Advice and Training

Gipping Valley & Thurston School Sport Partnership 'Celebrations Day' 2008

Gipping Valley & Thurston School Sport Partnership held a 'Celebrations Day' on Wed 4th June 2008 at the Stowmarket High School. The aim was to get more youngsters involved in sporting activities and promote local sports clubs in the area.

There were 19 different activities taking place ranging from the usual Football, Cricket, Tag Rugby, Hockey, Badminton etc to the more unusual Speed Stack, Frisbee, Croquet & circus skills and included this year running by Stowmarket Striders.

The activities were arranged on a carousel basis with the schools moving onto the next activity every 20 mins which gave the children just a quick taste of some of the activities. Peter Tricker managed to get through five schools in the morning and another five in the afternoon session.

The schools participating were mainly primary with ages ranging from 6 to 9 years and by all accounts the feedback has been very good and certainly the children appeared to enjoy themselves on the day, especially the obstacle course!

This was a worthwhile experience and helped to promote our own club to the local schools and of course very importantly get them into Running.

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Suffolk Youth Games

Coaches from Stowmarket Striders have coached the Mid Suffolk District Council Athletics team in the annual Suffolk Youth games since 2006. Over the years the teams have shown steady improvement as the coaches gain in experience of this event and what is needed from the athletes. Considering the preparation and training facilities available to the team they do exceptionally well and have successes against teams from Ipswich and Waveney with a stronger base to work from and better facilities to train in.

2006 Redrow Suffolk Youth Games Sunday 16 July 2006

Over 1000 young people representing Suffolk's sporting future converged on Bury St Edmunds on 16 July for the seventh Suffolk Youth Games. The competition in all ten sports was keen with standards of performance the best to date. This was ably demonstrated to all in particular in the last event of the day, the Tag Rugby final, which went to extra time. Mid Suffolk emerged as worthy winners by the narrowest of margins over Forest Heath side. The big crowd, which had assembled were entertained by a thrilling spectacle where the level of skill, commitment and fair play was an example for all.

Waveney won the overall Team award for the second consecutive year with Ipswich and Mid Suffolk in second and third places respectively.

The Mid Suffolk Athletics Team was coached by coaches from Striders (Richard, Sue, Peter, Stuart, Les and Chris) and achieved a highly creditable third place in the Athletics competition. A team of seven boys and seven girls competed in a range of events. On the track there were races over 60m, 150m and 600m. Field events were the long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot, hammer and javelin. The competition finished with the boys, girls and mixed relays with the final positions not being decided until the last events.

The Youth Games programme is designed to get more young people taking part regularly in club sport. In the weeks leading in to the Games the Striders coaches in partnership with the Mid Suffolk District Council Sports Development Team recruited and coached the prospective athletes and selected the final team.

The Mid Suffolk Sports Development Team was so impressed with our work that they nominated us for the Suffolk Sports “Unilever Spirit of the Games Award”.

This is their nomination:

“On the day of the Suffolk Youth Games 2006 and the weeks building up to it, Mid Suffolk's Athletics Coaches overcame many barriers in achieving and inspiring many youngsters in the District to reach their full potential as well as enjoying their progress in their chosen sport.

Without an Athletics Club in the District it was evident Mid Suffolk was going to struggle to find enthusiastic and experienced Coaches to assist in the Programme, but from the initial meeting with Stowmarket Striders Road Running Club my opinion soon changed.

It was evident how enthusiastic and excited each Coach was about the prospect of challenging something new as well as the chance to enter such a massive Festival of Sport in the County. I truly admired their enthusiasm, asking about how they would look to link in with the local Schools, enthusing the youngsters in the area to 'come and try' at each session making it accessible to all.

With no experience of coaching certain disciplines within Athletics, they took it upon themselves to set up regular meetings, conducting their own research and sharing their experiences with the Group so they could learn from each other as well as Sports Development. Their enthusiasm was unquestionable from the first instant, and the first session they performed in such a professional and encouraging manner, every Child attending was enthused by their optimism and knowledge.

In addition to their enthusiasm and commitment, every Saturday the Coaches travelled to Bury Leisure Centre to train the keen youngsters, none of the Coaches received financial benefits, with Mid Suffolk making a donation to the Club as a developmental initiative for the Junior Section in the Club, as agreed by all.

The group of Coaches performed beyond their call of duty for the benefit of all the participants, organising additional Training Sessions for selected Squad Athletes enabling them to develop further, reaching their full potential.

On the actual day of the Suffolk Youth Games, the team of Coaches summed up what the Youth Games are all about, friendly competitiveness, encouragement, enthusiasm and ensuring the enjoyment of all involved. Demonstrating their professionalism, ensuring a progressive pathway for the Children subsequent to the day, they asked Sports Development to recommend Athletics Clubs in the County to cater for their individual needs.

Throughout the day they requested updates on how everyone else was getting on; enthused by the occasion they supported individuals and teams in all other sports they watched. They were the first ones there supporting the Tag Rugby Team in the Final, rallying up everyone to support the District's Finalists, encouraging through out and acting as true role models to all.

Each and every one of these individuals should be recognised for not only their dedication and enthusiasm for developing Athletics in the District, but also their infectious passion they each have for Coaching and ensuring individuals develop further towards their aspired goals and objectives. This team of Coaches illustrates the exact qualities and attributes you look for in Coaches, as well as so much more. Therefore I believe the Suffolk Youth Games Athletics Team Managers from Mid Suffolk thoroughly deserve recognition from such an Award and I have no hesitation in nominating them.”

Chloe McMorran, Sports Development, Mid Suffolk DC

We were runners up in the Unilever Spirit of the Games Award 2006 at the prestigious Suffolk Sports Awards Evening on Sunday 15^th October at the Galleria, Ipswich Town.

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Coaching for Schools

Following on from the Gipping Valley & Thurston School Sport Partnership 'Celebrations Day' Peter Tricker has done a six-week block coaching session at Bacton Middle School, a one-hour session on Wednesday afternoons for the half term period ( 10th Sept - 22nd Oct ).

The sessions gave the youngsters an opportunity to do athletics type training involving plenty of running, from shuttles to a one mile time trial on the last week. The sessions always included a fun activity of an obstacle course or game that the children thoroughly enjoyed. Fortunately the weather was dry and all the sessions were held outside on their playing field. The feedback from the school and parents has been very positive which is always nice to receive. Peter believes some of the children have already started coming to our junior training sessions!
For the second half term period (3rd Nov - 15th Dec ) Peter is now coaching 9 - 13yrs at Beyton Middle School.

Coaches from Stowmarket Striders have held numerous coaching sessions for various schools in and around Mid Suffolk where they have trained groups of school children in the art of running while giving them a generally enjoyable athletic experience.