

Are you gearing up for your Autumn round of coaching courses?

The SASSOT Coach Scholarship Scheme can assist with the costs of coaching courses.

View the programme criteria and application form by clicking here.

The next round of applications for the SASSOT Coach Scholarship Scheme will be assessed on Wednesday 12th August 2009, (applications should be in by the 7th please).

The focus of this funding is to train level 1 and 2 coaches, however level 3 coaches can be supported where the applicant organisation can provide clear evidence of need. All coaches benefiting from scheme must either work as a coach or reside in the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent sub-region to qualify. Grants cannot be awarded retrospectively so all applications must be submitted and approved prior to coaches attending the training that the grant is subsidising. Applications can only be received from Local Authority, NGB or SSP partners.

For more information contact:

Claire Greenwood (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)

Acting Workforce Development Manager

Tel: 01785 619317

Mob: 07772 223015

Email: cgreenwood@staffordbc.gov.uk

South Staffordshire Athletics Network

At the end of July, Catherine Pendlebury (formerly Staffordshire Athletics Development Officer) started work for the new South Staffordshire Athletics Network. The McCain Athletic Networks are clusters of clubs working locally to develop athletics in their area, and The South Staffordshire Athletic Network was one of the first in the country to be selected and awarded funding by England Athletics following a rigorous bidding process.

The South Staffordshire Athletic Network includes five clubs; Burton AC, Cannock and Stafford AC, Stafford Harriers, Tamworth AC and Washland Women Runners.

Part of its work will be to produce a Local Coach Development Programme to enhance and drive up the quality and standard of athletics coaching and to support and raise the profile of voluntary coaches.

Amongst other things it will also aim to enhance and further improve links with community groups such as schools and colleges, increase intra competition between the network clubs, and also seek to develop the all round quality of provision of endurance running within the South Staffordshire network.

Further support for the new Network, which will be Chaired by John Finney from Stafford Harriers, will come from Nick Robinson (England Athletics Club and Coach Support Officer for the region) and Ben Hollands (Sports Manager for Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent).

Nick Robinson said “I am very happy that the South Staffordshire Network has got off the ground and excited for the future. There are some strong clubs in the Network and Staffordshire has a tradition of producing excellent athletes and clubs.”

Network Chair John Finney said: "I'm looking to our Network capitalising on the excitement of the build up to the London Olympics to get more local people participating in athletics............and to this legacy gaining momentum in the years that follow. I also hope our clubs can help drive up standards by doing things that make it cool for talented athletes to realise their full potential by training so hard it hurts".

Ben Hollands added: "SASSOT is delighted to be working in partnership with England Atheletics and local athletics clubs to establish the South Staffordshire Athletics Network. This is a fantastic opportunity to make significant improvements to the quallity and quantity of athletics provision in the sub region. The network will not only provide athletcis clubs with a real boost but also contribute to national community sport and talent development agendas."

For more information contact:

Catherine Pendlebury
South Staffordshire Athletics Network Co-ordinator
Mobile: 07800 619 841
Email: cpendlebury@staffordbc.gov.uk

Workshops

As part of the 2009 work programme, there are 2 FREE workshops available.

Coach Manager Training
Dudson Centre, Stoke on Trent
30.08.09

Will support coach to reflect on style of coaching
Identify a personal development plan
An opportunity for coaches to have an input into future learning opportunities with Sports Coach UK

The Role of the Volunteer Coordinator
Dudson Centre, Stoke on Trent
22.10.09

Understand the role of the volunteer coordinator
Know how to interpret a club development plan and its volunteering implications
Learn how best to recruit and retain volunteers and recognise and reward them
Know how to access local, regional and national programmes to support the implementation of a volunteer action plan.

I would encourage all Coaches to take advantage of these workshops as they are FREE - and delivered by excellent Sports Coach UK Consultants.

As always we do advise that as some sports have more stringent First Aid requirements for Clubmark and coaching purposes, all delegates should check with their NGB before enrolling on these workshops in order to avoid disappointment after the event.

Can I please ask that you check the website on a regular basis as updates are always being made to dates and venues.

Please be advised that in cases of cancellations, a 5 working day notice period is required. Delegates can opt to change to another workshop or alternatively send another representative.

If you find that you cannot attend the workshops we have planned, contact Kam and she may be able to help you find alternatives.

Kam Webster
Education and Training Officer
Tel: 01785 619 695
Email: kwebster@staffordbc.gov.uk

Need to know more about sources of funding?

Take a look at our funding page to see what is on offer.

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