Did you know that 60% of women prefer 'exercising' to playing sport.

Vote here

Do you think girls are encouraged to play sport as much as boys?
Yes
No
Free polls from Pollhost.com

WSF regions

North East Region

News | Contacts | About our region | Action plan

News

16 October

FREE Golf Coaching for Ladies in Durham

The English Golf Union (EGU) and English Ladies’ Golf Association (ELGA) in partnership with Durham County Ladies’ Golf Association are holding FREE Golf Coaching taster sessions for ladies at the venues and dates below.

RamsideHallGolfAcademy, Carville, Durham

PGA Pros - Mark Rayson & Glenn Lowery

Contact Booking Number - 0191-3869514

Group sessions

Dates & Times

Cocken Lodge Golf Course, Leamside, Houghton-le-Spring

PGA Pro - Julie Welch

Contact Booking Number - 0191-5841053

Group sessions

Dates & Times

FREE Golf Coaching is an EGU/ELGA initiative, which has been developed to help people get into golf, allowing beginners to experience golf for the first time and receive a FREE golf coaching taster session with a PGA Professional.  Golf balls and clubs are provided free of charge and all participants need to do is book a lesson and turn up in comfortable clothing and footwear.

The FREE Golf Coaching campaign has now been running for a number of years and has introduced thousands of beginners to golf and golf clubs.  The ladies specific sessions are being held in association with Durham County Ladies’ Golf Association as a pilot project, to encourage women to take up the game of golf.  For further information on how to ‘Get into Golf’ visit www.getintogolf.org

FREE golf coaching for beginners is just one of several initiatives within the ‘Get into Golf’ grass roots structure developed by the EGU and ELGA and supported by the England Golf Partnership.  

EGU/ELGA Golf Development Team

Tel: 01526 354500

E-mail: development@englishgolfunion.org

25 July  

North-East netballers score with impressive sponsorship deal

The North East’s most promising netballers will be looking good this season, with the announcement of a three year sponsorship agreement for the North East Regional netball league.  Kukri Sports, official kit suppliers for the North East’s Netball Superleague side Team Northumbria, as well as for the England national squads, has become the primary sponsor of the North East league, which will now be played at a central venue at Blue Flames, Benton, Tyne and Wear. 

And, as Jeanette Collins, England Netball’s regional manager for the North East, explains, the agreement will help the league to develop talented players and administrators throughout the region.  “The North East regional league provides high level competition for clubs from right across the region, and acts as  a stepping stone for the very best players who may have ambitions of playing in the Netball Superleague.  We are thrilled to be receiving support from Kukri Sports for the new season, as this will enable us to professionalise the image of the league as well as allowing us to nurture and develop both the players and the umpires involved. 

“As a result, we will be able to stage the competition at a central venue this season, and I am confident that we will attract more spectators to watch on a weekly basis.  Last season, Team Northumbria had some of the most vociferous and knowledgeable audiences in the whole Superleague, showing how much support netball has in the North East, and we expect many of these fans to come along and watch the regional league action as well.” 

The agreement with Kukri Sports will provide prizes for the winners and runners up in the league, as well as a special award for the best and/or most improved umpire.  The company will provide balls and banners for the league, as well as 16 umpiring kits for officials, to ensure that they are as smartly turned out as the competitors. And to ensure that the standards of officiating are as high as the playing levels on court, the England Netball’s North East region will also be running an umpiring mentoring programme alongside the league to improve and maintain umpires’ skills. 

“The North East has some of the country’s best and most promising netballers and officials,” concludes Collins, “and centralising the regional league will enable us to mentor and develop the next generation of Netball Superleague, and hopefully England, stars.”

Kukri Sales Manager Murray Allan commented ‘Kukri are delighted to be sponsoring the North East Regional League, we already have a strong Netball presence in the North East with our involvement with Team Northumbria and I look forward to helping to further promote netball in the region. The league should provide a great platform for both developing players and umpires.’

For more information about the North East regional netball league, and the Netball Superleague, log onto www.englandnetball.co.uk and click on “regions”.

23 July

Durham rowing success

Helen Preston became National Champion in the Women's Junior 16 single sculls at the National Championships, held in Nottingham between 20 -- 22 July.  This is a tremendous achievement for sixteen year old Helen, who has been enjoying a string of wins recently which had placed her within the top ten of the Women's Junior 18 category nationally.

The Junior Squad also entered the Women's Junior 18 quadruple sculls and this crew comprising, Charlotte, Meghan, Maddy & Claire qualified for the final by time trial (an achievement in itself), finishing 6th.  In the Women's Junior 16 double sculls, Jessica and Becky narrowly missed qualifying for the final in their event after a good time trial.  In the Men's Junior 15 coxed quadruple sculls, Darren, Ben, Michael, Alex and Callum coxing, raced their qualifier in raging wind and rain on Friday and after a good start unfortunately the rough water and waves in the middle lane caused them to catch a series of "crabs" from which they finished 4th.

In the Senior categories, the Women's quadruple scull finished 4th in their qualifier, narrowly missing a final place.

15 July

Sir Steve Inspires Durham Veterans to Victory

Durham Amateur Rowing Club veteran scullers Hazel Stainforth and Carolyn Edwards travelled south to compete at Henley Veteran Regatta on 13/14 July.  Henley Veteran Regatta is held on the weekend following the famous Henley Royal Regatta.  This regatta is an international event for veterans and masters, with competitors travelling from all over the world to compete, taking place on a 1000m upstream course on the Upper Thames, between Temple Island and Upper Thames Rowing Club.  Sir Steve Redgrave was amongst competitors at this event – an indication of the level of competition.  Sir Steve was part of a composite coxless four which won gold too (as some might have predicted!).  In fact the ladies “bumped into” Sir Steve whilst sorting out their oars before their double sculls final and Carolyn reflected, “Sir Steve spoke to us and wished Hazel and I good luck before our final and despite the windy conditions, I really enjoyed our race”.

Hazel and Carolyn raced against Avalon Rowing Club (USA) in their double sculls semi final and went on to win against Melbourne Rowing Club (Aus) in the final.  In the single sculls, Hazel won her heat against a sculler from London Rowing Club and went on to win the final competing against Maidenhead Rowing Club sculler Karen Phillips.  These wins are testament to the ladies’ tremendous dedication to their training.  Training for them over the past year has been an additional challenge as Durham Amateur Rowing Club has been a building site during a £1m redevelopment and for most of the year members had very limited facilities.

20 June

A factfile is now available to download detailing participation levels for women in the North-East. This is just one in a series of free factfiles which the WSF produces.

4 June

RugbyChampHailsTeesValley’s New Coaching Scheme for Women

England rugby champion Katy Storie, fresh from winning the recent RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam, has now turned her attention to supporting Tees Valley Sport’s new ‘Women into Coaching’ scheme.

Commencing in April, the scheme aims to encourage women to get off the sidelines and put on the ‘coaching cap’ by gaining a NVQ Level 2 qualification in Activity Leadership.

As well as playing tighthead prop for England’s womens’ rugby team, Katy also works hard to increase female participation in sport in her role as regional development manager with the Womens’ Sports Foundation, which saw her waste little time in voicing her support for the project this week.

Katy said:  “Women into Coaching is a very exciting project for the TeesValley area.  Women are far less likely to become coaches within sport than men with just three per cent of women completing one hour of volunteering in sport per week, which is half that of male volunteering. 

“The Womens’ Sports Foundation is heavily committed to supporting projects such as Women into Coaching as we know all too well that a massive amount of extra work is needed within the world of sport in order to ensure that these statistics are improved upon.

“The North East has a very rich sporting tradition and it is vital that women are as much a part of this culture as their male counterparts.  This project is sure to lead to a number of women realising that a career in coaching would be a valid opportunity for them, and maybe even produce some future Olympic coaches!”

In collaboration with the European Social Fund and the Learning and Skills Council, this project is ideal for women who currently find themselves watching their children play sport, helping out with school activities, or fancy some type of career in the leisure sector.

Ruth Benson signed up for the course  to help her develop Stockton Sportability Club, part of Stockton Parent Support, a group which helps children and young people with disabilities and their families by organising sport and other activities.

Ruth said:  “I’ve been involved with Stockton Sportability Club for years through my son Michael who had a passion for many sports including powerchair football.    His death last year inspired me to carry on and increase my role with the club and help develop it so we can reach and help even more families.  Qualifying as a coach would really help me do this.

 “What’s great about the course is that it’s accessible to everyone.  At 52, I wasn’t sure if it was something I could do but anyone interested in sport and making a difference can and will benefit from it.  I can’t wait to get started and use my new found knowledge to help other families with disabled children reap the benefits from participating in sport.”

 Aimed at women of any age, background, ability and experience the course is FREE to many women living in the TeesValley, and travel and childcare costs are also heavily subsidised. Commencing in late April and run in partnership with Hartlepool College of Further Education at venues across the TeesValley, participants will commit to just one four-hour session per week, alongside a placement in a local facility.

Speaking at a recent information day, Project Manager Elaine Fryett, said:  “This is a great opportunity for women to get more involved and give themselves the skills to pursue a career in sport. Recent research from sports coach UK shows that less than one in four coaches in the UK are women and only 30% have an actual coaching qualification. This project will help increase the local talent pool of skilled coaches within an often under-represented area in sport.”

Following successful completion of the course new coaches will be offered assistance in finding opportunities to put their qualifications to good use.

Judith Rasmussen, regional director for Sport England North East, said:  “Having more women coaches across the region will inspire more women to take up sport. This is very important as the recent Active People Survey showed a low number of women currently participating in sporting activities in the north east.

“Anyone interested in inspiring others to live a healthier lifestyle should sign up today.”

To find out more about the ‘Women into Coaching’ project, please contact Elaine Fryett, Project Manager, on 01642 342287 or e.fryett@tees.ac.uk.

ENDS

Editor’s notes: TeesValley Sport is a partnership initiative that aims to co-ordinate sports development, planning and delivery in the TeesValley, working closely with coaches, participants, officials, administrators and providers. Their partners include the five local authorities – Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, Stockton on Tees and Darlington, as well as Sport England, the University of Teesside, national governing bodies of sport and sports coach UK.

Its key aims are:

 www.teesvalleysport.co.uk

Stopwatch