#communitysport: Gordon Clark

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Sport Wales Officer, Gordon Clark. In these difficult times it might not be the biggest or best sports clubs that will thrive but rather those who are prepared to make the hard decisions and adapt to the situation.

In this blog - which is one of two - Gordon presents some thoughts on how sports clubs can overcome the apathy that can be detrimental to future survival and growth.

Supporting community sports clubs 

In a previous blog, I introduced three steps for sports clubs to think ahead, make small incremental steps and learn from others.

In this blog, I’d like to share three more steps to overcome complacency and introduce real urgency…

Step 4 – Stay determined and ambitious – Do NOT settle

There will be difficult times so you will need to be determined, you will need to be ambitious in terms of what you want to achieve but most of all do not settle for the status quo. That small first step talked about in the previous blog is crucial to building up the early momentum and shifting the culture of the club.

Who are the sceptics in your club who you need to reason with and convince through facts and arguments about the need and potential of change? Who are the NoNos with the ten reasons for why it would never work or that things are fine?

In sharing some of his experience Svend Elkjaer says:

“Left alone NoNos can kill or mortally wound your organisation and I have, sadly, experienced situations, particularly in voluntary organisations, where long-standing NoNos would rather see their club go down than change their mindset and behaviour.

Do NOT waste time trying to co-opt NoNos – but don’t ignore them. An ignored NoNo can create much mischief; you are after all, disturbing/ruining their disturbed view of the world.”
It is not easy to deal with NoNo’s but when it comes down to it you may need to force them out of the position they hold to bring in new skills, knowledge, experience and motivation.

Step 5 - Learn from your failures and successes

Make sure you and your colleagues understand why things might have worked or not. Gradually you will use this learned knowledge and understanding to become more successful. Remember you will have failures but learn from them don’t use them as an excuses to stop.

In the words of Wayne Gretzky - “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Step 6 – Make it fun

Try to have fun while you are moving forward; otherwise you will be too easily de-motivated and thrown off course when the sea becomes a bit choppy. I know – easier said than done, but that’s where continuous progress, however small and slow, becomes so important.

Make sure you enlist the help of the positive people in your club to help keep you and the club on track when things get hard.

Thanks to Svend Elkjaer, Sports Marketing Network, @Sportsmarketer who has given me approval to use some of his ideas.

Do you agree? How do you think sport clubs can ensure that they thrive and survive?

Follow Gordon on Twitter @ClarkSportwales

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Sarah Thomas

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Team GB hockey player, and London 2012 hopeful, Sarah Thomas.  The Merthyr Tydfil born, Olympic hockey star took a rare break from her London 2012 preparations recently to come back to her hometown and give her full support to Hockey Wales’ radical revamping of the sport in Wales. (Watch the video)

The 31-year-old – who is bidding for her second Olympic appearance after becoming the first Welsh woman to play at the highest level in Beijing – is passionate about community sport and helping to inspire the next generation of Olympians and grassroots hockey enthusiasts. (Watch the full video interview)

Sarah Thomas: Team GB hockey player and captain of Wales

I started playing hockey when I was 13 years old after trying the game in one of my PE classes. I played in a lesson one day, fortunately I got to pick up a hockey stick, and from that moment onwards I was hooked.

At the time we didn’t have a school club and without a school club you couldn’t go and compete at the county championship. We needed to do that if I was to get selected and go further up the ladder. So I managed to get a group of my friends together and we went to the trials as a team.

My mum told me she played hockey for county level. I’m not sure if that ever happened! But apparently she played hockey when she was younger as well, so maybe I’ve got her some of her genes in me.

I had my parent’s support and they took me along to the local Dowlais hockey club which was great for me. I went on to play for them competitively, for a number of years, and thoroughly loved playing hockey on the field and the social side of a team sport. I have met some wonderful friends along the way.

I went to Exeter University, on a scholarship for hockey, which was great. I was playing hockey for Exmouth Hockey Club at the time but at the same time we had BUSA Championships every Wednesday, which was fantastic. We’d train on a Monday night and then have BUSA on a Wednesday. When I arrived at Exeter they were in the league below, so  leaving Exeter we were playing finals consistently against Loughborough, which was a fantastic experience.

I still played hockey on the weekends with Clifton Ladies, in the England Premiership, but it was the kind of phase in my life where I wasn’t completely dedicated to hockey. At the time it wasn’t the kind of sport you could play professionally and it wasn’t something you could get paid to do. So I worked as a Disability Development Officer in Merthyr.

When I was a Disability Development Officer it was always hard to change people’s thoughts and ideas on what they’ve already thought for a number of years. So to get disabled children involved in sport was sometimes difficult. As is with hockey; if the inspiration isn’t there and people aren’t encouraging in schools and if parents haven’t got the time to take their children to the local club then it’s always going to be difficult.

But at the same time, as we’ve seen today (at an Olympic themed Easter camp at Cyfarthfa Comprehensive School in Merthyr Tydfil), there’s 180 children there, all enthusiastic and looking forward to playing hockey in the next couple of months. If we could just reach them and one, two, three, four of them continue to play and continue to be committed to it then hopefully we’ll have a couple of more Great Britain players (from Wales) in the future.

Things are so different now. Hockey Wales are making hockey much more fun and exciting. It’s freshened the game up and there are loads more opportunities for girls and boys to play hockey at whatever level they want.

I’m sure we’ll have more Olympic hockey players from Wales in the future, as well as lots more people playing just for fun in local leagues.

Watch the full video interview

For more information about playing hockey in Wales visit the Hockey Wales website http://www.hockeywales.org.uk/ or follow them on Twitter @HockeyWales

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

1992-2012: The Premier League in Cliché

Football began in 1992, the purists sarcastically say, so here are ten clichés from the two-decade Premier League era.

1) The Foreign Influx.

We should start with our traditional point here - no-one uses the word influx anywhere else. The Foreign Influx™ has become almost as established a brand as the Premier League itself. Before Arsene Wenger (the man credited with inventing the concepts of nutrition and not drinking alcohol) arrived on these shores, we made do with exotic imports such as Andrea Silenzi, John Jensen and a certain Frenchman by the name of  Eric - whatever happened to him?!

These early pioneers have a mixed legacy. They are said to have brought lots of good things over with them but, on the other hand, are deemed to be responsible for all sorts of horrors that have crept into the English game - going to ground easily, waving the imaginary card and (despite always claiming to have "watched it on TV as a child") not understanding the significance of the dear old FA Cup.

Scouring the continent for new signings has been a hit-and-miss affair for Premier League clubs. For all the Thierry Henrys, Dennis Bergkamps and Gianfranco Zolas of this world, there are the pub-bore anecdote staples such as Marco Boogers, William Prunier and Ali Dia. 

2) Mind Games.

One of the lazier Premier League clichés, admittedly given credence by Kevin Keegan's infamous on-screen meltdown. Nowadays though, pretty much anything Alex Ferguson says from February onwards qualifies as mind games. The less potent cousin of mind games is kidology, a pseudo-science that usually involves a manager playing down his team's chances. Resistant as I am to welcoming new entries to the football lexicon, it appears that Ferguson's absurd notion of squeaky-bum time has embedded itself firmly in fans' consciousness.

3) Parking the Bus.

Here we have another cliché whose provenance is indisputable. Jose Mourinho, whose penchant for a war of words has led to this tedious Premier League dichotomy of having to love or hate people you have never met, coined the phrase after a Tottenham's rearguard action had frustrated his Chelsea side. It's a charming phrase, increasingly relevant as the haves continue to race away from the have-nots at English football's top table.

4) "Top, top player".

This particular phrase has experienced a meteoric rise over the last two or three seasons. The much-maligned Jamie Redknapp is responsible for its osmosis into common usage, seemingly deciding that one "top" just isn't enough for the elite players. Occasional sightings of a trio of "tops" have been reported, but only for players for whom pundits have run out of superlatives. 

The surface-skimming that passes for TV punditry relies on similarly vague criteria to judge players' performance. Co-commentators often trade in the currency of quality, either as an unenlightening noun or a rather clumsy adjective. "A player of his quality," they say, "should be doing better from there". Quality can also be conspicuous by its absence if a team is just lacking that little bit of quality in the final third - note the trademark, non-committal imprecision there - it's very important.

The concept of credit has become so commonplace that anyone new to football would be forgiven for thinking it was an official scoring system. All credit usually goes to the winning team, but some credit must go to plucky losers.

5) Potential Leg Breakers.

The array of gadgets available to Andy Gray and his able Sky Sports successor Gary Neville has enabled them to analyse flashpoints to the degree that it becomes almost self-defeating. There is usually a sensible pundit on hand to briefly and half-heartedly pipe up about the "referee not having the luxury" of a slow-motion replay and several camera angles, but this UTTERLY CRUCIAL POINT is quickly brushed aside. 

Goal-line decisions and offsides (despite claims to the contrary) are clear-cut laws, and are often easily cleared up in the studio. The latest bone of contention, however, is the potential leg-breaking tackle. With referees clamping down on excessively forceful challenges, in the hope that the traditional hatchet man will finally be consigned to the history books, going in with studs showing is now officially asking for trouble. No malice is ever intended, of course, while the list of names who are that sort of player remains empty. 

6) Statistics.

Stats aren't a new thing, obviously, but the no-stone-left-unturned approach has now reached saturation point. For years we only had to deal with the moderate suspense of the pause between the shots stat and, signalling the co-commentator's cue, the shots-on-target stat. Ignore what you've actually seen, because we need a number to tell us that a team haven't really troubled the goalkeeper. Then, Sky started bombarding us with Action Areas, a crude separation of the pitch into thirds - again, essentially a device to nudge the auto-pilot co-commentator into assembling a few words to confirm what we can see in front of us. "Just look at that", he instructs, as we finally cotton on to the concerted spell of pressure exerted by a team camped in the opposition half.

In 2012, it's all about passing. Attempted passes, key passes, pass completion. 10 minutes in, the early possession stats flash up. "No real surprise, that", our dutiful co-commentator assures us, like a doctor holding up an X-ray of an incredibly obvious bone break. Possession percentages pile up as teams become happy to let their opponents have it there, resulting in the lion's share of the ball (sometimes combated with tigerish - but usually dogged - defending.) 

But, ultimately, the only stat that matters is the one in the top left-hand corner of your screen.

7) Storms.

Premier League football is a pantomime. At the heroic end of the spectrum lie your Scott Parkers and the inexplicable awe-magnet Mario Balotelli (a "complex character", apparently, because he gets sent off a lot and acts like a child in his spare time), while the well-established villainous contingent is too strong to count.  In the middle somewhere is a rather lost-looking Gareth Barry.

Football games can also be quite boring, especially for people who don't really follow the sport. To make up for this, there is a nine-month conveyor belt of the following controversies:

• Spat - Usually involving spitting, allowing the media to declare a spit spat. 
• Fracas -  Fracases (pluralised here, but never in football-speak) take place only in the tunnel. Details usually remain vague, but angry words are usually exchanged. The only ever witness is the pusillanimous Sky weasel, Geoff Shreeves.
• Bust-up - Clubs feeling the pressure are always susceptible to the training-ground bust-up. These usually occur when a player reacts angrily to a heavy challenge, coming to blows with his teammate. Thankfully, Dave Bassett will be on hand in the Sky Sports News studio to point out that this kind of thing happens at training grounds every week.
• Storm - Once a wide-ranging term, storms are now confined to social media controversies. Each week, a teacup-sized Twitter storm is manufactured from very little, as the gutter press sift through the list of tweeting players for any trace of an opinion. Twitter has now become the main arena for the rather grand-sounding concept of the war of words.
• Row - The slow-burner in this family of footballing controversies. Rows can tend to rumble on somewhat, especially if a certain issue deigns to rear its ugly head. Most are now familiar with the hallmark of a truly established row - the adding of the godfawful suffix "-gate", regardless of how unwieldy that makes the subsequent monster of a word. Like storms, rows can also give rise to a war of words, with managers using their press conferences to wade into debates such as the perpetually-raging club v country row.

8) The Sack Race

FootballClichés.com has analysed previously the Managerial Merry-Go-Round, but the ruthless Premier League prefers the less friendly-sounding (but equally thrilling) sack race to describe the perilous position of its managers. 

You know the drill: a team makes its worst start to a league season since the war and their manager is said to face the axe. Pressure (like credit, an unquantifiable thing that football media seems desperate to measure) continues to pile and mount, while the beleaguered boss must bat back questions about whether he has the backing of the board/owner. 

This backing used to be expressed in the form of the vote of confidence. This has now become the dreaded vote of confidence. Out goes the hapless manager, often by mutual consent, and he is invariably offered half-hearted "thanks for all his efforts" and "best wishes for the future". In comes the caretaker manager, a rabbit-in-the-headlights figure who tries desperately to say all the right things to steady the ship, whilst looking uncomfortable in his new suit, or just pathetic in a tracksuit with his initials on (WHY? WHY DO TRACKSUITS STILL HAVE COACHES' INITIALS ON?!). 

He will leave quietly in the summer, and the club will attempt to prise the latest coaching flavour of the month away from whichever club where he has worked wonders. Reports suggest the newly-installed boss will be handed a transfer warchest with which to rebuild the squad, while he has the safety net of the traditional honeymoon period (which later becomes a transitional period). 

But it won't be long until the cycle repeats...


9) The Best League In The World™
Thanks largely to the aforementioned foreign influx, the Premier League carved out a reputation for being the best league in the world. No detailed rationale was ever supplied to back this claim up - it just is. Italian football is defensive and boring, you see. They can't defend for toffee in La Liga. Who even watches the Bundesliga? 

However, now Gray and Keys have taken their tub-thumping to the radio and ESPN/Sky have started covering all the major European leagues, a new breed of football hipster has emerged - one that emits a strange vowel sound of approval when "Barca" string a few passes together. You're nobody if you don't follow the caution-to-the-wind fortunes of Mazzarri's Napoli or the unique club culture of St. Pauli. You're supposed to know who has been dubbed the new Neymar before Neymar has even left Brazil. You've nominated yourself as your 5-a-side team's trequartista. You've bought a Deportivo Wanka away shirt off the internet for the bantz. You don't care about England's chances at Euro 2012 because you want to see RV-fucking-P fire the "Oranje" to glory.*

Still, the Premier League clings on to its lofty status, thanks to the odd pulsating 4-4 draw here and there. Anyone can beat anyone, apparently, even though they frequently don't. But what about the fabled Premier League tempo, which England are urged to employ at major tournaments? Those languid, ponderous continentals don't like it up 'em, etc.

*All of that is more than welcome, of course, apart from the Deportivo Wanka-inspired bantz.

10) Benefactors
With the financial state of many clubs officially classified as "parlous", all offers of investment are being considered. The floodgates opened with Roman Abramovich, henceforth referred to by his first name for no apparent reason, whose success with Chelsea suddenly made lots of people care very passionately indeed about the dubious acquisition of Russian oil companies. 

Then, various "fit and proper" chancers appeared at West Ham and Portsmouth, promising to bankroll missions for Champions League football, but actually getting closer to "doing a Leeds" - a quaint pre-Abramovich term that has happily stuck around. Chelsea, and now fellow billionaire's playthings Manchester City, face accusations of (attempting to) buy the title as they stockpile players. Despite their wealth, such clubs declare that they won't be held to ransom over signings before happily paying over the odds for players who subsequently struggle to pay back a huge chunk of their transfer fee. Usually, only one vital goal is required to complete this rather unfair transaction, although the actual monetary value of the chunk is never established.

Saturation point is nigh. Here's to the next twenty years.

#communitysport blog: Matt Page

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Matthew Page, a professional endurance cyclist for the Wiggle team. The Carmarthenshire athlete was 2011 UK and European 24 hour solo champion, 2010 UK 24 hour solo national champion and 2009 mountain mayhem 24 hour solo champion.

Here, he gives his thoughts on growing up with sport and the opportunities he had to take part.

Matthew Page: Wiggle Edurance cyclist 

As a child I was always very active and took part in a long list of sports.

I was always willing to get stuck into whatever was being played at school or on the local parks. Cricket, squash, football, rugby, tennis, cross-country running, hockey, gymnastics and obviously cycling - although it was more of a hobby and way of getting around than a sport while I was young.

I have a problem in that I can't sit down for more than a few minutes and really struggle if I'm asked to relax or do nothing. Sport was my outlet and I think my parents could see the benefits, so I was encouraged to participate in as many activities as possible.

School and sports clubs were an important part of life for me. Sport was what I most looked forward to, both in and out of school. Every playtime we would be out playing football or something similar.

In school I played for the cricket and rugby teams and represented the county at cross-country running. Outside school I played football for Llandovery until about 11 and also in the local squash league. It was usually a case of being OK at everything but not exceptional at anything in particular.

Now, to be able to call myself a professional cyclist and be lucky enough to travel around the world is something I never dreamt of doing. It has been hard work, but also taught me many things and given me far more confidence in life than I had before.

If I had one criticism of sport in Wales it is that as a nation we are very fixated upon Rugby and as a result no other sports get a look in. Rugby will probably always be the main sport, which is fine but it would be great for more sports to be recognised which would give young people access to them and give them more choice. I was very lucky that I had the opportunity to try and wide range of sports as a child, but not everyone has the same opportunities.

There are a few places that I've been to over the last few years that can teach us a few lessons.

In Australia, sport is a culture, everyone is mad for it. Either you compete at sport or you follow it. They have TV channels dedicated to it but they are far from a single sport country and they will show a huge variety of sports from around the world.

In Spain it is less of a culture, but they still have a great outdoor scene and use sport and activities as a way to socialise. In the UK many people go to the pub but in Spain everyone goes out for a walk, run or ride.

And in Pakistan I was able to see what is achievable even when money and facilities are almost non-existent. Children there use sport as an outlet to relax and have fun and improvise with whatever is at hand to play.

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattpage24 or check out his blog.

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Ray Williams

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Ray Williams. The 53-year-old former Royal Welch Guard Fusilier won gold at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games and now proudly holds the title of Welsh Weightlifting Federation Head Coach.

Ray is a pillar of the Holyhead community and his Mill Bank club, that produced London 2012 hopeful Gareth Evans, has enjoyed a considerable ‘beefing up’ in Olympic year. He received some serious ‘spotting’ thanks to considerable partnership investment worth more than £300,000, to give his community club a major extension. 

Ray Williams with Olympic hopeful Gareth Evans and
Commonwealth bronze medallist Bob Wrench

It’s been about four years since we started to seek funds for what is now the Holyhead and Anglesey Weightlifting and Fitness Centre.

It’s an immense improvement and we’re hugely excited. It opens another chapter in the club’s history which is 40 years long and produced champions. This environment is going to be conducive for producing more for years and years and decades after I’ve gone.

It’s been a collaboration between families, friends, different amateur groups over a long period of time and every one of them we thank. Like any small town Holyhead has its negative aspects but this centre is a huge positive that will help the youngsters but also people in their 50s, 60s, 70s to do something that I’m passionate about; and that’s keep fit.

If we're going to create a nation of champions here in Wales we need excellent facilities. We've had fantastic weightlifting success on the world stage over the decades. But weightlifting is still a minority sport that we need to grow at the grassroots level to increase our talent pool and keep our winning ways going.

We’re always trying to nurture the next tranche of champions and I’m now working with all five secondary schools on Anglesey.

Now we’ve got more training space we’re going to be able to make it available to more people to use and with that increased reach it’s inevitable that we’re going to produce more champions. I look forward to that and I’d also like to say a big good luck to Gareth Evans, one of our greatest weightlifters of a generation from the club, as he closes in on a place at London 2012.

I think it was 1948 the last time we held the Olympic Games and I think there’s going to be a huge excitement and it’s going to build in these months as we get closer to London. I’d like to think that there’ll be an increase in the popularity of our sport but I think it comes down to people like me to make people aware that we’re here and then to sell the sport.

I’d say to anyone, from any sport, to do Olympic weightlifting as a by-product of what you do and it’s a phenomenal explosive sport to be involved in. So join a local club or come and see me.  

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Tamsin Jones

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Tamsin Jones. Tamsin was awarded Welsh Gymnastics’ Participation Coach of the Year in 2011, and her Ruthin and Denbigh Gymnastics was nominated for Club of the Year. The 37-year-old, from Ruthin, somersaulted into gymnastics coaching eight years ago whilst studying a sport degree at Glyndwr University.

With an enormous waiting list of keen potential gymnasts, meaning that she was having to turn children away, Tamsin needed an expansion and so opened a new club in Llangollen last year.  She soon realised however that to keep her clubs sustainable, and meeting the needs of budding young gymnasts in Denbighshire, she needed help. Support from Sport Wales helped springboard Tamsin’s idea of developing young gymnasts into coaches through a structured mentoring programme.

Ruthin and Denbigh Gymnastics Club engages 500 youngsters

Basically we’ve always had volunteers that have come up through being a gymnast and want to continue their commitment to the sport by coaching. But it was a bit fragmented because I myself am teaching 30 gymnasts in a session and trying to train the coaches and the volunteers in-house. Whilst you’re trying to teach yourself and also talk to parents I felt that I wasn’t giving them what they needed. They’ve given up their time, they’re very capable, and potentially have very good qualities in them to become coaches.

So as we’ve expanded over the last eight years I just felt the need to develop a programme for them. One of my coaches qualified as a Level 2 and to support her development I offered her a class as a head coach in Llangollen. That allowed me to back off a little, and not have to teach, and become more of a mentor.

Having that time gave me the opportunity to offer that mentorship to up and coming leaders. After going to a British Gymnastics conference, and seeing something similar that I could model, it evolved from there. Very quickly within a few months of becoming a Leadership Academy I approached Welsh Gymnastics and they were fully supportive of it as a pilot and saw it as a model that go out across Wales if it was successful.

The first year has been fantastic, in many different ways, for the development of the club. The feedback from our leaders themselves has been very good and we’ve been monitoring it through self-assessment all the way through.

It’s currently being rolled out at Deeside Gym Club and it’ll be an ongoing roll-out programme learning from the pilot. Currently in Llangollen we’ve got 15 academy leaders. Some of them have been volunteering with me for three years already. Although they were able to access gymnastics courses I wanted them to be involved in actually the management of the club and events, and judging, and not just going on a course to coach gymnasts but more like an overall coach development programme.

So they can actually support the club as well. They enjoy that because it’s linked to their club and they’re not going off site early on in their career to have a three day course and then trying to come back and apply it. I feel like this has given them pathways to develop areas they want to concentrate on.

Within a very short space of time I now have 15 competent leaders who are confident and of use to me. A lot of the feedback was that they didn’t realise that there was that much to coaching. Rather than just turn up to an event they now realise that it takes six weeks to arrange an event. They get involved in all the admin that has to go out to all the parents and the promotion of it and standing on the desk on the day collecting entries. Basically involved in everything and they’re more appreciative of everything because of it.

One of them, who is very quiet but fully committed, has found that the academy has completely given her the confidence to know that she’s making the right decisions. So much so that she’s now mentoring other leaders in the academy and that’s within a six month turnaround. All in all it’s been a pleasant experience for myself to see the development of these youngsters. Some of them are thinking about a career in teaching now.

The Sport Wales funding basically enabled us to do it, we couldn’t have done it without it simple as that.

We have really proactively developed a programme to keep them involved. They only train two hours a week, which in the world of gymnastics is nothing. If you want to compete at the highest level you do 20 hours in the gym. So these are children that we give a wider programme of competitions and badge work.

Early on when I came to the club I changed things with the support of everyone. I myself had come from a display team and knew the enjoyment that I’d had as a child being able to go to your school event and show off what you can do. It’s great for the community because they see the gym club and then new children want to join. We do displays in communities that don’t know gymnastics goes on in the area but it’s also word of mouth because trying to get children to start something new can be quite scary for some.

Our after school clubs give children the confidence that if they know the coaches are coaching the club sessions they can overcome their fears of starting something new.

We’ve been going for ten years now in the area and each year we’re growing. We have about 300 members in Ruthin and Denbigh and 50 in Llangollen after only opening in September. Then I reach another 200 in schools through after school clubs and PE. I did a 5x60 after school session at the high school for a year and trampolining. We have a 5x60 Officer, Bethan Griffiths, who’s actually one of our coaches and she delivers sessions in Llangollen.

I couldn’t have expanded or done any of this without the commitment of what previously had been five coaches and now upwards of 20. It’s a team effort. I’d like to see local after school clubs have young leaders delivering those clubs and perhaps that’s another 100 kids that join our club.

I’m very lucky because I’m in a job that never stops evolving and I make the most of it. I love my job and I love teaching and watching the kids’ development.

I did it as a child and got great enjoyment from it. It was something I was able to achieve in and I just have great memories, so I know therefore what the children are getting from it. It’s an avenue of enjoyment and achievement. I was part of a display team and we literally do part of the same warm up now! So that display that I did as a nine-year-old child my daughter is doing now! I was inspired as a child and I’ve just recreated that for others.

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: @womensinstitute

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Rhian Connick. Rhian joined the Women’s Institute in 1998 as Head of NFWI Wales.

Prior to joining the WI, she gained a degree in Human Movement Studies and Sport Science. Previous roles included classroom assistant in a school for children with visual impairments; senior assistant manager in a busy city leisure centre; and development officer with the charity Scope.

Sport and leisure have been an important part of the Women’s Institute (WI) for many years and recently - thanks to funding from Sport Wales - the WI has developed its WISE (Women Into Sensible Exercise) Scheme which aims to encourage women to make healthy lifestyle changes with the aim of improving their health.

The WISE scheme has enabled over 2,000 members to participate in a range of physical activities. 

Members have seen many benefits such as consistent weight loss, reduced blood pressure, generally better health and a slight reduction in taking medication, and along the way they have had great fun participating in activities in their community.

But the organisation does not only concern itself with the health of its members - as mothers and grandmothers - WI members recognise the value of sport for a healthy population.

So much so that they passed a resolution in 2006 urging “HM Government to recognise that the participation in sport is an essential factor in the creation of a healthy population; ensure the re-establishment of competitive sport in the curricula of all schools and take such steps as are necessary to reverse the decline in the availability of sporting facilities for all citizens.”

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Shane Thomas

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Shane Thomas. In 2010 Sport Wales was able to help Shotton Amateur Boxing Club to duck a fatal knockout blow.

Back then their gym was a cramped room above a pub when a hike in the lease left them fighting for their lives. Head Coach, Shane Thomas, refused to throw in the towel and approached Sport Wales for a Development Grant to get them off the ropes. In boxing terms, they were facing a standing count, with just three months left on their lease before they went under. Sport Wales was happy to step into the ring to support their cause to secure new premises. Shane picks up the story...

Shotton ABC' converted a derelict building into a thriving boxing gym

There was nothing in there; no water, no electric, no roof on it and we just did it up. That’s down to Sport Wales, who’ve been great, and helped us with it. Without the funding we’d have never changed premises. Well to be honest with you we would have actually closed down because we couldn’t afford the rent.

The membership’s shot through the roof. In the other gym we probably had 15 lads boxing. Now we’ve probably got 40 lads training and boxing, plus we’ve got girls’ fitness classes, we’ve got men’s fitness classes. It’s open seven days a week, near enough all day. We’ve got four professional boxers and three of them are unbeaten. It’s just really escalating.

The Save the Family kids who come to us have all got problems but when they come to the gym they’re normal people. That’s the thing about boxing gyms; people are nervous about going to one but they soon realise when they’re there that everyone’s there to help them. Even the professional boxers will help with training. If they see a kid doing something wrong they’ll help him out. The younger lads look up to the pro boxers because they want to be there. We’ve got a couple of kids there who’ve got a few problems and issues, like anger management problems and mental health problems, and they’ve really come along well.

They’re nice kids. They don’t get in trouble in school. If anyone gets caught street fighting they’re out, we won’t have it. It’s like a youth club, they train hard but they have a laugh with us. It’s good for them. We had a little lad there, he’s only seven-years-old, but carrying a lot of weight and he loves it. The first time he couldn’t do it and cried but he’s kept coming, kept coming, and he’s lost about three stone now.

Everybody thinks boxing is like fighting. It’s nothing like fighting. We don’t teach them to fight, we teach them to box. The fitness side is amazing, you can’t beat it. We do a lot of fitness because I’d say 80% of boxing is your fitness. Even a bad, fit boxer will beat a good, unfit boxer. He’ll beat him every time because he’ll just keep going. All my lads are fit when they box. They enjoy getting fit and the subs are only a pound.

We don’t even charge some of the kids. We had one lad there, he could barely afford to come twice a week and we wanted him to box because he’s a good little boxer. I said ‘well don’t pay.’ Now he trains six times a weekand has just won the novice championships. It’s not about money, it never has been with us. If they don’t pay, they don’t pay. The professional lads obviously pay and I get a percentage of their money but it all goes back into the club, every single penny.

Even though the gym’s a lot bigger we are struggling for space already. It’s mad how many people come now. At the women’s boxercise class we get between ten and 15 people every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We’ve just men’s fitness classes have just started now. It’s hard for the lads who are boxing to train, especially if they’ve got fights coming up.

We’re trying to keep it in the community by putting local shows on and all the good boxers seem to be coming to us. We just want to build it so that people come to watch it. That’s what keeps the club going is the tickets on the amateur shows. We want the local people to come and support the local lads. All the money that comes from the shows goes towards the club; it buys the equipment and pays the bills.

It takes over your life! But I’ve been in it all my life. We had two coaches, me and Clive at the old gym, and now we’ve got five registered coaches. We’ve got another lad coming in; he’s a registered coach through England and he’s moved down to this area. So we’ll have six coaches.

It’s not a journeymen club; our lads want to win all the time, it’s a mentality.

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Steve Perks

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Steve Perks. Originally from Llanelli, Steve Perks became Welsh National Event Coach for Sprints and Relays in 1990 and was Head Coach (Athletics) at the Commonwealth Games Victoria Canada 1994.

Under his stewardship, in 1998, the British relay squad became the first team to win the European title in Budapest a feat they repeated in Munich (1999 & 2003) four years later. At the World Championships they achieved two Silver medals establishing a new British and European Record at Seville 1999. Then 2004 saw the ultimate achievement for the team – winning Olympic gold in Athens.

2004 Athens Olympic relay gold medallist Darren Campbell

I began to compete for the Boys Brigade and realised that I enjoyed the races and went from there to secondary school and developed.

I had very supportive parents and other people who were willing to give me their time - coaches and teachers.

School sport is instrumental in giving young people an opportunity to participate, experience and compete, hopefully in a range of different sports.

Clubs in the main can develop the interests further by giving either a greater competitive aspect or different experiences.

The main issue is to get young people enthused about the worth of keeping healthy and that there are a host of different ways in enabling this to happen, whether it is on an individual basis, within a group of people or whether within a team based sport.

Getting involved is so easy and so rewarding. When you are asked to get involved - do so; you never know where it can lead!

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog – Kelly Davies, Vi-Ability

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Kelly Davies. Kelly is an ex-international football player with 36 caps for Wales who has also played for Arsenal and Liverpool Ladies. She is also the youngest woman to obtain an MBA in the Football Industries.

During her studies, the idea came to her for a social business that could tackle the issues of commercially unsustainable football clubs and youth disengagement in education. Vi-Ability was born.

Kelly Davies founder of football social enterprise Vi-Ability

For me, community sport means doing two things: (1) Providing participative sports opportunities for all members of the community regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, ability or social status; and (2) Broadening the scope of that sporting activity to include educative/sport initiatives, social inclusion/cohesion projects and other community related activities.

In my opinion, the two have to go hand in hand and be done in an innovative/ entrepreneurial way for community sport to become financially self-sustainable in the long term, and to be given the opportunity to thrive – something which is of paramount importance to attract interest and get people hooked for life; particularly from those individuals who have historically struggled with motivation towards sports and would hysterically laugh at you if you asked them to join a fitness class because they thought it was a joke. 

Two problems, which I knew existed, spurred me on - Well three if you include my Dad telling me - in the politest possible way - at the age of 21 that I needed to get an alternative career because I wouldn’t earn enough as a footballer and he wouldn’t keep paying for his little princess for the rest of his life.

The first problem was the alarming number of football clubs threatened by or going into administration. In the simplest terms, football clubs go into administration because they do not operate like a business. In my opinion key people at the club make irrational decisions with their money. Instead of investing in a commercial director - to improve the business side of things through the maximisation of current income streams, and the discovery of alternative sources of revenue - football chairmen get seduced by the promises of football managers that buying another decent centre back and forward will turn the club’s fortunes around. Yet the reality is nothing can be guaranteed. For example, what happens if the new players get injured in the first game?

The second problem was the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training. For me, this was an even bigger concern as it was an enormous waste of a young person’s potential and the positive contribution they could make to their community and the economy. 

I felt I had solutions to both of these problems…and came up with the idea of Vi-Ability.

At the moment, because training and supported employment (i.e. apprenticeship schemes) within the sports industry is predominantly focused on promoting instructor qualifications and careers - most individuals the Vi-Ability project will look to engage will have a misconception that ‘if they aren’t a football player or football coach’ they won’t find a job in the industry. The reality is very different!

Whilst on programme with us, individuals are given an in-depth insight into the varied job opportunities that exist within a football club. Participants don’t just shadow existing employees within operational departments - they actually carry out specific responsibilities in order to acquire valuable experience and gain greater understanding of job expectations. For example, if they are running an enterprising activity they have to project manage it. This helps participants to gain transferrable skills, such as planning and delegation that will help them compete in an ever-changing labour market in the future.

Because of its innovative nature, we believed that it was of paramount importance to get the programme accredited so there was a) recognition for the individuals completing the work; and b) protection of the intellectual property. This soon happened, and we now have a customized BTEC in Football Industries award, certificate and diploma. We have exclusive delivery rights and can now generate sales from it. 

All the people that have enrolled on one of our courses (which now includes one lady of 82 years) have changed their life in a positive way through sport to varying degrees. For example; some may have just developed confidence or increased their self-esteem, some may have made conscious healthy life style changes or become better parents or neighbours, whilst others have gained employment. Last year alone, we helped 56 individuals gain jobs, which is absolutely fantastic!

The Vi-Ability programme has been designed so that every few weeks an activity will be undertaken to add value to both the participant and the local community. An example, that best demonstrates this is recently a young group of participants were asked to design, plan and run a project for the community that helps address a social, health, or educational issue. They decided to run a ‘late night football’ project. This activity not only helped the participants to improve their ability to coach youngsters with challenging attitudes and behaviours, but it adds value for the community in that it ‘keeps kids off the street’, which helps tackle antisocial behaviour and makes residents feel safer.

I’ve managed to galvanise the community and bring lots of partners together by creating a friendly atmosphere and offering lots of cakes and biscuits! No on a serious note…it’s by being open and involving staff, volunteers, members of the community and other organisations in what we do and plan to do in the future. We’ve recently achieved the ‘investors in people’ mark for this.

Follow Kelly, and Vi-Ability, on Twitter @Vi_Ability

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Jamie Turley

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Jamie Turley. In his role as a Young Ambassador, 19-year-old Jamie from Ffynongroyw, has been responsible for inspiring, leading and coaching hundreds of young people in his community to get involved in sport.

The Sports Science and Outdoor Activities student freely gives up countless hours of his spare time to motivate othersto take part in a wide range of PE and School Sport activities, working closely with youngsters who wouldn’t normally take part.

Denbighshire Young Ambassador Jamie Turley

I am a Platinum Young Ambassador in Wales. For those of you who don’t know what this is; it’s a voluntary role that involves young people driving sport in their communities. It was launched alongside the Olympic Games bid for London, with each and every Ambassador putting into practice awareness of the Olympic and Paralympic values.

The role is a never ending trail of inspiration, to see the impact you have leading sporting opportunities for the young people around you. It can be anything from leading a sports session in a primary school, to delivering presentations to the Sport Wales Board and working with LOCOG. As Young Ambassadors we all share the passion to drive what’s summarised in the Sport Wales vision of getting ‘every child hooked on sport for life’.

Community sport is at the heart of my passion. It’s where my first opportunities came and where I always refer back to for anything I do. Sport at the centre of a community brings many benefits perhaps unnoticed at times. It not only unites the community young and old, through the social side many sports clubs bring, but it provides a common ground for the development of many life skills and personal achievement.

It teaches you respect for those around you, for your coach, and your team mates. I learn every time I’m involved in community sport and I’m inspired to achieve greater things for the benefit of my community. Seeing the kid’s faces light up with enthusiasm, and for them to be thankful for our efforts, really gives you a feeling of giving back to a cause which gave so much to me.

Community sport needs to be embraced firstly by the participants, if the children are motivated to take part then the sequence becomes like a snowball effect of inspiration. The coaches and volunteers inspire the children, the children inspire the coaches. Each community has its heroes and it’s about utilising and supporting everyone involved. I personally feel there needs to be more recognition for unsung heroes, coaches, volunteers, who - without fail - week in week out go out and deliver sessions with passion.

Facilities, finance, transport, kit; there are so many barriers sometimes to overcome, but one thing always comes out on top and that’s the passion that the people involved have in all they do.

Sport plays a huge role in bringing a community together. No matter what level if anyone’s ever played for a sports team or club, they’ll have friends from that club to last a lifetime. The common ground concept flourishes not only in a sense of like for like, members friends with members, but coaches, members, secretaries, treasurers, orange preparers, and supporters, the network it forms throughout a community - particularly the smaller ones - develops continually. This I believe cannot be summarized in writing but has to be witnessed as it’s personal to each and every community.

I have been lucky enough to have been selected as an Olympic torchbearer on May 29th in Towyn. This represents not only a great personal achievement but I feel I’m representing each and every coach, participant, and volunteer I’ve ever worked with. It’s a moment to shine, close enough to home for my community to be around and be involved with the celebration. Whilst at my new university home of Bangor I have also been asked to assume a role of volunteer co-ordinator at the Olympic flame evening celebration a day before my torch bearing.

Whatever happens I know having seen firsthand, the impact of the torch relay will be hugely influential and will create a long lasting legacy across my home region of North Wales. It will inspire the community as a whole, more participants into clubs, as well as leaders and volunteers to continue what they’re already doing for a very long time to come. But above and beyond that, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, inspiring members of the community to be the best they can be. 

As for the Young Ambassadors and the opportunities that brings; the program I feel will continue to grow and develop the next generation of leaders in sport.

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Ainsley Richards

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Ainsley Richards. In her role as a Young Ambassador, the teenager from Swansea has been responsible for inspiring, leading and coaching hundreds of young people in her community to get involved in sport.

A London 2012 Young Ambassador for the City and County of Swansea, she has been a busy volunteer with her school, the feeder primary schools and in her community as a coach.

Ainsley with Olympic and world Champion cyclist Geraint thomas

My parents have inspired to me take part in sport. They both train regularly. My dad has represented Wales in Karate and my mother has recently won two Welsh titles in the Welsh Masters Badminton Nationals, and represents Wales at Masters level. Both my younger brother and sister participate in different sports. This season, all three of us  ran in the County Cross Country team. It’s not unusual to see the whole family out running!

I realise the importance of sport from an obvious health factor, but individuals play a huge part in encouraging and motivating young people in sport. Certain individuals  that have been a great inspiration to me include people like Andrea Whitcombe in running, Lloyd Cole in Surfing, Huw John in Badminton and Wendy Bleddyn in Netball. They are so passionate about their sport, their enthusiasm is contagious and has  inspired me to develop and compete.

School has been really important. I attend YG Gwyr, where the PE department is excellent. Bethan Davies, Head of PE, has supported me in every area of sport, in torrential rain in cross country events and even sometimes travelling as far as Devon for a weekend to enable the school to compete in a British surfing competition, where I secured third place!

I wouldn’t have reached the level of badminton I have attained if it wasn’t for Mr Dai Long and his commitment to the school badminton club! Mrs. Katherine Davies, head teacher has also been really supportive of all my sporting activities.

Outside school, I belong to a number of different sporting clubs, including Glamorgan Badminton club, Mumbles Treforus netball and Swansea Harriers. It’s great having so many different friends outside school, and obviously it has improved my performance in these different sports.

I sometimes wish I had started to compete at an earlier age and had more opportunities to try different sports at primary school. My school had no resources on-site, so we had to be transported to venues. I used to envy children who have playing fields in the school grounds!

I was recently asked to help in a survey promoting ‘Rounders’ in England. I would love to see the development of Rounders as a sport in Wales.

I think that the advantages of taking part have to be promoted to young people at an early age. The Young Ambassador scheme is developing throughout Wales rapidly. I believe it is important for younger children to have role models to aspire to. Some young people are not aware of the activities available to them, perhaps sporting organisations could be a little more pro-active in visiting schools and offering taster sessions.

I have been fortunate to have been selected to volunteer at the Olympics. I’m hoping that the London 2012 Olympics/Paralympics will be a great vehicle to get more young people participating in sport.

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Dot Davies

Our latest post in a series of blogs on Community Sport comes from Dot Davies. Dot is an S4C and BBC presenter – she’s a huge sports fan and mother of two young boys.

Someone told me recently that New Zealand kids believe they can walk on water, whereas Welsh kids will ask for their wellies. True? Not sure. But it made me think. Putting aside ideas of an inferiority complex as a nation, where can we begin to instill that 'anything is possible' attitude in our children?

Community Sport. Perhaps I feel even more strongly about this since becoming a parent. Almost without even thinking about it, we have imagined from the day they were born how sport would and should shape them as people with individuals from within our community becoming their mentors, their confidantes, their friends.  My children are only four and three yet already involved in rugby and gymnastics allowing them to make friends, teaching them communication and social skills, not to mention the social benefits for myself and the other parents we've met.

A passion for sport is what I truly want for my boys. To want to do their best and to enjoy what comes with that. All this in the hope that sport and the community it thrives within, will help shape mine and all our children as individuals providing not only health, but social benefits.

Who's to say that mine or next door's children aren't capable of being world class footballers, athletes, rowers, cyclists? Anything they want to be. They do however need to be given the opportunity and the encouragement to strive to be the best they can be.

I look around my peers and each one has a story of how this running club and that netball team helped them through their teens. I took it for granted. I'd like to think there will be a wider community who will look out for my children and want the best for them. Sport helps us to achieve that. Community Sport can only be a good thing. Wouldn't it be great if our children feared nothing and left their wellies by the door.

Follow Dot on Twitter @dotdavies1

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

Top tips for setting up your sports business

Our latest Community Sport blog is written by Becky Johnson, General Manager and Head Gymnastics Coach of Planet Gymnastics. She set up her private, family-run enterprise in 2008 and here shares her top tips for setting up a new sports business.

•             Be prepared for long hours and late nights

When I first set up Planet Gymnastics, I was working 14 hour days – coming in at 8am and often not leaving before 10pm. But it is all worth it. Get a good support team behind you – staff, partners, parents, whoever – and remember that it will be worth those sleepless nights!

•             Persevere even when things get tough

Lots of things happen all the time with a new business. In the first year we were burgled twice, had the loos flooded several times and came up against several expenses which we did not account for. At times it felt that it wasnt worth it but with the support of family, friends staff and even customers we cleaned up and carried on.

•             If your business involves something you love its easier to work hard

•             Be prepared to keep adapting to your customer base

We send our customers regular feedback forms (especially for the after school club) and newsletters. We hold open days for parents to view classes and give us their feedback. We look at numbers in all classes and change classes if numbers are low for something new. The aim is to make every hour of the timetable work. We have a Facebook page where we share news with members. When we started we thought mother and toddler sessions would generate income for us in the day but there was too much competition in the local area. We now offer after school club and a nursery wraparound service instead to utilise the space in the day.

•             Our business runs like a family

We treat all customers as individuals whether they come for one hour a week or 20 hours a week.

Providing gymnastics and dance tuition for all ages, from babies to adult, Planet Gymnastics has ensured a sustainable income from CSSIW registered after school club care. After-school care includes school pick ups and a gymnastics lesson in a fully equipped Gymnastics and Dance centre.

Planet Gymnastics’ classes include Teen Gym, Cheerleading, Street Cheer, Tumbling, Parkour, Artistic Gymnastics, Adult Gymnastics and Pre-school and toddler gymnastics.

Find out more at: http://www.planetgymnastics.co.uk/

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

New This Week!

#communitysport blog - Simon Harding, Thundercat Racing Wales

Our latest Community Sport blog is written by Simon Harding, aged 35, from Neyland in Pembrokeshire, who races powerboats as part of the UK Thundercat Series and has been selected to represent Great Britain at the World Championships in Norway in August. Here, he tells us how he got into this very different sport.

UK Thundercat Series racer - Simon Harding

When I left school I worked in Newmarket backing and breaking race horses for Sheikh Mohammed. But after three years I had an accident when a two year-old colt fell back, rolled over on me and broke my pelvis in three places.

I came back to Pembrokeshire and as part of the healing process I started to do some water sports.
I did kayaking and surfing to build some strength in my lower body and got into it that much I managed to get on a course with Pembrokeshire County Council and Waterford Council in Ireland to promote water sports. I became an instructor, got a good few qualifications, and worked for Pembrokeshire water sports for six years and then as a freelance instructor.

I did a lot of work for a very good friend called Ceri Davies, who owns Swansea Water Sports, who got me into power boating and jet skiing. We did demos at the south and north Wales boats shows and I got my first blast in a thundercat and loved every minute. It was a love at first throttle turn!

I did this for few years and bought my first cat. After a year I bought a brand new one and began racing last year. I had a great season and the people involved are so great - if anyone has any problems with their boat or needs anything then everyone helps out. It’s something I really want to be involved in.

I had a very mixed year with some great results but then some very bad luck as well with two weekends with engine problems. This year is looking to be a great season with a new co-pilot in Tom Hamilton, who is a natural in the boat with his experience in racing yachts. We’ve been preparing the boat together.
We are both looking forward to going to the World Championships in Grimsted in Norway in August. We are only the second Welsh boat to ever to make it to the GB team so great news for Welsh sport.
We are also the first boat in the UK championships to become carbon neutral. We are racing but want to think of the environment as well.

When I was young it was just horses and more horses. Some of my friends were into water sports like waterskiing and kayaking and used to do bits in the summer.

I did some work for the Princes Trust as an instructor and found there are so many positive effects on young people when you get them out on the water. If it was out in a boat or kayaking or coasteering or surfing, you just don't know if you are introducing the next World champion of the sport to the water.

Follow Thundercat Racing Wales on Facebook. 

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales