Sports Club of the Year

Each year clubs are encouraged to submit details of their clubs achievements over the last year to be considered for the CLUB OF THE YEAR award. Finalists for the Basingstoke & Deane 2007 Club of the Year were - Basingstoke Gymnastic Club 2007 was another excellent year for the club with achievement and development being continued in all areas. The club has an excellent coaching structure to go alongside its great facilities and various programmes in place for toddlers right through the age ranges. The club has further developed its links with schools and partners locally and now caters for over 1000 children and adults. Many members have achieved individual and team county and regional gymnastic success and the club operates a talent identification scheme. Teamgym have been British Champions four times in recent years and various individuals and club teams continue to perform very well in Southern Regional and National levels. The club has a great management and voluntary structure, links with schools and a variety of initiatives ongoing to ensure it currently sits as one of the top clubs in the town. Basingstoke & Mid Hants Athletics Club Basingstoke & MHAC caters for all ages regardless of race, gender, religion or ability. They have a very active committee running a club of over 400 members ranging from 8 to 88 and a coaching strategy to support member’s development. Head Coach Billy Jewers now coaches some of the top athletes in the Country and talent at the club has resulted in the Men’s team being promoted to Div 2 of the National league in 2007. The Ladies team were promoted to Div 1 of the Southern league and the Veteran Men won the Surrey and Hampshire League title. The club has a high standard of technical officials providing more support to county events than any other. The committee continue to develop the club, are looking to upgrade the track and are busy preparing for the clubs Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2008. Basingstoke Taekwondo Club The club teaches a full curriculum covering all aspects of Taekwondo as a martial art and is not just focused on competition. However there are plenty of opportunities for competition for those that are interested. This covers the disciplines of Poomse, Sparring, Speed Breaking and Power Breaking. During 2007 the club has competed in the Southern League, Festival of Sport with Euskirchen and a range of other events. The club continues to build on its improvement in competition success with many students benefiting from these experiences. The club is developing at quite a pace and benefits from the facilities and location provided by its new Basingstoke premises. Totally Tennis This very successful local club had yet another successful year with many high standard players regularly achieving both individual and team success. The club hosted players from the German twin town Euskirchen for the annual Festival of Sport and a team travelled to the USA for experience and coaching. School links, opportunities and Tennis development initiatives continued and the club received official recognition from the LTA for the Totally Tennis Junior Coaching Award. Coaching is very strong at the club and many schoolchildren benefit from this availability. Head coach Shane Deacon was shortlisted for the LTA’s National Coach of the Year Award and the club retained their Investors in people standard plus became the first ‘Prince Plugged In’ academy in the UK. The awards are considered against a number of criteria. The information below provides a guide to producing your application and there is no strict presentation format or application form. The above clubs who have previously won have created an A4 folder with various sections collated from existing process, procedure and records. Once electronically updated it is reasonably easly to maintain on an annual basis. Start with the club introduction and management structure etc. Include the historical successes and especially a review of the last year and the aims and objectives for the coming year plus longer term future. Follow this with sections on the various process and procedures etc noted below with any other topics also covered. Does your club have or is moving toward: · Qualified staff including qualified umpires/officials · Talent identification · Coaching structure and coaching development plan · Commitment to ‘coach education’ · Social environment plus Fundraising ventures · Child protection policy statement · Screening procedures for volunteers & coaches · Success- individually and as a club · Good access to regular competition · First Aid personnel and appropriate insurance cover · Anti bullying, doping & equity policies · Medical conditions management procedures · School/club links and a thriving youth section · Annual development plan/action plan · Equality of opportunity (e.g. disabled access/opportunity) · Good Committee/Management/Administration structure · Club rules, disciplinary procedures & constitution · Club code of Conduct and display ethics/fair play · Suitable/quality facility and equipment · Club newsletter and handbook · Club annual rolling action plan for the future If your club can demonstrate that all or most of the above are in place, then you could be eligible to be the Basingstoke and Deane Club of the Year and win £250. Nomination forms are available on request from either the Borough Council (01256 845442) or the Local Sports Council (Sue Hillyard - 01256 811478). They can be either posted or emailed by return. Nominations should then be sent by post or emailed to the Local Sports Council (Basingstokelsc1@aol.com), Sue Hillyard, 3 Dragonfly Drive, Lychpit, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 8RU (01256 811478) by January 31st. Application for this award can also encourage your club to think about club development in the future. The Sports Development Team and the Local Sports Council are committed to helping clubs develop. Please contact Susan Parker on 01256 845442 or Kevin Laing on 07796 491667 for further information. For more information on club development see the link below. http://www.sportengland.org/clubmark/ or visit you own National Governing Body website for details Below is a photo of representatives from Totally Tennis who won the 2004 'Club of the Year' award. 08/08/2008