2010 World Bowls Champion of Champions

I am about to travel to my next event in November.

I am representing England in the 2010 World Bowls Champion of Champions Event in the Norfolk Islands (located in the South Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand) from 23rd November to 3rd December.

The competitors in this prestigious event are represented by National Singles Champions from around the World. My main competitors will be from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland and Malaysia.

I am looking forward to this event and will post a report on my return to the UK.

Canoe Polo World Championships Milan 2010

A Gold and Two Bronze Medals for Derbyshire Canoeists

From the Canoe Polo World Championships in Milan

Claire Mitchell and brothers Gallin and Ross Montgomery all from the Viking Canoe Polo Club based in Derby, have returned triumphant from the recent World Championships held in Milan from 1^st - 5^th September.

In total, 25 Countries took part in a fiercely contested World Championship tournament where the British team had representation in all four categories; Men, Women, Under 21 Men and Under 21 Women.

In the Men’s Under 21 category, brothers Gallin and Ross Montgomery contributed to the team to give solid performances against Australia, Japan and Switzerland in the first round, topping the group with 21 goals for and with only 1 against.

In the second round, the U21 Men’s team beat the Netherlands 3-2, Spain 4-1 and narrowly lost to Germany 3-2 in a closely fought game. This put the young British side into the semi-finals against the highly favoured French team.

The team played their best polo yet but eventually lost 3–1 in a game that could have gone either way. This meant the gold medal was out of reach, but the bronze medal would be contested in the 3^rd-4^th play off against the Italians, a team with massive home and National TV support.

At full time, the score was 2–2; both teams having led the game before the end of normal time. The match went into a nail biting Golden Goal phase where the teams would play continuous 5 minute periods until one team scored. After one minute, both teams had come close to securing the bronze medal but the Great British team ended any doubts with a stunning final shot from behind the half-way line that caught the Italian defenders and goal keeper stranded.

Germany ran out eventual winners against France and the under 21 Men’s team, though elated with the Bronze, were left to reflect on how close they had come to a Gold.

In the Senior Women’s category, local paddler Claire Mitchell brought home a well deserved Gold Medal. As reigning World, European and World Games Champions the Great British team had a lot of expectation to perform and retain the title.

The team finished top of their group in the preliminary round with convincing wins over Denmark, Iran, Singapore and Italy securing 38 goals for and 2 against. Great Britain finished top of the second group, beating the Dutch 8-1, New Zealand 5-4 and Spain 7-1.

The women faced the French in their semi-final, the biggest threat to the team so far. Nerves were high, as it was the game that decided whether they could reach the final to try to retain the World Championship title. The final result, 6–2 to Great Britain.

The team were to face Germany in the final, a team that Great Britain had not played in any training tournament all season. Great Britain took control early in the game and ran out eventual winners 5-3, retaining the World Championship title.

A further five members from Viking Canoe Polo Club represented Great Britain in the Senior Men’s category and finished 9^th overall which was a little disheartening for the team. However, all five members represent Vikings A team and are enthusiastic about coming home victorious at the European Club Championships, in Germany.

2010 so far

In February 2010 I was named Bowls England Bowler of the Year. I was delighted to receive this prestigious award.

In May 2010 I competed in the trials for the England International Team. After playing well in the trials I was selected again for the England Team.

In June 2010 I represented England in the British Isles Singles Championship where I lost at the Quarter-final stage. It was dissapointing to lose at this stage but my opponent from Jersey played extremely well.
I also represented England in the British Isles International Series. The British Isles International Series is an annual event with teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Each team consists of 6 rinks of 4 players. After beating Ireland and Wales in the first 2 games, England narrowly lost to Scotland in the last game and finished second to Scotland on shots difference. The rink that I played in won all 3 games and was England's top rink.

In July 2010 I won the Derbyshire County Triples and the Derbyshire County Fours Titles.

In August 2010 I reached the Last 16 stage of the Bowls England National Triples Championship and the Last 16 stage of the Bowls England National Fours Championship. It was disappointing to lose at this stage and I will be looking to go further in the events next year.

In October 2010 I was the reserve for the Commonwealth Games Bowls England Team. I was not required to go to Delhi. The England Team was very succesful in the games winning medals in 5 of the 6 events.

E.B.F national championships.

The english bowls federation national championships outdoor was held at skgness in august.

i managed to qualify in 3 differnt events and also in the under 25 team comp.

The first comp was the under 25 team in which we played suffolk and won making us the under 25 team champions.

Then it was onto the other events in which i had a really succesful week.

I lost in the semi final of the mens 2 bowls singles.

After the dissapointment of losing in the semi final i managed to win the mixed triples event and then went on to win the under 25 singles.

winning 3 national titles in 1 week was a great achievement for me and i was really happy on my performance.

At the presentation of the trophies i was announced the under 25 player of the year. this was a really big achievement in which i am very delighted about of winning.

i will attach some photos of me and my team with the trophies.

Apply now for a bursary for 2011

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the blog this year - it is great to read about so many successes. Please do continue to post your updates during the rest of the year.

If you wish to be considered for a further bursary from the Derbyshire Talented Athlete Fund for 2011 you can now apply. The application form and full details can be found here: http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk/talented_athlete_support/fund/apply/default.asp

In a change from previous years, all athletes who wish to be considered for a bursary are required to submit an application themselves (If athletes are aged under 18 then this must be done by a parent or guardian). In some sports the national governing body had previously applied on an athlete's behalf, but this will not happen this year.

The deadline for applications is November 17.

Gold in Milan

A great end to the season - World Champions 2010

After a successful season in training, Great Britain Women were looking forward to getting to the World Championships in Milan and start the long awaited tournament. GB flew out to Italy on Monday 30th August 2010 for a couple of days training before starting the games.

We had Italy, Iran, Singapore and Denmark in our group and started playing the group games on Wednesday. Our first game was against Denmark, a team that we knew we could beat but a high goal target was set to get our goal difference up on the other teams in the group. We were successful on both counts - 16-2 being the final score.

Thursday saw us play our remaining three group games, against Iran, Singapore and Italy. We had not met either Iran or Singapore at any training tournament throughout the year so started the Iran game quite conservatively to see how they played and then pressured from there. We beat Iran 4-0 but the game was not our greatest hour. The referee was very biased towards Iran which frustrated some players. GB play a very hard game and will tackle the opponents hard if they have the ball, each time a GB player did this in the Iranian game, the opposition would shout out and squeal which automatically made the referees blow for a foul, even though it was a legal tackle, which was extremely frustrating. All the same we did our job and came out with a win.

The Singapore game was very similar to the Denmark game. We set up our defence so the opposition would get drawn in then went out to tackle them, win the ball back and break. We came out 14-0 winners.

Our final group game was against Italy, the host nation with a great deal of home support behind them. We didn't let that phase us though and beat Italy 4-0. We were all extremely impressed with our first group games, having scored 38 goals and only had 2 against us.

The second round saw another two groups being created with the winners and runners up of each of the four groups put together. We were up against New Zealand, who finished top of their initial group, and Spain and Holland who finished second in their respective groups. Our first game in this group was against Holland and we secured an easy win finishing 8-1.

New Zealand was our next game. We hadn't played against them this season and knew they were looking good. They were really up for the game, knowing that we were favourites to win. However, we ran out 5-4 winners in a hard fought game.

Our final game of the second group was against Spain. It was a much easier game and we came out 7-1 winners. This put us top of the second group and through to the semi final on Sunday.

As the semi finals and finals were televised our semi against France would be at 8:30 on the sunday morning. The early start did not bother our supporters that were all there to watch. It was so good to hear our supporters drowning out the noise of the French supporters and this spurred us on all the more.

Going into the semi final was very nerve wracking, it was the game that decided whether we were to play in the final or not get a medal at all. Nerves disappeared as soon as the whistle blew for the start of the game and we won 6-2. We were in the final against Germany, a repeat of the 2008 final, and our chance to retain the World title.

I went into the final with confidence, I knew we could win, everybody wanted it so much. We were ahead for most of the game. Germany played 5 out (man on man) for most of the second half to try and win the ball back, but we were able to keep the ball and sprint past the players to score two goals into empty nets. Germany did manage to claw two goals back late on in the game but it was too late and at the final whistle the score was 5-3 to us and so happy to have won the gold medal.

Standing on the podium was an experience I will never forget and am already looking to the 2011 season to try and retain the gold medal at the European Championships and relive the feeling of winning and being a gold medalist!

WORLD TITLE

Hi Guys this will be my last blog of the year and what a fantastic few months I have had.
It began when I entered Sony Pictures search for the Uk Karate kid. After 2 stressful weeks of People voting on my video on facebook Sony pictures chose me as the winner and I was allowed to attend the premier of the new karate kid film and meet Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Dizee Rascal .
I was given the full red carpet treatment.and I was given £5000 for my club which we used to attend the World Championships in Serbia.
On the 19th of September Team Great Britain travelled to Belgrade Serbia for the WAKO World Championships.
There were 50 countries in attendance who had sent their best 2 competitors from each cattagory to represent their country.
There were competitors from Madagascar, Usa, Uzbeckestan, South Africa and New Zealand to name a few.
I had a good idea that I would have my work cut out having already studied my US opposition on the internet.
I was competing in the under 12 and under 16 age divisions in both weapons and open hand hard style forms.
I have never been so nervous in my entire life and I let this show in my under 12 open hand form.I lost out by .1 to the USA.
I was determined not to let my nerves get the better of me in my under 12 weapons.I produced the best performance of my life to take gold. Standing on the podium and hearing the National Anthem and the words Jack Griffiths WAKO World Champion is something I will never forget.
I entered both under 16 events full of confidence and was really pleased to come away with silver in both events.
All the sacrifice and hard work I have put in over the last 4 years came down to 2 minutes of hard work.I would like to thank my parents and coaches for all the time, money and effort they have put in to help me achieve my goals.

Its been a long summer, ups and downs.....

National Championships
With a new venue up in Teeside and an unbeaten title to defend both myself and my club Team Viking were looking forward to the competition and the end of the domestic season. We progress through the early rounds, playing some great attacking polo, and looking to win the ball back at very chance. The final came around quickly and was to be against Meridian for the crown of National Champions. We started the game well, and as team had numerous chances to take the lead, having probably nearly 10 shots on goal without converting! The meridian keeper was having a stormer, and the goal posts seemed huge with the ball pinging off them far too many times! Then it all went wrong, Meridian Broke and scored, we were one down at half time. We pushed 5 in the second half, and a man was lost and we were 2-0 down, was it going to be one of those days?? As a team we still had belief and personally I was determined to make amends for taking so many unconverted shots in the first half! We scored our first and kept the pressure on, winning the ball back, I found myself in space received the ball and dummied before scoring! We were back level, with not long on the clock. We kept the attacking pressure on, and got a corner with 10seconds on the clock, the corner was taken and 3 passes down the line I was a speed running down the middle, I took the shot to score with 1 second left!! We had won! What a final, both to play in and for the spectators!

London International
The London International has been going from strength to strength over the years and this year was a highlight. With the world champs pending a number of national teams has chosen to play, alongside some of the best club teams in Europe, plus what can only be described as an international all-stars team on the play list meant for some exciting competition. I was playing for my Viking team and we collectively were looking forward to pitch ourselves against a few national sides and take some scalps! It was a great competition, as a club we made our way to the final beating Liblar and New Zealand along the way. Personally I felt I was playing well and as a team things were dropping into place. We were looking forward to a show down with the all-stars team, with national team players from the Netherlands, Italy and France. It was at first a close final with both teams having chances, but the all-stars came out on top with a win at the final whistle. Personally I felt I had played well, but was disappointed not to have made a bigger impact on the game. Something I wanted to rectify come the next competition, De paddle.

De Paddel
High on the success of London both myself and my club side Viking went into De Paddel with confidence, and I wanted to make a bigger impact on key games. We cruised through the first round, something we had struggled with in the past. Topping the group and in a good position to progress to the final. We came against the French U21 side who were playing well and beat them with a very strong performance. We then played Agen one of the top French club teams, and lost to them in a scrappy game with players loosing their heads and getting cards. However as we had won all our games to this point it meant we had another chance to progress to the final in a ladder system. But this meant beating the French national team. It was poised to be a tough game. After a tough 19 minutes the score was levelled at 1-1 and with 20 seconds remaining we pushed hard and I scored the winner with 7 seconds on the clock to take us to the final! We won the final against Agen comfortably in the end. It had been a tough weekend, but we all left very happy. We had been playing well as a team, with communication and understanding on the pitch being excellent. I was also very happy as I felt I was beginning to make an impact on games, one of my targets for the year. I also felt comfortable and at home in my boat, and felt it might just all be coming together…….. all this was very positive with the worlds coming up??

The World Championships, Milan
This was one of the best, if not the best major competition I have attended. It was well organised, had great weather, had good viewing for spectators of which large numbers came to watch, plus TV coverage on a major Italian TV channel. All this meant that there was a brilliant vibe around the competition. I was looking forward and confident, but was also a little nervous before the competition got started. Things got off to a good start, qualifying second in our first group, however due to a number of shock and strange results this meant we were in the aptly named group of death with the Dutch, Germans, Spanish, Switzerland and Belgium. The competition has defiantly raised its game in the men’s category, and again some shock results and a number of teams having draws meant the group was wide open. Unfortunately as a team after the early rounds where we felt we had played well but had more to deliver, and felt we had potential for better performances be couldn’t quite seem to find that edge, or click as a group meant we didn’t make it through to the semi finals. This seemed to be a problem for a number of nations, with the Dutch and Spanish also being knocked out!! Unlike the previous year at the Europeans where we played a tight defensive game (successfully to a bronze medal) this year we had opted to play a more attacking and expansive game, trying to win the ball back at every chance. We wanted to play, we felt we were a better team and wanted to play good free flowing canoe polo. Maybe this was a bad choice? Who knows? Food for thought? On a personal level, I wasn’t too disappointed with my performances, but I was disappointed as I felt I didn’t make an impact on games, one of my key aims for the year??!! Coming away from a week with such expectation and not fulfilling is a strange one…??? But after a few days I found myself back in the gym and in the boat as I have the European club champs, back with Viking and hoping to round off what has been a long season off on a positive note!!

Hello my name is Judy Browne and I play ice hockey. The teams I play for are Manchester Phoenix under 16s, Kingston Diamonds under 16s and also the national conference- North of England. This season I got selected to attend the school of excellence 2010 (which is a selection camp for the England team) , I also got chosen for a Great Britain training weekend away at Newcastle. I played a couple of conference matches against the South of England. Kingston Diamonds under16s won the girls league by beating the southern team at the top of the league (so we were national champions). I really enjoy playing ice hockey it is a great way to keep you healthy and is lots of fun, I have made lots of friends from all over the country whilst playing the sport. I would like to keep playing the sport for as long as possible. I am looking forward to this season which has just started.

Anya Takes the British Stock Ski Title

British Stock Ski Champion 2010.

Well since my last Blog to you I am now pleased to tell you that this weekend (Sept 5^th 2010) I have just taken the British Stock Ski Champion 2010 title. This is the first time I have ever raced in this class and never expected to take the title. The stock class means that the ski’s are more or less as they come from the manufacturer and you can make very little changes except to the handling.

I have had a fairly difficult year this year and in the other class I race - the Limited class (where you can make Limited mechanical changes) I suffered more than my fair share of unforeseeable mechanical problems including my hood catch breaking during the race filling my engine with water etc…..just really bad luck issues! However I still managed to pull off runner up in this class with two great wins in the final round. Next Year is another year!

I hope my luck changes to Good Luck for my next race which will be representing Great Britain in the World Finals held in Lake Havasu City, Arizona USA in October.

You can follow me on my website www.anyas.co.uk and click on the Photos Havasu Page.

I would like to take the time to Thank all of my Sponsors especially the sponsors of the Derbyshire Talented Athletes Fund for their help because without the help of them and my parents I wouldn’t be where I am. Thank you.

The road to the World Championships

This year has seen a few highs and lows to the season but I am definitely back on a high heading to World Championships in Milan.

The team flys out to the World Championships on 30th August for two days of training and scrutineering before the whistle blows on 1st September for our first game. Great Britain go into the competition as the team to beat, as current holders of the World Gold, World Games Gold and European Gold medals so there is a lot of pressure on the team to perform.

I made a positive start to the season, being picked for the A team in GB's first training tournament in Essen, Germany, in May. The team was a little disjointed at times, and we struggled against Italy, a team that we have previously beaten comfortably, showing that there were obvious areas that needed work. However, we pulled together and beat France in the final to become winners at the tournament.

My performance then plateaued over the following few training weekends and I was put into the B team for Mechelen, another training tournament in Belgium in June. I went out to the tournament feeling positive and knowing that I had to put everything into the weekend as selection for the Worlds took place after the final on the Sunday. The tournament was frustrating at times but I ensured that I incorporated all the areas my coach told me to work on into the game as best as I could. For some reason I tend to pass the ball rather than shoot but my coach wanted me to work on this area so I made sure I scored some good goals.

On reflection I had a good weekend and felt I couldn't give anymore, however, selection was very disappointing. The team was announced, but there were only six definite players selected and we were told there were only seven players going, rather than eight as there usually is. I was chosen as one of the other two for selection for the final place which would happen at a training weekend two weeks later.

I felt so demorolised as I felt that I was taking one step forwards and three backwards but had to focus on the points I needed to show at the training weekend if I was to secure the final place. Over the next few weeks I concentrated on my shooting and went to the training weekend with a slightly selfish view that I would shoot rather than passing the ball to prove that I had worked on it.

Fortunately, I managed to perform as the coach wanted me to at the training weekend and was chosen as the seventh player for the World Championships.

Since the final selection has taken place, the team has attended the Welsh Open and London International tournament as more training tournaments. The whole team performed very well and there was some excellent individual skill at the Welsh Open which secured a place in the Div 1 final, against, Dragon, a mid-placed Div 1 team. Unfortunately, Dragon had the home crowd and strength on their side and we lost in a hard-fought game.

Last weekend was our last training tournament at the London International. Due to unavailability and illness there were only five of us at the tournament. I think everyone was a little concerned about this on the Friday night when we arrived, but we managed to pull it out the bag and finish top of our group on Saturday evening. The team of five worked very well together all weekend and finished fourth overall.

There are positive vibes from our training tournaments together heading for the Worlds, there are little areas of the game that have sharpened up and errors ironed out but nerves are creeping in the closer it gets. I know as soon as the whistle blows for our first game there will be no evidence of any nerves and I will be fully focussed on the task in hand - winning a gold medal.

Claire

Nominate your sporting heroes for the Derbyshire Sports Awards

Nominations are currently being sought for the Derbyshire Sports Awards.

The awards are a perfect opportunity to recognise people who have spent many years volunteering in sport or go the extra mile to help others, as well as clubs that make a substantial contribution to the community and those teams and individuals who have achieved success in their chosen sport.

Categories include Sportsperson of the Year, Junior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, Club of the Year, Junior Team of the Year, Community Coach of the Year and Service to Sport.

Awards will be made at district level, and winners will then go forward to be considered for the county event. More details and entry forms for each district can be found here: http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk/sportsawards

The closing date for nominations is August 20, except in Bolsover where the closing date is August 6

Last Few Weeks

Hey everyone, my name is Katrina Maciver and my sport is Tenpin Bowling. I know what you will be thinking, thats not a sport but it really is. Ive been bowling for around 11 years and have competed several times for England in Europe.
After a tough few months of training the hard work is starting to pay of having won two events in the last couple of weeks.
The biggest win was only last weekend where I won an under 24 England ranking event, the first time I have done this having only been playing this circuit for a year and a half. It was a tough tournament which involved a 8 game qualifying round which the top 8 females then competed in head to head matches. Head to head matches arent usually my strong point but after playing in a lot of similar event it went much better this time round.
My other latest win has been a one ball event. This is where everyone bowls 3 games using only one ball, and everyone has to use the same ball. This might be a bit confusing to non bowlers but it simple terms most tournament bowlers will have a range of 6-8 bowling balls which all react differently depending on how the lanes are playing. In this event we could only use one so it was a challenge for both experienced and beginner bowlers. I won this event having competed against both the men and women who played this event so was very pleased with how this went.
Anyway thats enough for now, shall post more after the next few events.
Katrina x

Intercontinental Championships

Representing England tae kwon-do at the intercontinental was spread over 2 days. the first night there was a fight night and the team competitions took place.
In the sparring part of the night there were no weight categories so in one of my fights I ended up fighting a woman who was almost 2 times my weight. I didn't win the fight but we still won, getting gold after beating another Canadian team.


the next day was the individual competitions with competitors from Canada, Nepal, Wales and some other countries.
I came out of the day with a silver in sparring, loosing in the final to the Captain of the England squad.
overall it was an amazing weekend and only came out with a couple bumps and scrapes.

Brandon Carr's latest results

I competed in the Central England Karate Open competition at the end of June where I won gold in the individual Kata, gold in the team Kata and silver in Kumite (fighting). My style of karate, Wado, is not as "showy" as some other styles, and as such it is unusual for Wado to win an open competition. This was my last competition in the UK before going to Tokyo in August where I will be competing in the Japan Nationals as a part of the England Squad. I am gearing up with additional training and will be taking my grading before I go.

My name is Anna Toman. I play for Belper ladies hockey club and England u18's.

With Belper this year we won u18 cup indoor and outdoor.

With England we got the silver medal at the 4 nations tournament in Holland.

I'm about to go to Ireland for the home nations tournament.

Anya Colley

As we are at midway point in the British Championship season, I thought you might like a quick update of this year’s championship to date.

The season didn’t start the way I had hoped to be honest and in fact I had prepared a letter for my website (www.anyas.co.uk) explaining that “I would be unable to take part in the whole series this year for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that our family business unfortunately was hit quite hard last year due to the economical climate and as such we have had to work very hard over the winter months to pull things back and get all our staff back onto full time hours so they can continue to support themselves and their families. However I am delighted me to say we are currently extremely busy working 24 hours a day 7 days a week on a big job but there are very specific and immovable deadlines we have to meet which means it looks like I will be unable to attend Round One of the British Championships”.
However my wonderful Dad being the great person he is pulled out every stop and worked every hour possible to get me to Tattershall on Saturday for the first race of the season. It really was a struggle but he did it. Having said that we were totally unprepared as we had been convinced we were going to be unable to make it, but I raced my heart out.
The next major problem I had was the JSRA (our race organising body) unfortunately changed the race date for the second round of the Championships and now for the first time ever my parents were unable to attend the new date as they were out of the country and couldn’t get a flight back due to the backlog from the Volcano spill. My Luck was really down on me this year but even without my parents = my mechanic and my holder I attended round two with the support of my boyfriend, James Bushell and friends Garry Smith & Graham Leech.

Round three I really had my work cut out if I was going to gain some major Championship points after the last two difficult rounds and all was going great until my last Limited race when I unusually suffered a mechanical breakdown in the race – fortunately it was just a blown fuse so an inexpensive repair but a very costly breakdown for me.

Having said all that about my challenging season I am pleased to inform you that I am currently leading the JSRA British Stock Championship and in joint first place despite my costly break down in the Limited Class. So I still have a lot of work to do but considering everything against me this year I am pleased to tell you of my position. From a Girl Power point of view I would like to add that both of these classes are male dominated and I am leading them both!

Please have your fingers and toes crossed for me and hope I have used up all my bad luck in the first half of the season.

My other news for you is that sadly I don’t think I am going to be able to attend this years World Finals Event due to the financial cost. I have not given up hope just yet and I am actively seeking sponsorship from various sources but I fully understand that due to the economical climate for everyone this is even more difficult than usual. My parents have funded me the last few years to enable me to become British, European and 7 times World Champion but unfortunately they are just not able to fund the £7,000 I need this year to attend. Please be assured I will do my best to attend believe me but I thought it was only fair as my supporters you were aware of this fact from me and as soon as possible. I am trying though I promise.

I will of course keep you updated with the news on the 2010 season, Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me in my hope to win the British Stock title for the first time and regain my British Limited title.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Yours, Anya Colley
British, European & 7 Times World Champion.

Girl Power Fact for your members – I was the first Girl to ever win the IJSBA World Finals Junior, Expert Limited and Amateur Open World Titles!!! Girl Power. http://www.anyas.co.uk/

Erewash photocall

Many thanks to everyone who attended our last district photocall for 2010, in Erewash.

Gymnasts Hannah Dulston and Catherine McNicol, horseball competitors Megan Chiarella and Christie Morgan, rugby union player Jack Partington and table tennis player Emma Vickers all attended, along with jet-skier Anya Colley, bowls player Simon Skelton and fencer Samuel Ward.

Cllr Mike Wallis from Erewash Borough Council and Cllr Carol Hart from Derbyshire County Council met the athletes to congratulate them at West Park Leisure Centre in Long Eaton.

More photos from the day can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbyshiresport/sets/72157624424960190/

ITALIAN WORLD CUP RIMINI 2010

Hi there on 03/06/10 I travelled with some of the Great Britain Team to Rimini Italy to take part in the Best Fighter Italian World Cup.This is another major event in the international kickboxing calender.I would compete in cattagories which would include soft forms and boys and girls mixed.This would include many competitors from the Eastern bloc countries who are trained by the Russian state circus.I was very nervous but this seemed to motivate me even more and I was really pleased to win both my weapons and open hand divisions in the under 12 age group.I won open hand and came second in the under 16 divisions.I also competed in the trix battle and was very fortunate to win gold and 300 euros.Above I am pictured with my GB team-mates and the seven trophies that we won in total.As you can imagine I had a little bit of difficulty trying to get 4 of these trophies onto the plane home.I now have a break for a bit and will be fundraising and training hard in preparation for the World Championships to be held in Belgrade Serbia in September.

More local photocalls - High Peak and Bolsover

Many thanks to everyone who attended the recent photocalls in either the High Peak or Bolsover. The events are always a great opportunity for athletes to meet other young sports competitors from the area and representatives from some of the funding partners who we are so grateful to for their support.

The Bolsover photocall was held at Bolsover District Council's Sherwood Lodge offices and athletes were congratulated by Bolsover District Council Chairman Councillor Rita Turner, Senior Sport Development Officer Jenny carter and Derbyshire Sport Chairman Councillor Clive Moesby.

Meanwhile in High Peak the athletes gathered at The Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, and were joined by Jean Wharmby, Executive Councillor for Social and Community Development at High Peak Borough Council, and Nigel Bonner from the Electrical Contractors Association.

U18 National Cup Finals

Having won the National U18 Cup for the last 3 consecutive years, we (Belper) were favourites going into the finals weekend at Cannock.
However, we knew we faced tough opposition in the forms of Wycombe HC, Firebrands and Bradford-Wakefield HC who all boasted regional and junior international players.
The tournament took a round robin format, with us playing our first game on the Saturday then our final 2 on the Sunday. Our first game was against Wycombe HC who played very defensively throughout the match, making it very difficult to convert the persistent pressure we had. Eventually, after a slow start we came out 5-0 winners. We were obviously pleased with our victory but knew that we had to raise our game to match the stronger opposition we would face the following day.
Our first game on the Sunday was against Firebrands. Again, whilst we had a lot of pressure and most of the possession in the first half, we struggled to convert our chances, with their goalkeeper making many outstanding saves. By half time, the score was only 1-0 in our favour.
We started the second half strongly and were awarded a penalty stoke within 2 minutes of the restart, after one of our players was fouled in the circle. I stepped forward to convert it bringing the score to 2-0 and a minute later we had scored again. Towards the end of the match we were given a second penalty stoke after it was judged the Firebrands goalkeeper had taken down our player without taking the ball whilst making a save. Again, I took the penalty and scored meaning the final score was 4-0.
The final game of the tournament was crucial. Almost in a repeat of last year we were to play Bradford-Wakefield and a win or a draw would mean we retained our title whilst a loss would have meant Bradford-Wakefield won.
Again we put lots of pressure on Wakefield from the start but this time it paid off more quickly – in the 7th minute a rebound off the goalkeeper came to me and I slotted it in the back of the net. After that our confidence rose and we played brilliantly. The goals kept on coming and the game finished at 6-0.
As the final whistle blew we were ecstatic with our win, however it was also emotional as 3 of our team had just played our last ever match for Belper before moving onto university.
Overall the weekend was a great experience and good luck to next year’s team – hopefully they can retain the title for a fifth year running!

Snooker - the story so far

(Me after winning the World Ladies Junior title - April)

Hi, I am Hannah Jones, I am 13 years old and I play snooker.

I have had a great year so far. I have played snooker, billiards and pool around the country and have won a few tournaments.

I will use this blog to bring you up to date.

In April I played in the World Ladies Snooker Championships in Cambridge. I have been playing in the World Champs since I was 9 years old. This year I qualified for the knockout stage for the first time in the seniors game but lost to Maria Catalano in the last 16 - Maria is Ronnie O'Sullivans cousin.

I played in the World Ladies Junior Tournament a competition for Under 18 lady players. This is an event that I have won in 2008 and 2009 and this year I played really well winning all my matches without dropping a frame to make it my 3rd World Ladies Junior title in a row. My performance in the WLBSA tournaments up to the World Champs mean that I start the next season officially number 9 in the world and provisionally Number 7 on the senior ladies ranking list.

I then played in the EABA English Under 19 Ladies billiards tournament and won that.

I have also just won the EASB English Ladies Snooker Championship at the World Snooker Academy in May beating my opponent 5-0 in the final.

I am now ranked number 1 on the EASB - English Ladies ranking list and will get an automatic selection for International events for the rest of the year.

I have a bit of a break now before the start of the new season which starts again in August with an International match and then in September with an exhibition in Belgium which is followed up with the Home Internationals and the first of the Ladies event which are the Masters and the Ladies UK Championships.



(Me after winning the English Ladies Title - May)

I have already had a great year and will post up more news when the new season starts. You can see my other results by looking at my website Hannah Jones Website

Venray International, The Netherlands

Last weekend I went to the Netherlands for the 2010 Venray International Judo Tournament. Over 1500 of the best fighters from 23 different European countries competed. At under 15’s this is the premier event for children of my age. This was the fifth year I had attended this event I won Bronze and Silver Medals in 2006 and 2008. In my group were fighters from Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, Great Britain, Latvia, Switzerland, Russia and the host country The Netherlands.
My first fight was a tough match against a strong Belgian fighter. I am often a slow starter and I struggled with my first opponent’s awkward style and had to rely on the referee’s decision after a tough five minutes of fighting. My next match was an easier affair beating a strong Dutch Judoka with a stylish foot sweep. My third fight was against a strong British Fighter, Connor Potts. I controlled the fight well winning the fight and progressing through to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals I was up against an impressive German fighter who had earlier easily defeated fighters from France and Latvia. In a close tactical fight going the full five minutes I won 3-0 on flags and a place in the 2010 final. In the final I was up against one of the top Dutch under fifteen fighters, Sandor De Jong. Sandor had easily beat me earlier in the year at the Dutch Espoir event and he was favourite to take the Venray title this year. I had studied his style well since we last met, and controlled the fight from the start. After two close scores I threw the Dutch fighter for Ippon to become 2010 champion. Gold Medal in this event was my best International result to date.

In april i went to the english bowls federation national indoor finals.

i qualified in 4 different events.

the first event was the triples which we won the previous year.
We played really well had a team to get through to the final again winning 3 matches on the way.

Another great performance in a very tight final helped us retain the title being the 3rd people in history to do this achievement.

second event was the singles having a good performance in this i lost in the semi finals.

third event was the pairs with a very gd first game we just lost out to a pair from durham who then went on to win the pairs event.



the last event was the under 25s. having being a previous winner in this national event i was trying to regain the title.

with some very gd games along the way i reached the final were i narrowly lost.

overall i had a very gd week i will try again next year.

Success in Aiwakai National Competition

I entered the Aiwakai National Competition in Alfreton on 23rd May. It was a long day - from 9.00 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. - we were inside all day on the hottest day of the year. I won a gold for Kumite (fighting), pairs Kata, team Kata, team Special Kata, a silver in the individual Kata (higher age group) and a bronze in the individual Kata. I am now the England National Champion for fighting. I am in a smaller regional competition next week, and training hard for the Japan Nationals in August.

Domestic success and international beginnings…

The domestic season has just come to a close, starting back in November of last year Viking (both my and Martyn Williamson’s club team) has done something never done before completing the perfect season, 14 and out unbeaten!! We started the season strong, playing some great ball and this weekend finished off the season strong to take the crown of national champions! We now look forward to competing in numerous international competitions as Viking and the European club championships later in the year, striving to continue our success.

On the GB front it’s been a slow start but it’s now gaining momentum, I have been to a few training weekends and the selection process is under way for the World Championships in Milan in September. I have a selection competition in Germany at the end of the month when the team will be announced. So riding high on the domestic success it’s down to some hard work in training ready for selection.

Photocall for Derby athletes

A photocall for Derby athletes who have received a bursary from the Fund this year has been held at Moorways Sports Centre.

Representatives from some of the scheme's funding partners, Derby City Council, Rolls-Royce, the University of Derby and Derbyshire County Cricket Club, attended to meet the athletes.

A photographer from the Derby Telegraph was also there, so look out for a photo in the newspaper in the next few days!

Many thanks to everyone who was able to attend.

To see more photos from the day go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbyshiresport/sets/72157623921175423/

A full report will also appear on http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk/

Viking Canoe Polo Make it a clean sweap...

Tom (Baston) and myself were part of the Viking A team that won the National League Title at the weekend in Liverpool.

The final tournament of the season took place over the weekend. Viking were top of the league entering the tournament having won every game. The pressure was on to maintain the form that had seen them through their winning streak to date.

After a shakey start against Pennie, one of the favorites for relegation, with only a 4-0 win, Viking's confidence grew as did some of the scorelines. Viking went on to win all seven games, securing the title with a game to spare.

Having won the title the team are entered into the European Club Championships which will take place towards the end of the year.

The team are first looking forward to the National Club Championships which will take place in Teeside on 17/18th July.

Martyn

Photocall for South Derbyshire athletes

A photocall for South Derbyshire athletes who have received a bursary from the Fund this year has been held at Etwall Leisure Centre.

Athletes were congratulated by Cllr John Lemmon from South Derbyshire District Council and Ollie Shearer, Sports Development Coordinator at the University of Derby. Many thanks to everyone who was able to attend.

To see more photos from the day go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbyshiresport/sets/72157623914690321/

A full report can also be seen at http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk

Canoe polo Charleroi Belgium

both Gallin and I have just come back form Belgium playing for Great Britain under 21's

the tournament was held in Charleoir and we played in the second division as a warm up tournament.

we managed to win our group, and then go on to win all our knock-out games, this put us into the final in the final. to play against ODYSSEUS who are a club team from the Netherlands we managed to beat this team 3-1 to take the tournamnet win.

next we go to Essen Germany to play in two weeks. This is the first international tournament of the year, so we will be playing all the U21's international teams who we will later meet at the worlds in Milan September. we will both be playing in the tournament in Essen but the worlds is still subject to selection.

Duisberg International, Germany

I Travelled over to Duisberg, Germany last weekend for the 12th International Tournament Duisberg. This event has a reputation as one of the strongest under fifteen competitions in Germany, and is one of two identification events for this age on the German calendar. Being such a tough event it attracts only elite competitors, and many of the best fighters in Europe are always in attendance. More than 330 competitors from seven countries took part in the 2010 event. Entrants from Belgium, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Poland, Rumania, Slovenia as well as the host country Germany made the trip for this years event. I started well against one of the German Favourites quickly holding him down to proceed to the next round. This was followed up by another good victory against a much taller German opponent. This put me up against The Belgium national Champion, Bernd Lemmens. Bernd is a very strong fighter, and although they have been in the same events before, this was the very first time we had fought. We were both very cautious, which led to a very cagey and tactical fight, which I won on penalties to proceed through to the 2010 final. Up against a very strong German fighter in the final I was by now on top form and dominated him from the start and finish in first place. This weekend I travel over to St. Petersburg, Russia for the 14th International Junior Tournament ‘Olympic Starts’. One thousand five hundred of the strongest fighters from all over Europe will fight in the palace of Sports in St. Petersburg. This will be my toughest challenge to date. Keep up to date with my trip on my blog which can be found at http://glossopjudostar.blogspot.com/

Under 13 Table Tennis National Champion

On Saturday 24th April 2010 at Doncaster Dome I won the English Schools Table Tennis Under 13 girls National Championships, Being seeded number 1 I felt extra pressure but as soon as the matches started I began to relax. I only lost 2 sets in the entire competition and won the final 3-o to take my first national title. The photo is of me receiving my winners trophy from the chairman of the English Schools Table Tennis Association

2nd Dan/ Holland

Last week did my grading for my 2nd Dan black belt. after lots of preparation and nerves i went into the grading room with a panel including 2 masters of taekwon-do. It all went alright (apart from getting kicked in the knee cap) and i also managed to break 2 inch think boards with my elbow and then with a side kick.
Found out that I passed which is great and top include to the good news I'm also going to Holland in a few weeks representing England with my squad (PUMA tae kwon-do). it's going to be my first competition as a 2nd Dan and competing in the ladies section, so fingers crossed!

AUSTRIAN WORLD CUP 2010

Hi there I have just returned from the Austrian World Cup .This was a martial arts event held in the Olympic Stadium in Innsbruck.

I was very lucky to get there having left the UK at 0730 on Thursday 17/04/10. That was the day the airtravel in the UK was all cancelled at 0900.

I initially thought that the competition was going to be a no go due to the rest of the british team not managing to get a flight out.

There was still over 2000 competitors from 28 other countries.

I was still going to have my work cut out with both the World Association Kickboxing Orginisation World Champion and the World Karate Association World Champion were both in attendance.

I was very fortunate that I was drawn in all cattagories to go out last.

I pulled out all stops to win three gold medals.I won the under 12 weapons and open hand forms competition and the under 16 weapons competition.I injured myself on my under 12 open hand form and decided to pull out of the under 16 open hand competition.

Above I am pictured on the podium with the WAKO world champion from Italy on the right and the WKA world champion from Chechz republic on the left.

Due to the flight problems I was unable to fly home and we were forced to travel by train through Switzerland to Amsterdam where we then got a minibus to Calais and finally a ferrie back to England.

It was a very long and stressful journey but I am hoping finances allowing I can travel to Italy and Serbia to represent Great Britain later in the year.

Photocalls for athletes from the Derbyshire Dales and North East Derbyshire

Many thanks to all the athletes who were able to attend the recent photocalls at the Town Hall in Matlock, and at Dronfield Sports Centre.

Photos from both events can now be found at http://www.flickr.com/derbyshiresport and full reports can be seen at http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk/

The next photocall planned is currently for all the Derby-based athletes, on May 11. Photocalls for the High Peak, Bolsover, South Derbyshire and Erewash will also be held, so if you live within those areas you will be contacted soon.

4th Junior European Wushu Championships

Changquan Medal Presentation

The 4th European Junior Wushu Championships were held in Antalya, Turkey in March 7-12th 2010. Having been selected in the Team Selections earlier in the year, I had been preparing hard for the competition and looking forward to competing again.

My first event was Long Fist (Changquan) which took place on the Monday and I was drawn to perform first, scoring 8.95. Feeling I had done my best, I waited for all the other competitors to perform. The two professional athletes from Russia scored 8.74 and 8.77 so finished second and third respectively, the first time Russia had ever lost in this particular event in junior categories.

Having put all the excitement and happiness behind me, I concentrated on my two other categories, Straight Sword (jianshu) and Staff/Long Weapon (Gunshu). Again, having performed to the best of my abilities, I scored 8.94 and 8.73 respectively, which gave me another gold medal and one silver medal in Gunshu (0.04 behind Russia). Overall, I finished top of my age category by 0.13 over three categories. This has been one of my best achievements in any European Competition and it was a great result.

Overall, the competition had been another great experience for me having achieved such great results, a good repay for all the preparation and work that went in beforehand. Now, I am focusing on my A level exams before beginning the whole preparation process for the Junior World Championships in December, in Singapore.

Rouen International, France

Rouen used to be a very hard competition but this year it was very very poor. I was still recovering from my virus and was very weak. I still managed to win the gold medal but was not pleased with my judo. Hopefully I will feel better for my next competitions in Germany and Russia this month.

Photocall for Amber Valley athletes

A photocall for all the Amber Valley athletes who have received a bursary from the Fund this year has been held at Belper Meadows.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and athletes were congratulated by Cllr Peter Makin, Mayor of Amber Valley.

Many thanks to everyone who was able to attend. To see more photos from the day go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbyshiresport/sets/72157623720287691/

A full report will also be posted at http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk

My first event at British Championships was the 100m breaststroke, for this there were heats semi-finals and a final. I swam quick enough to get into the semi-final but missed out on the final by about a second. But in the semi final of the 100m breaststroke I was the fastest in my age with a 1.04.45. This was not a PB but it was very close because my PB is 1.04.40. Being the fastest in my age allowed me to go to European juniors in Helsinki this year. I also swam in the 200m breaststroke and I came 3^rd overall in my age. All the relays that the team took part in did great, our 4x200 and 4x100 freestyle relays won bronze but our IM relay came 4^th.

This year I qualified for British Championships for the 4th time in my swimming career, I qualified to swim in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m breaststroke. Derventio Excel also entered the 4x100 freestyle relay, 4x200 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay. I will be part of the 4x200 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay doing the breaststroke leg. This year is the last year I am able to qualify for European Junior Championships. To go to this I will have to achieve a certain time or be the fastest in my age group.

Photocall for Chesterfield athletes

Many thanks to all of the Chesterfield athletes who were able to attend the photocall for the district at Queen's Park Sports Centre in Chesterfield.

Athletes were able to meet Cllr Keith Lomas and Cllr David Stone from Chesterfield Borough Council; Cllr Kevin Parkinson from Derbyshire County Council and Ollie Shearer, Sports Development Coordinator at the University of Derby, all of which support the Fund, together with Cllr Clive Moesby, Chair of Derbyshire Sport.

All of the photos from the day can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbyshiresport/sets/72157623803369026/

A full report can also be seen at http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk/

Mions International, Lyon, France

This was the first in a series of difficult events around Europe that I will be competing in over the next couple of months. Over 700 fighters from 12 countries took part this year and there were 27 boys in my section. Although I was still recovering from a virus I fought well winning four of my five fights to win a Bronze Medal. This weekend I compete in Rouen, France.

Germany and Cardiff GB training

On the 23rd we made our way down to Luton and stayed in a hotel overnight, we then had to be at Luton airport at 5 o clock to fly as a team to Germany. We played the Germans once on the first day, as we walked into the pool it was shocking how much bigger their team was than ours. The game was good and we comfortably beat them. The second day on the 25th we trained as a team in the morning, working on our tactics then that night we played them again. We beat them again, however they had picked their game up and were a lot more physical. On the 26th in the morning we did another training session adding more tactics to what we already had, which would help us in the game. Then that night we played the Germans again and still managed to beat them. On the last day the 27th we did a timed 300 metres, our coach wanted us to feel how tired we would be on the 7th/8th day of the Europeans but still be able to think and play well while tired. Then after that we played the Germans for the final time, still beating them comfortably. We then flew home that afternooon. Going to Germany was a very good experience, helping me see what I need to do, and what I may be up against.

I've just got back from GB training this weekend. I went down to Cardiff Friday night and stayed in a hotel and had to be at the pool for 11 o clock in the morning and we started training at 12 at Cardiff International pool, which is a really nice pool. We did 3 training sessions of 2 hours on the saturday with 2 hour rest in between. For the first 2 training sessions we did swimming, leg work and tactics. I found the swimming and leg work physically hard and the tactics a lot to take in but it was good as I learnt loads. We then played a match against the 95/96's boys, which did us good as in games girls normally grab costumes, however as we were playing the lads we had to just use our tactics, speed and strength to beat them. On Sunday we did 2 training sessions of 2 hours with 2 hours in between. We did swimming and tactics for the first session and then for the second we played the 95/96's boys again. I found the weekend very hard but learnt loads. Over all it was a good weekend of training.

I'm off to England Squad trainig in Wolverhampton today. 2 hours of Kata follow by 2 hours of Kumite (fighting). This will be the first time I have trained in fighting with the England squad. Having had some success in my first fighting competition in Hartlerpool, I'm gearing up my training before I go to Japan.

Good start to the year

I started the year well winning gold medals at the North West Open, Midlands Open, Goole Championships and the Southern area open. I have won all 14 of my fights in this country this year. I have also picked up maximum ranking points and am ranked No1. in England at the moment.
The next two months I have a lot of very hard competitions abroard. Next week I am in Lyon, France then I have Rouen, France, Duisberg, Germany and finish April with my first trip to Russia. In May I compete in Germany and The Netherlands. I hope to bring home a few medals from some of these tough competitions.