The Sport Aberdeen Modern Apprentice Scheme has given several youngsters the opportunity to take on a variety of full time roles within the company.

Living in Cove and working at Kincorth Sports Centre, Cassie has always been involved with Sports and leapt at the opportunity to become a Modern Apprentice with Sport Aberdeen.

“My Deputy Head knew I didn’t want to be in school, but playing for Scotland meant there was no real point in getting a typical office job as I was unlikely to get time off. So she told me about the modern apprentice scheme and I thought I’d go for it.  I take a lot of girls football classes so it’s good they can see that it is possible to juggle work and sport.”

Having now found the work/sport balance, it was not always so easy for Cassie who is now a regular starter for both her club and the national side.

“I used to just play boys football. I played for Cove, then Lewis United and I’m with Aberdeen Ladies now. But It wasn’t until the under 13 level that I started playing girls football. I never even knew other girls played football! My dad wasn’t sure to begin with, but he got a massive shock when I started. The quality of play was far better than he’d thought. Playing with boys developed me a lot and made me physically strong so I switch between centre back and defensive mid. I’ve been with Aberdeen Ladies (Full team) for 4 years now but I was dropped recently for being a bit of a pain!”

Harder still than challenging for a place in the starting line-up at club level is breaking into the International scene.

“I was involved with Scottish schools first so they were always watching me develop. It’s harder up here because the coaches live in Glasgow and see players down their all the time. So when they do come up to watch you just have to hope for a good game. But once the foot is in the door I think you are always being clocked.

My first call up was against Germany I think in 2013 and that was for the under 15’s. I’m about to join the under 19’s. With the under 17’s we got to the second phase of the euros, but were knocked out by France 3-1. We ended up playing two at the back and just went for it!”

With so much of her career ahead of her Cassie already has a wealth of memories from her time as a footballer.

“I think my favourite memory was playing in front of my parents for the first time. When I was at school I wasn’t the best behaved and I always got into trouble so people didn’t think I’d get very far. So looking back at that it’s hard to believe now I have sixteen caps. It doesn’t seem real and it’s happened so fast! My dad watches me play every game but my mum worries too much when she comes. I think she’s bad luck though, we’ve always lost when she watches!”

The 2015 Women’s World Cup has again showcased to audiences in every country the standard of football being played. And while the sport is undoubtedly building in awareness, finance and participation there are still a number of issues.

“I think woman’s football is getting better. But there’s just not enough money invested into it. It could go massive, but wages just aren’t good enough. Full professional players have to have a second job. We train as hard as men, but men are able to develop quicker and they are just better. So if anything we have to train more. But since I’ve started it has come a long way. I didn’t even know it existed and now there’s a team wherever you go.”

So with the future looking bright for both Cassie and the game it is onwards and upwards as she looks to continue her development.

“The next step is just to keep working and make my way up the Scotland levels. I’m enjoying my football at Aberdeen so I’m not looking to move on but obviously I want to keep up with Scotland and play at each rank and obviously the full senior team.

We’ve just established a proper link with Aberdeen Football Club for the first time. Everyone assumed we already were but it’s only just happened which is exciting. Now we are getting proper home and away strips and training equipment so it’s already growing. It will get good publicity and the relationship will grow.”

 The sudden adjustment from school to full time employment can be a daunting one for some. For 17 year old Cassie Cowper the challenge is even greater as she juggles her other career as a footballer for both club and country.

Staff from Scottish & Southern Energy Power Distribution completed a grueling cycling challenge to raise funds for charity on the 17^th June.

Using Precor Bikes donated by Sport Aberdeen, the team of 20 originally aimed to cycle 300 miles, the distance between their large depots in Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Inverness.

The cyclists may not have moved an inch but there was plenty of sweat involved as they powered through the distance. However the SSE employees would smash their target by an additional 100 miles in an effort to also raise awareness for health and wellbeing in the work place.

The group managed to raise over £750 with the figure still rising and the donation will be made to Cash For Kids.

Customer Service Manager at Sport Aberdeen, Graham Ritchie, was more than happy to supply the bikes. “The Alex Collie and Jesmond Centre’s were happy to help SSE with their worthwhile cycle fundraising event by providing a couple of bikes for their challenge. Sport Aberdeen’s cooperation with external partners helps maintain good working relationships within the community and helps build people’s awareness of the benefits of a healthy active lifestyle with support for this type of event”.

Bobby Thomson, Team Manager at Scottish & Southern Energy Power Distribution’s Aberdeen Depot was delighted to see their fundraising go to such a good cause. “Cash for Kids is a great charity that does so much to help vulnerable children in our communities. The work they do is inspiring and we thought it would be great to organise an event to raise money for it.”

“A huge thanks must go to Sport Aberdeen for providing the exercise bikes.”

Discipline is a vital part of any martial arts and for every athlete this includes maintaining the appearance and cleanliness of the appropriate attire.

But for clubCAP club Sooyang Do this strictness was temporarily abolished in favour of mud, more mud and pain!

Raising over £640 for the Archie Foundation, 5 of the clubs members took on a Tough Mudder Challenge which involves miles of numerous obstacles and of course, mud!

Good luck getting these back into a presentable condition!

The Sport Aberdeen clubCAP scheme continues to grow after inductions at the Aberdeen Sports Council Awards.

Dyce Boys Football Club and the UK Sooyang Do Association both renewed their membership which will see their Enhanced Accreditation continue for another three years whilst Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association has entered the scheme at Standard Level.

The clubs were presented with their certification at the Aberdeen Sports Council Awards on the 26^thJune at the Garioch Sports Trust.

Dyce Boys Club presented their certification by Managing Director, Alistair Robertson

Master Bruce Wood of Sooyang Do said “The UK Sooyang Do Association are delighted and proud to have again received clubCAP Enhanced Accreditation certification, reflecting the diligence of all of our instructors and volunteers.”

“We look forward to using the experience gained to help us improve even further as we continue to seek to offer the highest possible standards to everyone involved with the Sooyang Do organisation.“

The clubCAP accreditation program is a quality assurance scheme where sports clubs work towards certain standards to prove they are running in a well organised manner. The standards cover club management, equality and ethics, coaching, duty of care and child protection.

If you would like to learn more about the scheme and the other clubs who have joined visit our clubCAP page for more information.

The Sooyang Do Club were delighted to renew their membership.

Young athletes from across the city took part in the annual Active Schools Champion of Champions event at Harlaw.

134 young athletes gathered to compete in the event on Wednesday 17^th June.  The event now is now in its 8^th year and brings together the best P4-7 runners who have been competing in one of Sport Aberdeens 5 citywide 4 week race series which this year attracted 416 runners.

The day was boosted with good weather and a great atmosphere created by spectators who turned out in large numbers. The conditions added to the quality on display with runners again improving on performance, a testament to the schools and parents adopting running clubs into the children’s programs.

The top 3 results in each age group are as follows:

A golfer who recovered from cancer treatment with the help of CLAN has completed a grueling golf challenge in a fundraising effort for the charity.

Martin Reid was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in early 2014 but went on to make a full recovery and was able to continue enjoying his golf.

During his recovery Martin visited CLAN where he found great solace. Their services made a huge difference and gave him peace of mind.

In response to the good work CLAN did for Martin and thousands of other patients every year, he was keen to give something back to the organisation. It was then he decided to undertake a 50 hole golf challenge to raise funds for the charity.

“We’re hoping to raise awareness as well as funds”, said Martin during day 2 of the challenge, “After coming out the other end healthy I thought I should give something back to CLAN. Golf is something I really enjoy anyway so I thought I’d go for it.”

Teeing off from Brora Golf Course on Monday 22^nd June at the early hours of 3:45 am, the 4 man team made their way South then East to play a hole on 50 courses. Martins close friends accompanied him during the challenge which included all of Sport Aberdeen’s courses.

“It’s been great, except for the weather! We thought it would be nice and bright given the time of year but it was pitch black! We’ve had a lot of rain too so conditions haven’t been great, but everyone we’ve spoken too from organising this to the people we’ve met along the way, they’ve made it all great. We’ve played some great courses and It’s been very enjoyable.”

“We’ve definitely raised a lot of awareness and picked up some donations along the way. So far we have raised about 7K but we still have raffles to go so we’re hoping for some more. It’s all going to a very good cause”

Pictured above at Kings Link Tee Off (from left to right): Munro Grierson, Derek Findlay, Martin Reid and Stuart Brown.

A week of swimming lessons and competition are to be held with safety in mind.

Drowning Prevention Week is an annual event from the Royal Life Saving Society UK designed to educate and train children on the dangers in or around water and the necessary safety practices. The ultimate aim of these practices is to reduce the number of drowning related deaths in the UK, a leading cause of accidental death with children.

Hosted by Sport Aberdeen, the week will launch with a Rookie Festival at Cults Swimming Pool on the 27^th of June. The event will see 40 children in nine teams, aged 9-14, competing for medals by reacting to practice emergency situations. Two Sport Aberdeen teams will take part on the day with three teams representing the International School and four from the Cults Lifesaving Club.

The rest of the week will host a variety of safety related lessons at various venues throughout the city. Targeted for children aged five upwards, the lessons will educate them on the safety code at locations other than just swimming pools including beaches and rivers. Participants will also have the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice with rehearsal emergencies.

Hot on the heels of the recent belt examinations, the latest Sooyang Do sparring competition was held on the 9th of June, at the Axis Centre in Newmachar Aberdeenshire, and was a great success.

The clubCAP Martial Arts group held the competition, which covered a range of levels and age groups, to also raise money for CLAN.

The unique spirit of Sooyang Do was clearly in evidence, as all participants allied their competitive spirit with the tenets of Sooyang Do, to provide a tournament which encapsulated a martial art in which there are no “losers” and in which the progress and development of all students is paramount, thereby giving lie to the discredited theory that “winning is everything”. The club successfully raised £115 for CLAN.

Results:

Beginner boys Winner Jack Goudie (Bucksburn) , R-up William Bell (Newmachar)
Young boys (light) Winner Jack Proctor (Newmachar) R-up Sol Collins (Newmachar)
Young boys (heavy) Winner Jack Buchan (Newmachar) R-up Scott Day (Newmachar)
Girls Winner Ellen Reid (Newmachar) R-up Sophie Thain (Westhill)
Older boys 13-15yrs Winner David Blasdale (Westhill) R-up F Marshall (Newmachar)
Ladies Winner Jordan Coutts (Newmachar)  R-up Jasmine Clark (Newmachar)
Beginner men  Winner Lee Walker (Stonehaven) R-up Arron Pearson (Westhill)
Advanced men    Winner Declan Coutts (Newmachar) R-up Conor Roberts (Westhill)

Off the back of the fantastic 2015 Golden Games, we are delighted to announce the 2016 Games are to be extended.

Entering its 5^th year, the Golden Games were already extended to 5 days of sporting activities. But after another year of high demand and great turnouts for every event, organisers have agreed to extend the number of days to 7.

Sport Aberdeen proudly supported 33 of the 72 activity sessions, with the games producing impressive overall bookings of over 1000. 300 participants took part in a range of activities from Table Tennis to Golf and Outdoor Bowls to Pickleball.

Doug Farquharson, a level two Table Tennis Coach, led a boisterous session at Westburn Outdoor Centre and was delighted with how the week had progressed. “You can see them having fun, enjoying themselves and socialising which for me is the most important thing. The whole week people are really changing their attitudes to exercise for the elderly and it’s great to see.”

Designed to tackle the perception of activity for older people, the games again attracted people from the city to get physically active. Therefore next year’s games will be extended and will occur from the 9^th – 17^th of June 2016 with a break over the weekend.

Well done to everyone who took park and organisers, who all contributed to a successful week of sports.

Last Saturday saw an extended programme of free tennis with the Great British Tennis Weekend at Westburn Centre.

Over 130 hardy souls tackled difficult weather conditions to take part in an afternoon of various tennis activities on the 13th of June. These included both indoor and outdoor practices designed to introduce newcomers and progress more advanced players.

Activities included in the programme were Mini Tennis, Junior Tennis, Tennis Xpress, Adult Coaching, Cardio Tennis, Ball Machine and more.

Despite damp and sometimes windy conditions all who intended, be they juniors or adults, had a great afternoon building their confidence with a racket and having fun. Tennis Development Officer, Matt Kerswell, was particularly pleased with the turnout and how the day went. “The Aberdeen public proved they are great tennis fans with a large turnout at the weekend, despite the poor weather. It was fantastic to see people of all ages, families and individuals turn out and have fun on court with the Westburn Tennis Centre coaching team; hopefully we inspired some to keep playing.”

The Tennis For Free programme continues as always every Saturday from 14:00. If you are interested in attending visit www.tffwestburn.co.uk for registration.