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The future of school sport in Sussex was debated by over 100 stakeholders from the education, health and sport sectors at the Amex Stadium on 1 May at the first Sussex School Sport Summit.

The summit was organised by Albion in the Community and Active Sussex in response to the government’s announcement in March of a new £150 million funding package for school sport and PE provision – the equivalent of approximately £9,250 per year over the next two years for every primary school in England.

Over £4 million of the government’s funding, which will come from the Department of Education, Department of Health and Department of Culture, Media and Sport, will be allocated to primary schools in Sussex.

Guests at the event examined the issues around the new funding. The general consensus was that pupils should be at the heart of the plans so they can be inspired by a high quality first experience of PE and school sport. A real interest was expressed to work inpartnership to maximise the opportunity presented, and create a sustainable legacy. Delegates recorded the hot topics on Twitter, allowing interested parties who could not attend to participate remotely.

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Calling all Sport Makers – Active Sussex has a pair of tickets up for grabs for the AEGON International Tennis Tournament in Eastbourne this June.

In partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association, Active Sussex is offering a lucky Sport Maker the opportunity to win two tickets to the AEGON International Tennis Tournament, which takes place 15-22 June.

To win the tickets we are asking you to complete 10 Sport Maker hours specifically through tennis. So dust off those racquets, don some shorts, if you dare, and enjoy the summer season of tennis!

You could head to your local park with your mates and have a game, or help out at your local tennis club. This is your opportunity to make tennis happen at any level, and you could be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize.

How to Enter

Email Gina Rogers at grogers@activesussex.org outlining what you have done to achieve your 10 Sport Maker hours through tennis. It may be that you have already completed a few hours and you need to top up the rest. This is absolutely fine – as long as you complete the full 10 hours you will be eligible to win. Please also include your contact details: full name, email address, postal address (suitable for receiving tickets) and a contact telephone number.

Pictures of you playing tennis are welcome and encouraged! Share your photos on our Sussex Sport Makers Facebook page

For further information on clubs and courts in your area please visit www.lta.org.uk/allplaytennis/ type in your postcode and away you go.

The closing date for the competition is Friday 31 May. You will need to be available on Monday 17 June to attend the tournament.

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Inmates at HM Prison Lewes will be able to take part in sports sessions and train to become qualified table tennis coaches this summer, thanks to an innovative Sportivate project run jointly by Brighton Table Tennis Club and Active Sussex.

Prisoners who complete one of the two eight-week courses will be supported to train as ETTA Level 1 coaches. On release, those who qualify will be offered

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Wakeboarder Lily Mcbride, who coached last year's Sportivate Wakeboarding for Girls at Hove Lagoon Watersports, funded by Active Sussex

Sport England has allocated £24m worth of funding to extend its Sportivate programme. 

The scheme, which will run until 2017, has been designed to help 14- to 25-year-olds to get involved in sports by offering discounted and free sessions in sports ranging from judo and tennis to wakeboarding. It is delivered by the network of 49 county sports partnerships, working with local clubs and providers.

It aims to give young people - who currently aren't playing sport in their own time - the chance to find a sport they like. The young people are then helped to find a club or venue where they can keep taking part. Research shows that most of the young people are sticking with sport three months after they've completed the Sportivate course.

New figures published today show almost 190,000 teenagers and young adults have so far benefitted from free or discounted six- to eight-week sport courses through Sportivate. Of these, 156,547 have successfully completed their coaching course, missing no more than one session.

Sport England chief executive Jennie Price, said: "Sportivate's success is built on listening to what young people want from sport and then giving them great opportunities to get involved.

"With dozens of traditional and non-traditional sports on offer, lots of young people are getting active and discovering a sport they really enjoy and want to keep playing."

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England Basketball's Miguel Tello chooses his top five places to play ball in Sussex.

1. Brighton Beach Seafront Court

Free to use and open year round, the court on Brighton's iconic seafront is the unofficial hub for street ball in Sussex.

Miguel says: " A fantastic location, with load of passers by, means this is busy all year round with a readymade audience to watch your skills."

Best

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The Senior Girls team won the English Schools team event, and the Foyston trophy

The Sussex schools squad had a fantastic day of running on an extremely muddy course at the English Schools Athletic Association cross country championships, Catton Hall, Derbyshire, on 16 March, with three of its six teams winning trophies.

First up for honours were the junior boys, who won the Lockhurst Lane trophy, awarded to the first team to get all eight of its runners home. Archie Davies (Patcham), leading the field for Sussex, came 12th overall.

The Senior girls won the team event and the Foyston trophy with Grace Baker (Rye) leading home her Sussex team mates in a brilliant fifth position, with Nicole Taylor (Beacon) 10th, Emma Dixon (BHASVIC) 24th, Maddy Smith (St. Bedes) 50th, Mylene Schuwey (Hailsham) 92nd and Megan Bradford (Varndean) 103rd making up the six scorers.

The Intermediate boys were the revelation of the day with Stephen Ferroni (BACA) coming in 10th to be the first Sussex scorer. The team won the Yorkshire cup, 67 points ahead of nearest rivals Kent. With Billy White (Patcham) in 13th, Josh Woods (Blatch Mill) in 17th, Jake Alger (Seaford Head) in 19th, Harry Leleu (Seaford Coll) in 32nd and Jack Witt (Brighton coll) in 38th, all six scorers finished in the top 40.

The Intermediate Boys team secured the Yorkshire Cup

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Schools from the nine School Games areas did their regions proud at the Sussex School Games Winter Finals, which took place on 6 March at Lancing College.

The Winter Finals is an annual seasonal competition focusing on team sport. It features just four disciplines – football, hockey, netball and rugby sevens – with the best teams drawn from Sussex schools competing for regional and individual honours. Over 400 children took part on the day.

Active Sussex and the Sainsbury's School Games Local Organising Committee are delighted to announce the final results for first placed and runners-up and the overall standings for each region are as follows:

Year 5/6 Girls Football

Winner: West Green Primary School (Crawley) – pictured
Runner-up: Sacred Heart Catholic Primary (Hastings & Rother)

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Project 500 is a new campaign to address the imbalance in the numbers of male to female coaches. Devised by the seven South East county sports partnerships, the project aims to recruit 500 women to coaching over the next two years.  

Launched on 8 March to mark International Women's Day, Project 500 is a pilot scheme, with plans to roll it out nationally after an initial trial period. Key to

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A record number of runners crossed the finish line at the 23rd annual Brighton Half Marathon, which took place on Sunday 17 February in near perfect conditions.

Competitors faced a light easterly wind on an otherwise ideal day for running, finishing in front of enthusiastic crowds drawn to Brighton seafront by Sunday's blue skies and sunshine.

Paul Martelletti from Victoria Park Harriers dominated the men's field and came first in a gun time of 01:07:30, nearly a minute ahead of runner up Tom Aldred from London Heathside Runners. Ian Leitch from Phoenix AC took third place in 01:08:32.

In the women's race, first place was taken by Emma Taylor-Gooby (Worthing and District Harriers), who smashed the course record after crossing the finish line in a time of 01:18:06. Sarah Hill of Farnham Runners came second in 01:19:23 ahead of Kate Mapham from Ful-On Tri in 01:21:27.

The one-mile Youth Races saw 383 young runners take part, divided into four age categories (7-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17 years) with Benedict Pugh (Y15-17) taking the overall male title in 00:05:12 and Nancy Jones (Y13-14) from Brighton and Hove AC the first female to cross the finish line in 00:05:36.

The Brighton Half Marathon is organised by and is the main fundraiser for The Sussex Beacon, a unique centre providing innovative services to meet the changing needs of people living with HIV.

For details of all the finishers, go to www.brightonhalfmarathon.com

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Badminton England's Andy Dyke and Adur and Worthing's Tammy Waine

National Governing Bodies of sport made use of a quick-fire format to link with charities, local authorities, schools and FE reps at the Active Sussex Network meet on Tuesday. The event was a chance for Sussex NGB reps to outline their new plans, to be rolled out from April.

Sport England is investing £493m into 46 sports

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Lancing College will host the next Sussex School Games, which takes place on 6 March 2013.

Building on the success of the inaugural Games in July of 2012, there are two events planned for 2013: a winter and summer finals, both supported by headline sponsor Sainsbury's.

Lancing College will host the Winter Finals on 6 March and the Summer Finals will return to K2 Crawley, site of the 2012 Games, on 10 July 2013.

Jonathan Gillespie, headmaster of Lancing College, said: "Lancing College is delighted to be hosting the Winter Finals in March and we look forward to welcoming our many visitors on the day. In the meantime, we wish all teams and competitors the best of fortune in the preliminary rounds."

Organised jointly by Active Sussex and a Local Organising Committee made up of representatives from schools across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, the 2012 Games saw over 1,000 children come together for a celebration of competitive sport.

For more details and for local contact information, visit the Sussex School Games website

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Calling all sports fans - come along to our FREE Sport Makers workshop on Thursday and learn all about sports volunteering from Olympic silver medallist Peter Waterfield.

Diving sensation Peter, who partnered Tom Daley at London 2012 in the 10m syncro high board, is hosting the workshop at K2 Crawley on Thursday 7 February from 18:30-21:00. To sign up visit www.sportmakers.co.uk

For more details about volunteering in Sussex, join our Facebook community at www.facebook.com/SportMakersSussex

Below, Pete Waterfield spoke to Active Sussex about diving, competing at the Olympics – and why he chose to get involved with Sport Makers.

What do you love about your sport?

One aspect of my sport that I love is the danger, if I do one thing wrong; not jump high enough, not tuck tight enough or rotate quick enough I could be in serious trouble! That fear makes me train harder and it gives me a real buzz when I get a dive right.

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