Chairman's Statement - October 2008
9th October 2008by Mike Briers
The listing was posted by England Handball
Chairman's Update
October 2008
The first three months have been exciting and exhilarating, and to a degree exhausting!
Due largely to the Olympics in London in 2012, our sport is under the microscope as never before, from all quarters – Sport England, the media, other Governing Bodies and our friends in the European Handball Federation.
We are faced with unprecedented interest and demand for information and courses from individuals, schools, universities and the community.
The Executive have been heavily involved with Sport England – 5 meetings have been held; 2 in
Sport
Mick Hegarty, our Development Officer, has continued to be extremely busy. He has organised 2 new Committees – one for Schools and the second for Community Development. Mick has brought together on these two groups some very experienced and dedicated professionals, who are all keen to drive our development forward. We really need them to be successful. Good luck to you all!
We have developed a Universities Programme, offering an Introductory Course to universities running Postgraduate certificate in Education (PGCE) PE courses. This is to target future PE teachers. The uptake has been most encouraging, with 16 courses planned at present and more being negotiated. These courses will eventually, as our workforce develops, be extended to other universities and a Level 1 Coaching Award will also be on offer.
With our Level 1 Coaching Award already accredited, by 1st4Sport, we are pushing on and trying to organise the Level 2 Award. We have been fortunate in obtaining the help of the Rugby Football Union’s Coaching Department, who have offered their expertise to us and this will speed up the project. All this will enable us to improve our coaching structure and eventually, the quality of our club coaching.
With this aim in mind, we are going to run our first ever Coaching Conference in June 2009. It is anticipated that coaches from either
Street Games, a relatively new charity, has provided inner-city youngsters with the opportunity to play a range of sports. Handball has become a firm favourite and 19 new teams took part in a tournament in
The League Programme for our elite clubs has now started and our sincere thanks must go to Carl Norman and his Committee, who have spent an inordinate amount of time and effort putting the League programme together. This is our flagship activity and, as I said at the start, we are very much “under the microscope.” Quality presentation of League matches is paramount. All teams must be suitably dressed, including referees. Exemplary conduct is essential from all players and officials.
Good luck to our 3 clubs entering the EHF Challenge Cup competition this weekend – I remember those great occasions with
Our thanks to Miriam Pupalova for all her work organising the referees, in addition to her outstanding work developing the sport in the
We have received a pleasing grant from the IHF, for equipment to help develop the game.
One of our major objectives is to help clubs to develop. We are putting together a package which will be distributed to clubs, detailing how to contact local schools and education authorities, how to obtain funding and how to get ClubMark. We hope to encourage all clubs to develop junior and youth sections and perhaps even male and female senior teams. We want the clubs to become thriving and active in the local community. Get families involved! Parents will often do a lot of excellent work for a club where their children are active and happy.
We have and will continue to get excellent support from our friends in the EHF. There is a newly drafted Foster Agreement with
Last, but by no means least, sincere thanks to John Compton for all his work on the website. Long may this continue!
Please can I ask you to support the GB Ladies Squad in their important 4 Nations Tournament in
Mike Briers
Acting Chair