Latest news

Raw talent required for Boccia Paralympic talent day

boccia website

Boccia England is hosting a talent day at Angmering School on Wednesday 7 March.

The skills testing session is open to new and existing Boccia players who are power chair players or cerebral palsy wheelchair athletes.

Boccia England scouts will be there on the day to identify the most talented athletes in the county, assessing players for acceptance onto the Boccia Paralympic pathway.

All participants will gain a provisional Boccia classification, and successful applicants will be paired to a local club for skills development, as well as being introduced into the regional talent group.

Sussex Playground to Podium CAAD talent day takes place at Angmering School on 7 March from 1:30-3:30pm.

For more details and to attend, contact Matt Kendrick on 0115 9678455 or mkendrick@bocciaengland.org.uk

21 February 2012 14:53

World No.1 Bayley selected for London 2012

will bayley2

Sussex table tennis player Will Bayley is hoping to continue his world beating form, after being selected for the 10-strong squad to compete at the London 2012 Paralympics.

The call-up comes

08 February 2012 10:11

Albion apprentices sign up as Sport Makers

AITC sportmakers 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

06 February 2012 14:31

Sports clubs urged to apply for 2012 Legacy fund

tennis coaching

Up to £10m in Lottery funding has been made available by the government and Sport England in the latest round of its Olympic legacy funding programme.

Sports clubs and organisations are encouraged to bid for a portion of the Inspired Facilities fund. The money can be used on anything from new equipment to refurbishing existing buildings.

Inspired Facilities is focused on making it easier for local community and volunteer groups to improve and refurbish sports clubs or transform non-sporting venues into modern grassroots sport facilities.

Investment is available to breathe new life into tired facilities and equipment including:

building modernisation
outdoor sports lighting
outdoor sports surfaces
community club buildings
sports equipment

To find out more and bid for funds, visit www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities

03 February 2012 15:14

New £1 zumba classes aim to get teenage girls active

teenage zumba

An Eastbourne leisure centre is starting a weekly subsidised zumba class aimed specifically at teenage girls.

Thanks to funding from Active Sussex's Olympic Legacy programme Sportivate, the

27 January 2012 14:44

Subsidised training to lead your own running group

Run england

Are you serious about running? Ever thought about setting up your own running group for friends or colleagues? Half price places are availble on a one-day course that will give you all the training required by Run England and England Athletics to set up your own casual running group for beginners.

Once you're completed the day training and registered with Run England, you'll be ready to go. What you do with the group after that is entirely up to you. You can collect subscriptions, plan schedules, regular runs and trips – even start entering competitions.

The Leadership in Running Fitness Course will be of interest not only to individuals who want to share their love of running, but also to community organisations, employers looking to improve the health and wellbeing of their staff, and running and athletics clubs looking to engage with beginners in their area.

Leadership in Running Fitness Course, 26 February, at Falmer Sports Centre, University of Brighton. £90. 8:45am-5:30pm.

To register for half-price subsidised place priced at £45, contact Diane Farmer on dianefarmer@btinternet.com

Freedom Leisure earmarks £7m to improve Wealden centres

swimming hailsham

Active Sussex Gold Tier Partner Freedom Leisure is to invest a total of £7m in the four leisure centres it runs on behalf of Wealden District Council, following a new 10-year management

16 January 2012 09:59

Free lifeguard training for unemployed job seekers

swimming on blocks

Brighton based training centre Swim UK is offering individuals free training to get a foot onto the career ladder.

If you are receiving job seekers allowance and are over 19 you could be eligible to a free RLSS Pool Lifeguard course enabling you to become a fully trained lifeguard. The qualification will allow you to apply for jobs as a lifeguard within the leisure industry, for example at leisure centres and swim schools. The course would normally cost £169.

Swim UK will be running three Lifeguard courses in Brighton, one per month, with the first five-day course starting the week beginning 20 February.

Paul Smith, Swim UK Director says: "This is a great opportunity for those seeking employment. It will give individuals the opportunity to gain industry recognised qualifications helping them to gain work in the leisure industry."

The free places have been made possible by support from the Skills Funding Agency.

For more information and to apply call 01273 414214 or visit www.swimuk.co.uk

11 January 2012 11:39

Paralympics sponsor invests £10m for School Games

school games discus

London 2012 Paralympic Games sponsor Sainsbury’s today pledged a £10 million package to support the new School Games Competition over the next four years. The company's financial input will mean

10 January 2012 12:23

Sussex baller named player of the year

luke nelson reading web Luke Nelson, playing for his current club Reading Rockets against Derby Trailblazers. Photo courtesy of John Gonzalez

Sussex basketball player Luke Nelson has been named Under-16 men's player of the year 2011 by England Basketball, after a series of exceptional performances for club and country.

Nelson started the season as point guard for the promotion-winning Division A national side, averaging a team-high 13.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists on a 42.1 per cent shooting average. Nelson played a key role in England's game against Israel to secure promotion, with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

Nelson, son of Worthing Thunder U18 coach Steve Nelson, played his club basketball for Worthing Thunder Juniors last season, before joining Reading Rockets this season.

Full story and video clips on Hoopsfix

Interview with Steve Nelson after victory at the Sussex Sports Awards 2011

05 January 2012 14:26

Sussex Angling Academy recognised at BBC awards

BBCSportHeroes

Graham Cridland, centre, receives the Community Heroes for Sport award from Sophia Warner, left, and the BBC's Tim Durrans

The innovative West Sussex Angling Academy received yet another accolade

04 January 2012 00:00

Boxing coach wins award for Chichester club

gerry lavelle

Former England boxer Gerry Lavelle has been awarded the Barclays Community Sports Award for his work supporting amateur boxers in Chichester.

The Barclays Community Sports Awards, now in its

21 December 2011 15:13

Dick Knight pays tribute to Albion's work in the community

Dick_Knight

Dick Knight, life president of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, paid tribute to the work of the club's development arm, Albion in the Community, when he picked up the honorary Special Recognition Award on behalf of the club at the Sussex Sports Awards.

"People who support the Albion should be proud of [the club]," said Knight, after collecting the award at the Hilton Brighton Metropole on 25 November. "It's so much more than just what happens on the playing side. It's about the power of sport to interest people, engage with them and then improve their lives."

Watch the full interview below. Dick was talking to Jay Legate, for Active Sussex.

04 December 2011 22:39

Wheelchair tennis ace triumphs at Sussex Sports Awards

Lauren Jones receives her award from Cllr Peter Newnham and four-time Paralympian Richard Schabel

Worthing wheelchair tennis player Lauren Jones topped a successful year by winning the Cllr Niki

30 November 2011 09:45

Brighton's Quilter takes gold at European Championships

quilter competition

Visually Impaired (VI) judo world champion Ben Quilter added European gold to his impressive tally of titles on Friday, when he won the 2011 VI European Championships at K2, Crawley.

After beating Russia's Artem Merkulov in the final of the -60kg category, the 30 year old from Brighton admitted he'd been nervous about fighting in front of his home crowd.

“I felt pressure coming into the event. I had a lot of family and friends at the venue to support me, and so I’m delighted to win and quite relieved at the same time.”

Ben, who was awarded Sports Personality of the Year at the 2010 Sussex Sports Awards, now has his sights firmly set on a Paralympic gold medal at London 2012.

Read on

21 November 2011 10:11

Street20 cricket comes to Crawley youth project

street20 cricket

An award winning social inclusion programme – the K2 Crawley Friday Night Project – is to add Street20 cricket to its activities for young people from 25 November.

Young people aged 11-19

21 November 2011 00:00

Final week for to apply for Sportivate grants of up to £10,000

climber

Applications close on Saturday 19 November for Year Two of Active Sussex's Sportivate fund.

Organisations and sports clubs can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 to run sports projects for young people in the county. This tranche of funding is for programmes that take place in the year April 2012 to March 2013.

Sportivate targets 14-25 year olds who may not seek out sporting opportunities themselves or those who are doing sport for a very limited amount of time.

Examples of successful bids can be found on the Active Sussex case study database. Search on keyword 'Sportivate'.

For more details about the fund and eligibility, contact Gemma Finlay on 01273 643838 or gfinlay@activesussex.org

Closing date is 19 November.

Read on and apply

14 November 2011 13:40

Olympic torch route for Sussex

brighton torch

The route of the Olympic torch relay for Sussex has been confirmed, with the itinerary for the flame's torchbearers in the South East announced today by LOCOG, the Organising Committee of the

07 November 2011 09:17

Sussex School Games plans take shape

Representatives from across Sussex met at the University of Brighton on 13 July to discuss plans for the new School Games, which start next year.

"This is an opportunity to begin the task of ensuring all relevant groups are engaged with the School Games at an early stage, and that they are represented at the highest levels on the organising committee," said Active Sussex's Chief Executive Sadie Mason.

The School Games, a government backed Legacy initiative to raise the profile of competitive games in schools, is being piloted in nine regions and will launch nationally in Olympic year, 2012.

13 July 2011 15:36

Successful debut for coaches' breakfast

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

12 July 2011 12:26

What's on

Sport Makers Workshop Burgess Hill

sport maker

Sussex Sport Makers will host its first workshop in Mid Sussex on 15 March at the Triangle, Burgess Hill.

Whether it’s planning the route, finding the pitch or encouraging people to take part – sport doesn’t just happen, it needs people to make it happen. Become one of 40,000 Sport Makers and you’ll not only get the skills, knowledge and opportunities you need to get more people playing sport, you’ll become part of the official London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sports legacy.

With over 10,000 Sport Makers already signed up nationally, and less than 200 days until the London Olympics begins, now's the time to come along and discover what the programme has to offer.

If you're interested in becoming a Sport Maker, go to the Sport Makers website to sign up. Once registered, you can book your place on the workshop for free via the website.

Sport Makers Workshop, Triangle, Burgess Hill, 15 March. 5:30-8:30pm.