Active Girls Committee members at Transition Extreme.
An Aberdeen initiative, which was set up with the aim to level the playing field for young girls in sport, has been helping local pupils reach new heights.
Sport Aberdeen’s Active Girls Committee, in partnership with Transition Extreme, welcomed over 50 girls to a ‘Climbing Wall Taster Evening’ last Friday, 16th March.
The Active Girls Committee, which launched in early 2017, helped to host the free event, for S1-3 girls from across the city, with the aim of encouraging more girls to take part in sport.
The evening was also a brilliant opportunity for girls from across the city to meet the Active Girls Committee members and learn more about the initiative.
The Committee, put together by Sport Aberdeen’s Active Schools team, is run by girls from secondary schools across the city who are championing a move to get more young girls involved in sport and physical activity.
Graeme Dale, Sport Aberdeen Senior Development Officer (Young People), commented on the success of the evening:
“The taster evening was a huge success and it’s brilliant to see so many girls engaging with the Active Girls Committee.
“The committee has gone from strength to strength and it is our hope that in the Year of Young People they will act as powerful role models and inspire more girls to take part in sport and physical activity. We believe the Active Girls Committee can help to address the national trend of girl’s participation being lower than that of boys in the same age group.”
Aimee Work, Active Girls Committee chairperson, said:
“The evening at Transition Extreme was a great success for our first event of the year, we had a great number of girls attending, enjoying something new for many of them. It was so rewarding seeing the girls having fun, challenging themselves and having the confidence to give it a go and meet new people.
“With our new Instagram account, we were able to post some of the girls in action as our first event on Instagram. Once again me and all the girls most certainly enjoyed seeing a great turn out and hope that these small yet effective events are what will promote the committee and encourage more girls to take part in sport and physical activity.”
Granite City pupils will don their dancing shoes for an end of year showcase extravaganza which will take place at the end of March.
Aberdeen University Dance Society have organised an end of year event which will showcase local dancing talent from pupils across the city who have been taking part in dance classes thanks to the help of Active Schools Aberdeen.
Sport Aberdeen’s Active Schools Coordinator for the St Machar area has been working with Kittybrewster School in preparation for the event, running a weekly after school dance class since last summer, encouraging more young people to participate in physical activity.
The end of year performance, named ‘Dancing through film’ will take place at Aberdeen Arts Centre on March 25th.
Graeme Dale, Sport Aberdeen Senior Development Manager (Young People), said:
“This is a fantastic chance for more young people to get involved in physical activity and highlights the importance of partnership working throughout the city.
“This is the second year that pupils from Kittybrewster have been involved in the end of year dance showcase and I have no doubt that this will be a great success once again. The event is a brilliant opportunity to inspire young people to get involved in different and fun activities whilst encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle and I would like to thank Aberdeen University Dance Society for inviting local children to be involved.”
Margaret Clark, Head Teacher at Kittybrewster School, said:
“I am delighted that the pupils at Kittybrewster have been given the chance to participate
in dance sessions organised by our Active Schools Co-ordinator, Kim McRobbie. The Dance Showcase is an exciting opportunity for the children to enjoy showing off their skills and I know they will perform very well.”
A local charity is giving every primary school pupil across Aberdeen the chance to take part in a brand-new sporting challenge this term.
Sport Aberdeen’s Active Schools Coordinators have teamed up with badminton equipment provider Babolat with the aim to get more young people involved in the sport from an early age with a fun and competitive introduction to badminton.
The challenge comprises five different stations that work on various skills such as sending and receiving, hitting and accuracy, with pupils scoring points as they go. Each primary school is invited to put forward one P4 class to take part in the challenge, with points from each station added up at the end and entered on to an overall leader board. The class with the highest overall total will receive a selection of prizes from Babolat.
All challenges are delivered by Active Schools Coordinators alongside PE teachers, school staff and small groups of pupil volunteers from P7.
Graeme Dale, Sport Aberdeen Senior Development Manager (Young People), said:
“This is a fantastic opportunity for children across the city to take part in a fun and competitive introduction to badminton whilst encouraging participation in sport as whole.
“We are thrilled to be running this challenge with Babolat, highlighting how through partnership working we can create more opportunities for young people in the North East to take part in sport and physical activity from an early age.”
Steven Chappell, Babolat UK’s Badminton Manager said:
“Babolat support a number of grass roots activities in both Scotland and England with the aim of getting children active at a young age and hopefully encourage them to take up badminton. We are therefore delighted to support Sport Aberdeen with this challenge and hope that it will provide local children with an introduction to badminton.”
All scores must be in by March 29th. For more information on Active Schools Aberdeen, click here.
BHGE 10k organisers are calling on local businesses to make Aberdeen’s longest running road race your latest team challenge.
The BHGE 10k Corporate Team Challenge is officially open for entries and race organisers are urging teams of three or more to sign up to be in with a chance of claiming 2018’s corporate team title.
The event now in its 31st year, organised by registered charity Sport Aberdeen in partnership with BHGE, will take place on Sunday 20th May at the Beach Boulevard.
Each year the BHGE 10k Running Festival attracts thousands of participants from all over the country whilst raising money for deserving causes, with 10 official race day charities on board.
The fastest times from each team will be added together to create a score. The company with the lowest score (fastest team) will win.
The triumphant team will receive a voucher for up to 12 people to take part in the Adrenaline Rush Experience at Transition Extreme, plus the prestigious Corporate Team trophy.
New spot prizes have also been added in for the 2018 Corporate Challenge including best team photo from the day, fastest female team and fastest veteran team.
Businesses can enter the Corporate Team Challenge by emailing BHGE10K@sportaberdeen.co.uk
Commenting, Sport Aberdeen’s Director of Business Development Jill Franks said:
“The annual Corporate Team Challenge is a great chance for some healthy competition whilst raising money for your favourite charities.
“It’s increasingly important to have fun and engaging events which rally the community together. We are always overwhelmed by the support North-East businesses show and this backing ensures that Sport Aberdeen can continue to create opportunities and inspire people to take part in sporting events”.
“The BHGE 10k Running Festival is another shining example of how our dedicated team of staff and volunteers work to bring events at the heart of our community to life and we are very much looking forward to another fantastic race day!”.
Lesley McMullan, Marketing Specialist for BHGE said:
“As long-standing sponsors of the 10K we enter a large team of employees each year. In the run up to the race you will always hear conversations on training plans and lunchtime running routes at the office coffee points alongside some light-hearted competitive discussions between departments!
“Race day itself is a great chance to catch up with colleagues and their families outside of the work environment and we all look forward to either running the race, volunteering to help or cheering on the BHGE team!”
Last year’s Corporate Team Challenge title went to Chevron, with a winning overall time of 1.59.07 (fastest three runners).
Sport Aberdeen is delighted to announce plans for the refurbishment and expansion of Northfield Swimming Pool.
Together with Aberdeen City Council, Sport Aberdeen is committing a very significant financial investment to deliver a state of the art health, fitness and sport hub. In addition to technical upgrades to the pool itself, the new facilities will provide an exciting wellness centre for the local community and for those from across the city. The introduction of a 40-station gym and exercise studio will complement the existing FIFA approved high class 3G artificial turf pitch on the site.
The investment will secure the centre’s long-term future, provide additional capacity to the venue, and will build on the centre’s role in the community and as a vital sports facility for the city.
Discussions regarding plans for the refurbishment have commenced and there is an extensive work plan to pull together. The site will be updated with news on this over the coming weeks.
Unfortunately, Northfield Swimming Pool had to close due to recurring interconnected technical problems. Despite the best efforts from Sport Aberdeen staff and specialist technicians over many months, these problems accumulated to such an extent that the swimming pool is simply unable to function.
Northfield Swimming Pool will remain closed until this project is completed.
Please be advised that the 3G pitch has not been affected by this closure and is operating as normal, as always subject to availability and weather conditions. The Northfield Swimming Pool reception will remain open to take bookings for the pitch and for further information.
We ask that people check the Sport Aberdeen website and social media channels for updates or call the pool helpline on 01224 214496 for further information.
Sport Aberdeen is doing all it can to set up alternative options for customers and this work is ongoing. To ensure that our customers can continue to get active with Sport Aberdeen throughout this closure, please find alternative options and arrangements during this period.
Please click here for more full information on alternative swimming options and arrangements.
Robbie Simpson with (left to right) Lewis Moir, Aimee Cumming, Connor Raitt, Aalyah Wilkinson, Karin Watt and Sophie Imlach.
A Deeside Runners club member who is representing Scotland in the 2018 Commonwealth Games has inspired local pupils to take on a running challenge this year.
Robbie Simpson, who the Inverness half-marathon at the weekend, last week visited Aberdeen’s Westpark School to speak to pupils about his running experiences, from his first race to his Commonwealth Games preparation.
The visit came ahead of the official ten-week countdown to the North East’s longest running road race.
Organisers of the BHGE 10k Running Festival today said, “This is a brilliant opportunity for pupils to be inspired by a local sporting star and take on the Active Schools 2k race, part of Aberdeen’s BHGE 10k Running Festival this May”.
The BHGE 10k Running Festival, now in its 31st year, is run by registered charity Sport Aberdeen and title sponsors BHGE. The Active Schools 2k Run is open to children from P6 – S4 and includes a wheelchair race category. The event will take place on Sunday 20th May.
Jill Franks, Sport Aberdeen’s Director for Business Development, said:
“The BHGE 10k Running Festival is a family event at the very heart of our community and highlights Sport Aberdeen’s commitment to creating opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to take part in sport and physical activity.
“The Active Schools 2k Run is a great chance for younger participants to join in, get active and ignite a passion for sport that can last a lifetime.”
Robbie Simpson commented:
“Events like these are a great way for kids from all backgrounds to get in to running, it’s really enjoyable to compete in a big race close to home alongside friends and family.
“For some it may be their first step in discovering natural talent or passion for competitive sport and for others it may be a way to make new friends and keep fit – the important thing is having the opportunity to get involved in a fun and healthy activity.”
For more information and to sign up for the race click here.
2017 label design winner Daisy Rennie with Active Schools Coordinator Sam Main.
The countdown is on. There is only one week left to enter a competition to design the label which will appear on water bottles handed out at the BHGE 10k Running Festival this May. Entry Deadline for label designs is 12pm on Monday 12th March 2018.
Deeside Mineral Water, the official water partner of the BHGE 10K Running Festival, is running a competition for local children to design the label for the water bottles that will be handed out on race day to over four thousand runners.
Young people from schools across Aberdeen City are being called upon to design labels which will encourage children to drink more water and highlight the importance of staying hydrated.
This is the third year that Deeside Mineral Water have run the water bottle label design competition in partnership with Sport Aberdeen, with over 100 entries received from children across the city last year.
The winning design will be made into the water bottle label that will be handed out to everyone taking part in the BHGE 10k Running Festival on Sunday 20th May 2018.
The winning designer will have the chance to be part of the official 10k race start and be invited to attend a special tour of the Deeside Mineral Water facilities where they can see their label being applied on to the bottles.
The BHGE 10k Running Festival is the North East’s longest running road race and is organised by registered charity Sport Aberdeen in partnership with BHGE.
Jill Franks, Sport Aberdeen’s Director of Business Development, said:
“We have been hugely impressed by previous designs and are thoroughly looking forward to seeing more entries this year. Sport Aberdeen and Deeside Mineral Water are asking local children to think up new and inspiring ways to encourage their peers to drink more water and highlight the importance of staying hydrated, especially while running a race!
“This year we hope to see even more young people from across Aberdeen City and shire take on the challenge and get involved in this great opportunity and make a splash with their label designs!”
Managing Director of Deeside Mineral Water, Martin Simpson commented:
“For the last two years we have welcomed the winner to the factory at Ballater to see their label design come to life. As 2018 is Scotland’s Year of Young People we’re delighted to be launching this competition again, aimed at primary school children. It proved to be a great talking point with the runners on the day and we look forward to seeing what ideas the children create.”
Lesley McMullan, Marketing Specialist for BHGE said:
“As proud sponsors of the 10k we’re delighted that Deeside Mineral Water are running this competition for local primary schools again. It is a fantastic example to show that the BHGE 10k is a true community event and encourages people of all ages to have a healthier and more active lifestyle.”
For more information on how to enter click here.
Scan and email your entry to: bhge10k@sportaberdeen.co.uk or
Send you completed entry to:
Events Team
Sport Aberdeen
Broadfold House
Broadfold Road
Bridge of Don
Aberdeen AB23 8E
Thanks to the help of a Granite City volunteer, a brand-new netball club for young girls has been set up in the city.
The new ‘West End Netball Club’, for S1 girls from Harlaw Academy and Aberdeen Grammar, has been set up by Sport Aberdeen’s Active Schools Coordinators as there was nowhere for girls of this age in this area to take part in the popular sport.
Active Schools Coordinators approached Claire Pearson, a parent volunteer who previously ran the Active Schools netball for Ashley Road Primary. Claire agreed to take on the challenge and now helps to run the West End Netball Club.
The new club has also welcomed two senior Harlaw Academy pupils to take on a leading volunteering role having completed their leadership training through Active Schools.
The first session, at Harlaw Academy, saw 23 girls turn up and runs on a Monday evening from 8.30-9.30pm for S1 girls from Harlaw Academy and Aberdeen Grammar.
Jo Bell, Sport Aberdeen’s Director for Sport and Active Lifestyles, said:
“The long-term goal is for West End Netball to become a recognised netball club in the city which would allow for more age groups and schools to attend training and enjoy the sport.
“As a charity we rely heavily on volunteers giving their time to help keep Aberdeen’s communities active and give young people opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity.
“On behalf of Sport Aberdeen, I would like to thank everyone who volunteers with us. We are always looking for more people to get involved which in turn allows us to reach more people and changes more lives through sport and physical activity.”
Claire Pearson commented:
“The main reason I decided to volunteer is because as a young girl I played netball and it gave me so many life skills which have helped me throughout life, including confidence, working effectively in a team, friendships and general wellbeing.
“At West End Netball Club it’s great to see all the girls enjoying a team sport, making new friendships and enjoying physical activity. For me, if you have a skill or knowledge it great to share it with children who love to learn.”
Click here for more information on how to volunteer with Sport Aberdeen.
Colin Taylor, Sport Aberdeen chairman with Dean Philips Garthdee Alpine Sports (Aberdeen Snowsports Centre) chairman.
Following a review commissioned by Aberdeen City Council, Sport Aberdeen, Aberdeen Snowsports Centre and Adventure Aberdeen are set to merge.
The review has established that it would be both feasible and beneficial to the City Council to bring the organisations together, and that there would be significant service advantages as well as efficiencies.
Aberdeen Snowsports Centre and Adventure Aberdeen will be merged into the larger charitable structure of Sport Aberdeen, creating an organisation that can draw on expertise across sporting specialisms to offer a more dynamic range of services and optimising opportunities to get active in the City.
The first phase of the merger sees Sport Aberdeen & Aberdeen Snowsports Centre formally taking steps to amalgamate, with the Chairs of the Charities meeting recently to plan the integration. In a joint statement they commented:
“We are fully aware of the financial pressures faced by our partners Aberdeen City Council and we must do what we can to help support the Council with the challenges that lie ahead. We also need to ensure that what we offer is sustainable going forward and our coming together will be an important step in that direction.
“We have listened to the Council and studied the review’s findings carefully and we can see the benefits that this will deliver, along with the opportunity to combine our broad range of services and management expertise together.
Dean Phillips, Chair of Aberdeen Snowsports Centre said:
“As we work towards this aim, we wish to reassure all our snowsports and football customers, users, clubs and organisations that it will be business as usual for the foreseeable future. The same message has also been given to our staff and volunteers who support the delivery of the many programmes. We have much to do behind the scenes and we will approach this with care and diligence to ensure the best possible outcome.”
Plans for the incorporation of the Adventure Aberdeen service are ongoing. The Council and Sport Aberdeen have established a Project Integration Team with the intention of completing a smooth transfer of staff and services by the end March 2018.
Commenting on the merger, Alistair Robertson, Managing Director of Sport Aberdeen said:
“Bringing the three organisations together makes sense and offers a number of advantages. I am confident that the merged services will be more efficient and effective in the way that they are planned, delivered and developed and we are all excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. We can really push on and make what we offer in Aberdeen the envy of Scotland.”
Aberdeen Judo Club this week welcomed Scotland’s gold medal winning sisters for a special one-off coaching session.
Sisters Louise and Kimberley Renicks, who are both Commonwealth gold medallists from 2014, led sessions with the junior and senior groups at the local club on Tuesday (20th February) at the Beach Leisure Centre.
Alongside their Commonwealth Games success, the siblings have competed at European and World level. Jean Davidson Aberdeen Judo Club Secretary said, “it was an honour for the Club to have them take the sessions”.
The Granite City Martial Arts club runs on a Tuesday and a Thursday for juniors and seniors. The junior session is for children up to the age of 13 years and the senior session accommodates ages 14 and upwards.
The night was a resounding success with over 50 participants turning up for the special session including those travelling from other judo clubs around the North East.
Jo Bell, Sport Aberdeen’s Director for Sport and Active Lifestyles, said:
“We were thrilled to welcome Louise and Kimberley to the Beach leisure Centre and to see such a strong turnout was great.
“Sport Aberdeen is committed to creating opportunities and inspiring people to take part in sport and through local clubs we can encourage more people of all ages and abilities to get active.”
Jean Davidson, Aberdeen Judo Club Secretary, said:
“Louise and Kimberly were fantastic and held everyone’s attention during both junior and senior sessions. It was an honour for the club to have them take the sessions.
“This is something we need to do more of and hopefully we will be able to have another session like this in the future. The turnout we had was amazing and I would like to thank the clubs present for their support.”