The Herts Sports Partnership team would like to wish all our supporters, partners, colleagues and sports participants very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year - have a great time!

Thank you for your support over the past year - we look forward to working with you all in 2012.

Please send us any news that you would like us to tell our sporty ezine followers and we’ll try to include your items in our approximately monthly newsletter.

Coach Education Week 2012 will be taking place during February half-term at the University of Hertfordshire and a number of other venues across the county. The week-long programme consists of courses, practical workshops, seminars and lectures to help coaches develop their knowledge, skills and qualifications.

The programme includes over a hundred sessions aimed at all levels of coach. Courses and workshops include those for sports leaders, level 1 and 2 coaches as well as those working with disability sport, in schools or as sports officials. Orienteering, rugby, table-tennis and dodgeball are just a few of the many sports on offer. 

There will also be a number of workshops covering Safeguarding & Protecting Children, First Aid and Equity in Your Coaching, as well as sessions on nutrition, strength & conditioning and coaching analysis.

There really is something for everyone! Full details coming soon... Put the dates in your diary and keep an eye on our website - click here

The 2nd annual Active Together Christmas party took place last week, with over 180 participants from Active Together classes attending. The afternoon of dancing and festivities was held at Club De Havilland, starting with a dance workshop where the instructors taught a special Christmas routine. Food and drinks followed, with a surprise performance from the Active Together Dance coaches. Everyone then had the chance to get footloose and fancy free, with some more dancing to finish off the afternoon.

Classes re-start after the Christmas break on the Monday 9th January.

To find out more about active together classes, click here!

Interested in working in sport - take a look at our website for professional and voluntary related jobs across Hertfordshire.

Recently advertised roles include:
• Youth and Sport Partnership Officer (Welwyn Hatfield Council)
• New opportunities to enable more disabled people to play sport

To view current employment opportunities, click here.

If you have a job you would like us to put on our website, please send details to info@sportinherts.org.uk. We do not guarantee a full and comprehensive list of all the sport-related jobs on offer at this time and can only advertise jobs which we have been made aware of.

The Aspiring Athlete Scheme is a programme designed to help athletes get to that next step in their sporting achievement. It is supported by the Hertsmere LeisureTrust, Finesse Leisure Partnership, Stevenage Leisure Limited, Sportspace (Dacorum Sports Trust) & Gosling Sports Park, covering most of the county.

The aim is to provide assistance and free access to the leisure facilities of the participating leisure providers, to assist athletes to achieve their full potential.

Applicants must meet the requirements of the guidelines and eligibility criteria which can be viewed by clicking here. To apply download the application form and guidance notes.

Pro-Action invite you to attend a free Herts CVS workshop that will cover ‘Successful funding’ and ‘Safer Staffing’ from 7-10pm on any of the following dates:

• Monday 16th January 2012: St Albans
• Monday 23rd January 2012 at Ridgemond Training: Stevenage
• Thursday 23rd February 2012: East Herts

Both workshops will be delivered by Pro-Action. Click here to access the Registration Form

Could your sports club benefit from some first aid training? The British Red Cross can tailor first aid courses to meet the needs of your sports club or group, focusing on common sporting injuries. Their courses are hands on and delivered in everyday language with a variety of course content to suit different needs available at affordable prices. Sessions can be delivered at local venues or in-house and at a times to suit participants.

For further information please phone Maggie Gilchrist on 01992 585951 or email MGilchrist@redcross.org.uk

Hertfordshire schools are currently at risk of missing out on a range of Olympic and Paralympic inspired opportunities for their pupils, including free tickets to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to Games organisers.

Current figures show that around half of Hertfordshire schools have not yet joined the London 2012 Get Set Network, meaning that thousands of pupils will currently lose out on the reward and recognition scheme that offers free tickets to schools with children aged 10 years and above, tours of the Olympic site as well as a range of other exciting and exclusive benefits.

Being registered with Get Set is not the same thing as being a member of the Get Set network. Registered schools and colleges must apply to join using a simple, fast and effective form telling London 2012 what they have done or what they have planned which is inspired by the Games.

The form is available online (www.london2012.com/getset), along with lots of advice and guidance on completing the application.

The National Lottery has recently launched their first Twibbon campaign. For those of you not familiar with ‘Twibbons’, they are miniature logos that social media users can add to their Facebook and Twitter profile picture to show support of a particular cause or campaign. The logo can also be added to an organisation’s website.

To celebrate the millions of pounds that National Lottery players generate for the Good Causes each week and the more than 350,000 individual grants that have been made to date across the UK; they have asked all stakeholders to show their appreciation and support of lottery funding by adding the Twibbon to social media profiles & websites.

It’s really easy to attach a Twibbon so if you or any of your beneficiaries or supporters have a social media presence, simply visit:  www.twibbon.com/join/National-Lottery-Good-Causes, where you can apply the Twibbon, share on both Facebook and Twitter, and also access a code that will embed a button on your own website so others can view and download.

On the 1st April 2012 Gold Challenge will be hosting a key test event for 20,000 people in the Olympic Stadium and you have the chance to take part!

Gold Challenge is the UK’s first Olympic and Paralympic sport based charity challenge and is part of the mass participation legacy programme for London 2012.

There are two great ways that you can take on the Gold Challenge:

• 2012km Challenge: in a team or on your own an aggregate distance of 2012km* by one or more of the following sports: running, swimming, cycling, walking, rowing, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing & horse-riding

• Olympic Sport Challenge: take on Olympic and Paralympic sports by trying something new or pushing the boundaries in the sport you love. There are 30 to choose from and the Gold Challenge Sports Finder will enable you to find venues local to you.

Just by taking part you your name will be put into a ballot and on the 1st April 2012 your friends and family could be watching you take part in a 100m sprint race or in the Gold Challenge Stadium Parade alongside Team GB Legends and celebrity charity ambassadors. There are lots of other ways of winning a chance to take part too, for example being one of the highest fundraisers.

Gold Challenge is free to enter and is open to everyone aged five and above. Click here to find out more. www.goldchallenge.com

Team East were victorious at the Disability Sport Nationwide Short Course Swimming Championships held recently. Hoddesdon members Grace Harvey and Lottie Mills were part of Team East who won the trophy at the Championships over the weekend of 26-27th November at Ponds Forge, Sheffield. Two World records, six European and 32 British records were smashed at the event.

Ten year old Heath Mount School pupil Lottie Mills was the youngest member of Team East and was understandably nervous. She gained a four-second personal best time the 100 freestyle and really enjoyed the race.

Grace Harvey, aged 13, who attends Presdales School in Ware had a brilliant championships claiming five personal best times and winning seven silver medals out of seven races. Grace was very happy because two of them were qualifying times she needed for the World Class programme, one of her goals. Grace, currently on the Hertfordshire Talented Programme now needs to wait and see if she is invited onto the British Swimming World Class Programme by the selection committee.

Further information and results from this event are available via www.disabilitysport.org.uk.

The AEGON Winter County Tennis Cup event took place this weekend at 18 different indoor venues across the country with Hertfordshire Men & Ladies taking home the silverware on Sunday evening.

The men, led by Jeff Wayne, have now won the men’s event for a record consecutive five years and this, coupled with their dominance of the Summer County Cup event, means that the Hertfordshire Men have won seven senior County Cup events in a row.  

Herts Ladies started the weekend with a solid win against the Lancashire side with great performances from all players, including the two newcomers to the Herts Ladies squad. Further success meant that the team were able to compete for the title on the last day against Yorkshire who also had two winning days. A very close win gave them the title too.

To read more click here.

Talented pupils from Hertfordshire schools are invited to this two day track and field event Sport Academy training camp at Brunel University during the Christmas break on 19th & 20th December.

Click here for more information.

During the Christmas Holidays Kids Village is offering four fun-packed days of Multi-Sports camps! Let their experienced team coach your children in a number of skills based team games. Full and half days are available; perfect for working parents.

Visit the Herts Sports Village website for full details.