Off the back of the fantastic 2015 Golden Games, we are delighted to announce the 2016 Games are to be extended.
Entering its 5th 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 9th – 17th 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.
This spectacular martial art event took place on 30th May at the Westdyke Leisure Centre with 33 current Sooyang Do black belt students successfully attaining their belt promotion and a further 17 senior students earning the right to be awarded with that coveted Black Belt for the first time. Congratulations to all on this great achievement.
The Black Belt examination, which concluded with a traditional wood breaking extravaganza provided a stern test of each individual’s technical ability, power and endurance which resulted in them receiving their awards during a subsequent belt presentation ceremony.
A further 300 less advanced students also passed their Coloured Belt examinations and are now taking their next step in their own personal “journey” towards their goal towards black belt status.
This year has witnessed rapid growth within all UKSA clubs, providing opportunities for increasing numbers to experience the very real benefits of our unique methods and philosophy, within a positive and disciplined environment.
With the 2015 Baker Hughes 10K over Sport Aberdeen took the opportunity to speak to the race winners, who have already moved on from their victories to continue training and turn their attentions to future races.
Will Mackay was the fastest in the male category setting a time of 32 minutes 37 seconds. However before the race Will had his concerns. “I took part in the London Marathon just three weeks prior so I knew I had the fitness but I felt I was still recovering. It could have gone either way.”
Will set a time of 2 hours 26 minutes in the marathon. To put that into context, the fastest elite runner was just 18 minutes faster! As such, on the day of the 10K Will was feeling at about 90%. “At around the 6K mark I had a substantial lead but that’s when I started to struggle. I might not have done so well If I hadn’t built that gap.”
“I went to the pub afterwards to celebrate! But I was straight back to training the next day. I run to and from work which is about 5-6 miles and I run regularly with AAC.”
Fiona Rudkin was the fastest of the female category and even set a personal best time of 36 minutes 18 seconds. “I felt good on the day. I finished my training on the Tuesday before and took it easy so I was ready. The conditions were good for the most part, it was a bit windy at times but certainly better conditions from last year!”
Whilst some racers find other runners a distraction at times, Fiona was able to take motivation during the race from her rival. “I was alongside Nicola Gauld for a good part of the race. She’s such a good runner and has won the 10K a few times so to be next to her is a good sign! I was just able to pull away from her slowly though.”
“I went for a few drinks afterwards to celebrate. I was really happy to win again and to be injury free!”
Tony Stott was also presented with his trophy after finishing first in the wheelchair category and he wasted no time in getting back to training. Tony was given his trophy during a training session with Grampian Flyers Basketball Club, who are currently undergoing they’re clubCAP Accreditation.
Team Chevron were also delighted to receive their trophy. Pictured are just a small number of the total team who took part on the day, with Andrew Buchan and Paul Slater the fastest athletes.
The 2015 Aberdeen Youth Games were a resounding success.
Held on the 29th of May and host to over 1200 children, the day went off without a hitch and was enjoyed by all.
Proceedings at the Sports Village were started by the Lord Provost with Sir Ian Wood also taking part.
The day was packed with a number of sporting activities for the kids including, badminton, tennis, athletics and more. 38 schools attended culminating in an exciting day of skills based sporting challenges and activities.
Youth Games Ambassadors Ben Kilner, Snowboarder, and hockey player Leigh Fawcett were also in attendance meeting pupils and getting involved.
“Today’s been really positive” said Kim who is preparing for the 2016 Rio Olympics, “so many kids are here and all looking like they’re having a good time learning new skills.”
They took every opportunity they had to speak to often star struck children including the finalists and winner of the medal design competition, Ahra Magaji (9), a Primary 5 pupil at Middleton Park School.
“Today has been great” said Ben who is nearing recovery from a broken pelvis, “I’ve been asking the kids how they are getting on, what schools they are from and they all seem really happy. They’ve all asked how I got my medal so I’ve had to tell the same story a few times!”
The Bucksburn ASN Wing team were invited to compete in the National Learning Disabilities School Final last month where there was no shortage of goals!
The team were chosen to play in the competition by the Scottish FA after topping the Northern League and being crowned champions.
The boys that were chosen to play for the team were: David Finch, Sean Rennie, Dylan Rae, Shaun Black, Calvin Archibald, James Ede, Owen Stephen and Jack Allan.
With teachers from the school accompanying the team and coaches, the finals took place on Wednesday the 20th of May. 12 other teams from across the country attended to create two groups of 6 where each team played each other once, with the first and second team reaching the semi-finals.
Bucksburn opened their first game against Mary Russell and drew 1-1 before matching that score line against Carrongrange.
The third game brought the first win for the team against Balwearie, picking up a great 2-0 victory. The fourth game was against Lanark where they recorded their only loss of the day, 2-0.
One of the highlights came in the final game against Woodlands where the side won convincingly, 3-0, with goalkeeper David scoring the first goal from his box.
Unfortunately Bucksburn just missed out on the semi-finals but they gave more than a good account of themselves and did their school and indeed Aberdeen proud. Their efforts were rewarded when they were presented with the Scottish FA National School League 2014/15 Finalists trophy.
Abercorn were the eventual winners of the day, a big congratulations to them and Bucksburn ASN Wing team.
A Balnagask Golf Course regular was delighted to win a years free Golf membership with Sport Aberdeen.
A recent golf survey was conducted with prizes available for random entrants, with Neil Mackie picked as one of the winners. His prize was a full years free Golf Membership and all the benefits that come with it.
The second main prize, courtesy of Gamola Golf, was won by Emma Gissing. Her prize was two free lessons with Gamola’s new professional golfer, Rodger Clarke.
The survey was conducted to gain an insight into golfers opinions in the region in order to improve service and the Sport Aberdeen golf experience. Neil Mackie completed one of these surveys and was chosen at random as the winner of the membership.
Sport Aberdeen would like to thank everyone who took part in their survey for providing valuable information.
A local 15 year old is attempting his own 10K challenge in a fundraising effort for his Basketball Club.
Jay Moir, who has cerebral palsy, is attempting to cycle the distance in a purpose built trike at Aberdeen Beach.
Hoping to raise funds for specialised equipment for Grampian Flyers Basketball Club, Jay was inspired by the Baker Hughes 10K. With the help of RGU Physiotherapist, Marcus Quarmby and Sport Aberdeen, Jay wanted to take on a challenge of his own.
“Marcus has been helping me in one to one sessions which I started to get some extra exercise and keep my legs moving”, said the 15 year old from Torry. “I told him I wanted to do some fundraising and he mentioned the baker Hughes 10k was coming up so I could do my own challenge and things developed from there.”
Attempting the 10K is a real challenge for Jay, whose disability limits the movement in his legs. But he faces his daily challenges head on by going to the gym where the RGU team specialise his training and he is always trying new things
“I’ve been training for 4 weeks now both at the gym and with the trike which I will be doing the challenge on. I also play badminton and basketball with the Grampian flyers which I really like.”
Jay has already completed the first stint of his challenge on his tailored tricycle in an impressive time and will be taking on the second leg this week. The RGU Physiotherapy team had a tent on the day of the Baker Hughes 10K where they gave free massages and accepted donations for Jays cause.
The 2015 Baker Hughes 10K Race was held on the 17th of May and is being heralded as a great success.
With over 4000 runners taking part, many of which running for charitable causes, the conditions were perfect for a good race.
With thousands more lining the streets in support, the race once again proved why it is regarded as one of the main sporting events in the North East calender.
With the sun shining the atmosphere was that of a festival as the masses gathered in the main village for a healthy breakfast and the energetic warm up with Sport Aberdeen’s very own Health and Wellness team.
The 2K, Fun Run, Wheelchair and 10K races all ran impeccably with supporters cheering them the whole way.
Sport Aberdeen would like to thank everyone who helped make the day as special as it was and congratulations to all the runners.
We’re looking for volunteers to join us on the day of the Baker Hughes 10k Running Festival taking place on Sunday May the 17th at Aberdeen Beach Boulevard.
Are you confident, well organised, personable and offer good customer service skills?
Do you want to be part of a premier running event within Aberdeen City Centre?
We’re looking for people to help with marshalling the race route on the day which will involve looking after a 6000 strong crowd of runners and 2000 spectators.
If you think you’re the person for the job and interested in helping out at the event please email CityofAberdeen10K@sportaberdeen.co.uk by the 10th of April.