Award Haul for Staffordshire

 

On Thursday 25^th March people involved with disability sport in the West Midlands arrived at a rather wet Aston Villa Football Club for the Npower EFDS West Midlands Disability Sport Awards.

 

With the introduction of the new disability post at Sport Across Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent, it was felt that it was appropriate that SASSOT not only hosted a table at the event, but also sponsored an award.

 

The Award we supported was The COACH OF THE YEAR Award. This was won by Emma Patrick a highly successful swim coach who currently coaches Paralympic champions Sacha Kindred and Nyree Lewis.

 

The main news was that there were three nominees at the night who are based in Staffordshire. These were:

 

The TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD – Able Too United

The VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR Award – Beryl Horton

The AMBASSADOR OF DISABILITY SPORTS – John Court

 

Just to be nominated for these awards is a fantastic achievement and is testament to the hard work and dedication that has been committed to Disability Sport in the County.

 

The great news is that two of the nominees won:

 

The winners were: 

 

Able Too United, Burton

John Court

 

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'Able Too Utd’s Away Win’

 

Representatives from Able Too United Football Club travelled to Aston Villa Football Club for the annual West Midlands Disability Sports Awards, sponsored by Npower and the English Federation of Disability Sport.

 

The club had been nominated and reached the final 3 teams in the ‘Team of the Year’ category, against Warwickshire Bears Wheelchair Basketball Team and the North Shropshire Special Olympics Team.

 

After a fantastic meal and socialising with many Paralympians, the awards presentation commenced and Able Too United were crowned the 2010 Npower  ‘Team of the Year’

The team were awarded the trophy by the head of Birmingham City Council and Jordanne Whiley, Britain’s top wheelchair tennis player, who also competed in the Beijing Paralympics. 

 

 Pictured above from Left to right is: Jan Wood (Volunteer, Parent & Kit Manager), Emma Long (Coach), Neil Brown (SDO, East Staffordshire Borough Council & Secretary), Martin Wood (Player), Pete Wood (Volunteer, Parent & Kit Manager).

 

The accolade recognises the achievements of the team over the past twelve months and also shows that people with disabilities within East Staffordshire can come along and take part in a quality, organised activity and reap the rewards of being involved with such a brilliant club.

 

If anyone requires further information about the award or Able Too United in general, please contact Neil Brown, Sports Development Officer, East Staffordshire Borough Council on (01283) 505914.

 

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John Court, Trentham Canoe Club 

It’s all down to Sir Winston- and the RAF! 

 

Around the Millennium, John Court, then Director of Recreational Services at Staffordshire University was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to look at the use of Outrigger canoes for the inclusion in sport of people with wide ranging disabilities.

 

He was not impressed with the ‘charitable’ attitude found in traditional centres of excellence around the Pacific, where people with disabilities were taken out in a boat every now and then; and resolved to change things. Awarded a Lottery ‘A4A’ grant he purchased a six-seat outrigger from the nearest manufacturer in the States. The £5k grant was wiped out at the factory gate so he persuaded an officer friend in the RAF to divert a ‘Hercules’ to a nearby US military airfield and bring the 45ft boat to Lyneham. He obtained grant from the Canoeing Foundation, took the boat to a manufacturer in Derby and had a mould and two further boats made.

 

Concurrently, he was talking to Mike Herbert, Regional Director of St Modwen, the owners of Trentham Lake, on the edge of Stoke and soon had learning disabled young people enjoying regular canoeing on the lake.

 

Around the Millennium, Steve Redgrave launched ‘Project Oarsome’, making rowing accessible to young people in State schools. In 2001/2 John contacted Simon Dickie, Youth Development Manager for British Rowing and Hilary Gough, Development Officer in the City and invited Stoke High School Heads of PE to meet and discuss his proposal for pupils from the schools- in areas of high deprivation- to be coached by students from the University Rowing Club.

 

Simon introduced John to Alan Meegan, Facilities Development Manager for British Rowing and together they approached Mike Herbert about boathouse accommodation and a lakeside shed was kindly made available for the launch of rowing.

 

John approached a Regeneration Officer in the City and obtained a £105k, three-year SRB5 grant for a Rowing Development Officer. The ‘Oarsome’ scheme, worth an additional £55k in equipment, was launched at Trentham by the Minister for Sport, Richard Caborn and after a gap of nearly 30 years, the University club moved back to Trentham and commenced coaching pupils from the six participating schools in one of the biggest ‘Project Oarsome’ schemes in the country.

 

After a 53 year career in both rowing and canoeing- Northern Universities rowing champion, British Canoe Team captain and coach, ’72 Olympics, ’85 Arctic Canoe Race winner- and 50 years of coaching, John was able to call on old friend Sue Hornby, Development Director for the British Canoe Union, to come and look at activities on the lake. Sue recognised the potential of the site and set about funding a Community Coach for canoeing.

 

This was the serendipitous beginning of a ‘dream team’ that was to achieve so much at Trentham in the following few years:

Ruth Holdway was appointed Community Coach for canoeing

Daz Barton took over the Rowing Development position

Ken Walters took over representation of the rowing club

Alan Meegan started work with Ken, Mike and John on providing new lakeside accommodation.

 

Employed as a coach/development person, Ruth was also a qualified journalist. She was totally dedicated, indefatigable and highly talented at writing grant applications, and when Community Club Development Programme (CCDP) funding became available she secured this and Community Investment Fund cash for the new build.

 

Eccleshall Scouts were looking for a canoeing base and contributed capital funding from a legacy they had been left.

 

Alan Meegan represented both British Rowing and his equivalent person in the BCU. He brought invaluable experience and contacts to the table, gave authority to Ruth’s applications and drew down the CCDP funding through both governing bodies.

 

Ken Walters, a retired businessman and experienced project manager led the boathouse build project for the club and ensured it was fundable and realistic. His attention to detail was invaluable.

 

Mike Herbert devoted time as Regional Director of a major Property Developer to meet Ken, Alan and John fortnightly to manage the build. Mike had access to St Modwen’s team of Architects and Quantity Surveyors and obtained their services without initial charge to provide outline drawings and costings.

 

Daz Barton was attracting young rowers, post-Oarsome and getting outstanding results at age-group national championship level and junior National Squad.

 

Ruth was attracting a wide range of canoeists from local Secondary, Special and Primary schools, was successfully bringing in grant funding for a range of boats for all the aspects of canoeing the club was into and delivered a number of programmes in support of the City Leisure Service.

 

In 2008 Ken and John started working on registering ‘Trentham Watersports Association’ as a charity and appointing a management board to oversee the three groups; rowers, canoeists and Scouts. Ken became Chairman of that board and John a director. This became a Registered Charity in 2009 and the ‘Company Limited by Guarantee’ was given a 99 year lease by landlords St Modwen on the site on which the boathouse now stands.

 

On his ‘Churchill’ travels, John lobbied Charles Villierme in Tahiti about inclusion of classes in the Outrigger World Sprints for athletes with a disability. Charles became President of the International Federation (International Va’a Federation, IVF) and in 2005 asked John to form and Chair an Adaptive Paddling Committee of the Federation. This was the beginning of Adaptive Outrigger paddling worldwide in which 10 plus nations are now active at World Championships level. John remains Chair and is currently involved in a bid through the International Canoe Federation, ICF, to the International Paralympic Committee for inclusion of canoeing in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. In May John flies to New Caledonia in the South Pacific to oversee the disability events in the 2010, IVF Outrigger World Sprint Championships.

 

Note: Ruth tragically died in an accident just before Christmas and is to be remembered at the Stoke on Trent Sports Awards on 1^st April by an award named after her. Lord Coe will unveil a plaque to her at the boathouse.

 

Mark Fosbrook
Aiming High: Disability Sport & Physical Activity Officer
T:01785 619398
M:07800 619693

E: mfosbrook@staffordbc.gov.uk