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Active Sussex is to add a premium service to its Coach Sussex Bursary, following the scheme's successful launch last year.

In addition to the standard bursary – which helps sports coaches become better qualified by meeting 75 per cent of the cost of their training – for its 2012 bursary Active Sussex will roll out a premium tier service across four sports: badminton, basketball, hockey and netball.

Premium bursaries will attract additional support, including a greater level of financial input, enhanced training and resources. Full details of the premium service will be announced in the next month, while applications for the standard bursary opened this week.

"The response to the first round of bursary funding last year was very encouraging, and proved what a fantastic opportunity the coach bursary is for both volunteer and paid coaches," said Anthony Statham, Active Sussex Coach Development Manager. "In the first round we had over 60 successful applicants from 12 different sports – 29 coaches at Level 1 and 32 at Level 2."

The standard Coach Sussex Bursary will fund 75 per cent of the cost of a training course, up to maximum of £150 for Level 1 and £200 for a Level 2 qualification. The scheme aims to provide financial support for 150 sports coaches over the next three years, as part of Sussex Legacy.

The bursary is open to coaches from any sport recognised by Sport England, the national organization for grassroots sports development.  A full list of sports recognized by Sport England is available on its website: http://www.sportengland.org/about_us/recognised_sports.aspx

Applications for the standard bursary are now open and are assessed on a case-by-case basis at the end of each month. To download an application from, FAQs and guidance notes, visit our funding page

For more details of the standard or premium bursary, contact Anthony Statham on 01273 644149 or astatham@activesussex.org

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The Prince's Trust is running a free five-day football course with Brighton & Hove Albion at the new Amex Community Stadium for unemployed 16 to 25 year olds.

14-18 May with a Taster Day on Wednesday 9 May.

Amex Community Stadium, Village Way, Falmer BN1 9BL

Join the five-day football programme to:

• work with Brighton & Hove Albion FC
• learn how to coach from professionals
• get new skills and a Level 1 Certificate in Football Coaching
• meet new people
• build your confidence

For further information call 07956 289881 or email jo.wren@princes-trust.org.uk or joanna.tolley@princes-trust.org.uk

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Active Sussex launched the first publication in its new Library of Sport series at the Sussex Coaching Fourm on 28 March.

Joint authors Anthony Statham, of Active Sussex, and Philippe Crisp of University of Chichester, presented a number of workshops and discussions drawn from the report, entitled Participation in Community Programmes.

The report that formed the basis of discussion, produced in conjunction with Active Sussex gold tier partner University of Chichester, started life as an academic research paper. "Our aim was to take heavy-duty academic research and make it applicable in a grassroots setting," said Anthony Statham. "With the addition of on-the-ground input from the coaching forum, we have brought together the two elements to produce what we hope is a useful research tool for coaches."

"The event was helpful to me as an NGB rep on a county and regional level," said Danny Williams, South East regional officer for the Angling Development Board. "I think a real cross-section of coaches would benefit from attending similar forums across the region."

Participation in Community Programmes is available to download as a PDF from our Knowledge Bank

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Sussex player Julian Cash, one of the rising stars of British tennis, secured victory in the U16 singles at the AEGON Winter National Tour Finals in Roehampton last month.

The 15-year-old West Sussex schoolboy took the title after he defeated Kyle Fellows 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in the final.

"It feels great to have played a tough final and I had some good wins through the weekend so I am really happy," he said after the tournament, which took place at the National Tennis Centre on 24-25 February.

Cash, who is supported by a 2012 SportsAid Award, trains at LTA high performance centre Virgin Active Brighton under the guidance of coach Rhys Hanger.

Currently ranked 671 in the Junior World ranking for U18s, Cash now has his sights set on Junior Wimbledon.

Read more on the Sussex LTA website

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Sports Coach UK's talent lead Stuart Armstrong hosted the breakfast

Leading coaches from across the South East gathered for the first talent coaches breakfast at K2 Crawley on 24 February.

Newly appointed Talent Lead at Sports Coach UK, Stuart Armstrong, introduced the session by raising a question mark over the tag 'talent'.

"Do we know what we mean when we say, 'talent' or identify a young person as 'talented'?" he asked.

From this starting point, the discussion that followed explored the age-old nature versus nurture debate in an even handed way, without polarising opinion.

Armstrong, a former full-time peformance coach for golf and hockey, drew out a number of hot topics for performance coaches, including a prescient debate on whether individuals should be selected on the basis of current form, or on potential.   

"The breakfast was an overwhelming success," said Active Sussex's Anthony Statham, who organised the event in partnership with sports coach UK. "We had a full house of high-level professionals, who all contributed to a fascinating discussion around contemporary coaching practice."

For those who missed this event, a repeat talent coaches breakfast will take place in Hampshire in the near future. For more details contact Anthony Statham on 01273 644149 or astatham@activesussex.org

To be kept up to date with all sports coaching developments in Sussex, including jobs, volunteering, funding and training opportunities, register with Coach Sussex

View all photos from the event on the Active Sussex Facebook page

Golf coach Neil Plimmer, Hampshire's coaching development manager CJ Lee and Nick Levett, the FA's National Development Manager for Youth Football

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Sport Maker of the month Sasha Gendre, right, with AITC Apprenticeship Manager Matt Dorn

A young apprentice from Albion in the Community, who took up coaching after she injured her pelvis playing football, has won the first Active Sussex Sport Maker of the month competition.

Sasha Gendre, 18, received a £50 shopping voucher on completing the required 10 hours of volunteering, after she took part in the first ever Sport Makers workshop in Sussex last year. She was presented with her prize by Cllr Chris Dowling, Chair of East Sussex County Council, at a ceremony on 29 February.

Sport Makers is a national programme inspired by London 2012 to encourage more people to become involved in sport. As a successful Sport Maker Sasha will also have her name entered to win one of 2,000 pairs of tickets to the London 2012 Olympics this summer.

Sasha, from Southwick, joined the AITC apprenticeship scheme after she injured her pelvis playing for a local team in Hassocks. "I decided to take up coaching so I could teach others what I knew about the game," she said. "It's a great way for me to keep going in the sport and hopefully I can return to playing next season."

In the meantime, Sasha will continue to help out at Mile Oak Wanderers, where she completed her 10 hours of volunteering to become Sport Maker of the month. She coaches two of the youth teams – the girls under 10s and boys under 13s. "It's definitely a challenge working with different age groups," she said. "I really like working with younger children. I'm down there every Saturday now."

And what will she be spending the voucher on? "I was thinking putting it towards sports equipment for the kids I work with, but I'll be saving some of it to spend on myself, too."

Interested in becoming a Sport Maker? If you register, attend a workshop and complete 10 hours' sports volunteering by 20 May you too will be entered to win on of 2,000 pairs of tickets for the London 2012 Olympics. To register go to www.sportmakers.co.uk or email Roanna Simmons on rsimmons@activesussex.org for more details

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Former England rugby union international Alastair Hignell emphasised the need for a lasting Olympic legacy in his keynote speech at the Sussex Legacy programme launch on 29 February.

Hignell praised the work of the county sports partnership and the government's plan to create real opportunities for sport in Sussex and across the country after the 2012 Games. He said the country had drawn inspiration from previous high profile sporting events, particularly England's 2003 rugby World Cup victory.

"I'm glad to see we have learnt from the experience of the [rugby] World Cup. There was a very large increase in participation in the sport after England's win and this was in large part due to the development work that went on behind the scenes before and after New Zealand.

"The thinking about what happens after the Olympics this year in London has already taken place to ensure the games will be a participation event, and not simply a demonstration event."

Active Sussex chose the leap day, 29 February, to launch six strands of its sporting legacy plan for Sussex: Sportivate, Sport Makers, Sussex Sports Awards, School Games, Sussex Coaching Bursary and Active & Healthy Workplaces.

Sussex Legacy aims to capture the thrill of the London 2012 Games and increase the numbers of people taking part, coaching and running sport in Sussex. Introducing Sussex Legacy at the briefing at Sussex County Cricket Club, Active Sussex's Business Development Manager Geraldine Bloomfield said: "We hope to pass on the gift of a sporting habit for life through our programmes in Sussex and are proud to have Alastair support us here today." 

Hignell, who now lives in Brighton, had successful careers as a rugby union international, county cricket player and BBC commentator before retirement. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999 and was awarded a CBE for his sport and charity work in 2009. 

For more information about Sussex Legacy, visit the Active Sussex dedicated 2012 pages

View all the photos from the launch on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/activesussexcsp

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Active Sussex's Rowana Simmons and her hearing dog Sammy watch AITC Sport Makers testing kwik cricket at Albion's Community Stadium

Apprentices from Albion in the Community (AITC), the community arm of Brighton & Hove FC, have joined thousands of organisations across the country helping more people play sport by joining Sport England's Sport Makers programme.

AITC held the first Sport Makers workshop in Sussex at the American Express Community Stadium in December, when 27 of its apprentices from AITC's Education and Disability departments joined AITC Staff for an inspiring workshop run by Sports Coach UK tutor John Robinson, who encouraged them to be great Sport Makers.

The AITC workshop, which was specifically tailored for its apprentices, helped provide the knowledge, information and connections to get better at making sport happen. AITC Apprenticeship Tutor Dwayne Clevett said: "This is a great way of helping [our apprentices] further develop their leadership skills and confidence. We're looking forward to supporting them in developing sporting opportunities in their communities in 2012."

Active Sussex is responsible for organising Sport Maker events and recruitment in Sussex, which is part of its Leap into Legacy programme.

Roanna Simmons, Sports Development Officer at Active Sussex, said: "Now the workshop is over, the fun starts where they go out and make a difference in sport activities. The Sport Makers will now have further opportunities to increase participation through Sportivate and the Coach Sussex Bursary projects. I have no doubt that all of them will quickly reach their target of 10 hours volunteering."

"When they reach their 10 hour target, Sport Makers are entered to a ballot to win a free Olympic tickets. After all, the entire programme was created to be a part of the Olympic movement." 

The next Sport Makers workshops open to the public take place in East Grinstead (16 Feb), Sussex County Cricket Club (23 Feb) and Triangle Burgess Hill (15 March).

To register as a Sport Maker and sign up to attend one of the forthcoming workshops in Sussex, go to www.sportmakers.co.uk

For more details on how to become a Sport Maker or if you're an organisation looking to recruit Sport Makers please contact Roanna on rsimmons@activesussex.org

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Active Sussex hosted a coaches' breakfast on the last Friday of Brighton and Hove's TakePart festival, adding a vital networking element to the successful fortnight of sporting events.

Over 20 coaches made their way to the Yellowave Beach Cafe on Brighton seafront at 7:30am on 8 July for coffee and pastries, before an hour of networking and discussion.

"We wanted to see if the breakfast meeting format, already well-established in the business world, would transfer to the coaching community," said Active Sussex's Anthony Statham, who organised the event.

"Judging by the turnout and feedback, this is clearly something we would look to repeat elsewhere in the county, as well as here in Brighton."

For more information on coaches' network meetings, contact Anthony Statham on astatham@activesussex.org or 01273 644149.

See all the photos from the coaches' breakfast

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