Bradford Disability Sport & Leisure

Happy New Year to everyone

Everybody at Bradford Sports would like to wish everyone a happy new year and also would like to give a special thanks to all the volunteer and coaches throughout 2009 and hope they will continue into 2010.

Cycling Club Up & Running

The cycling club that is based in Lister Park, is now up and running and bookings can be taken either over the phone or by post. Advanced bookings are needed though as our tutors are volunteers, however we do have a project manager who is the overall leader of the cycling club.

If you have a disabled child between the age of 8-19, then you can apply for free cycling sessions through the aiming high scheme which is run through the council. If you have any queries please contact the office on 01274 437093.

Pool and Table Tennis Club - This club operates on a Monday evening for children aged 14+, at Temple Row, Keighley. The club offers a range of activities including pool, darts, snooker and table tennis in a friendly and safe environment. Transport is available to and from the club if required.

Senior Sports Academy - The recent launch of the Senior Sports Academy at Bradford College Trinity Green Campus offers children and young adults between the ages of 15-25years the opportunity to participate in a wide range of sport and leisure activities. Such activities include, basketball, football, indoor athletics, tag rugby and many more. The sessions run from 4pm - 5.30pm every Monday with transport available.

Bradford All Stars Basketball Club - This successful club offers children of 10-18years of age the opportunity to learn and develop their basketball skills, whilst interacting and socialising with other children of a similar age. The club continues to be a huge success recently competing in the European Basketball Championships in Belgium. The club continues to look for new members to continue this success. The club takes place every Tuesday from 4pm - 5pm at Manningham Sports Centre, with transport available.

Golf - Golf sessions are available every alternative Tuesday evening from 7pm - 8pm at Silsden Golf Club. The sessions offer children from 8 years of age the opportunity to be coached by a golf professional, in a fun and safe environment.

Olympik Dream - The Olympik Dream was launched in June 2008 to provide the opportunity for people to participate in combat sport and conditioning training. New facilities were provided for the launch of this new club, to offer a safe environment for people to learn and develop their abilities in power-lifting, strength and conditioning. The club takes place every Tuesday and Thursday 7.30pm - 8.30pm at the Olympik Dream Gym in Crosshills, for young adults over the age of 16 years.

Physical Activity for Disabled People (PAD)  - The PAD project offers people, aged 16-30 years of age, the opportunity to participate in healthy lifestyle and physical activity sessions every Tuesday and Thursday 1pm - 2pm at Richard Dunn Sports Centre. The PAD project is offered to those individuals who currently do little or no physical activity and due to this, referral to this scheme is required. Transport is available if required.

Ten-Pin Bowling - The ten-pin bowling club takes place every alternate Tuesday at Keighley AMF 6.30pm - 8pm, for young adults over the age of 16. This club provides the opportunity for people to socialise and participate in a fun, enjoyable leisure activity.

Wednesday Leisure Club - The Wednesday Leisure Club enables people from 13+ years to participate in a variety of different sport and leisure activities such as, swimming, badminton, dance and drama, boccia and more. This takes place at Keighley Leisure Centre every Wednesday 7pm - 9pm, with transport available if necessary.

Athletics High Performance Coaching - Every Thursday provides the opportunity for athletes, over the age of 10 years, to attend sessions of athletics and fitness based coaching. The coaching is available at Greenhead Track, Greenhead High School, from 5pm - 6pm.

Keighley Disability Sports Academy - This club also takes place on a Thursday at Greenhead High school at 3.30pm - 5.00pm. The club offers a variety of multi sports activities for young people aged 15-25 years. Transport is also available if required.

Paralympics Club - The paralympics club is run for children aged 11-18 years. The club offers athletics and multi sports activities for athletes to progress and excel in their chosen field. The club is held at Greenhead track, Greenhead High school every Thursday 5.30pm - 7.00pm. Transport is available if required.

Junior Sports Academy - The Junior Sports Academy has a focus of working with young children aged 8-16 years, offering a wide range of sporting opportunities, ranging from boccia, basketball, football, new-age curling, tri golf and many more. It is held every Saturday at Nabwood Sports centre from 11am-1pm.

Ten-Pin Bowling League - Every alternate Saturday the ten-pin bowling league offers children aged 8+ years the opportunity to compete against others of a similar ability. The league takes place at Keighley AMF from 10am-12pm.

Bradford Disability Football Club - This open age club enables people to participate in football activity sessions every Sunday at Nabwood Sports Centre from 9.45am-10.45am. This club sees a partnership forged between Bradford Disability Sport and Leisure and Bradford City Football Club to develop player pathways and support the identification of talented athletes.

Power-Lifting - This power-lifting club takes place at Armley, Leeds. It has been introduced for young adults 16+ years, every Sunday 9am-12.30pm, to provide coaching and training to enhance their power-lifting skills.

Bradford Disability Sport and Leisure has found that siblings have been key to enabling their brother or sister to interact and become involved in the sessions on offer, as siblings are seen to provide care and support in an often unfamiliar environment.

Having consulted with siblings we have identified that they have found it beneficial during the sessions to interact and make new friends who experience similar experiences therefore a new project has been proposed.

The Outdoor Recreation Project for Siblings will offer young people opportunities to access new environments whilst taking part in physical activities such as climbing, canoeing, walking, kayaking and other general team building exercises. This will enable siblings to develop a new support network to share personal experiences.

Some of the sessions available will be open to both siblings and their disabled brother or sister away from the family environment to allow them to develop their relationships further using outdoor recreation to enable this.

A final session will be open to the immediate family so that they can develop their personal relationships whilst engaging in a fun and enjoyable experience. This will hopefully lead to families accessing and socialising on a regular basis away from the comfort of their own familiar surroundings.

February 27th a horse race night is being held details enclosed tickets are £2 for a single or £5 for a family.

On March 22nd the Keighley Big 10K run is taking place again I enclose an entry form. Sue Ryder gets the income from the entrance fees and we can get the sponsorship for team Bradford.

Finally on May14th – 17th were are doing the coast to coast cycle ride for the team and there are six places left let the office know if you know anybody that might be interested or would want to sponsor the ride.

If anybody is doing either an event or an individual sponsored sport please let Barry know at either 01274 437093 or e mail bsr1@btconnect.com and I will try and get some publicity organised.

At present Bradford Disability Sport and Leisure is in the process of applying to the Children In Need charity, to gain funding to further progress and create more opportunities within the Junior Sports Academy. We look forward to hearing if the bid is successful in the coming months.

Beverley Swimming Gala – Regional Event

Good news from the pool, as Bradford Swimming team achieved 15 Medals (3 Gold’s, 6 Silvers and 6 Bronzes) at the Beverley Swimming Gala.  The swimming gala is held every year, and most athletes wanted to perform well, to take some form into the Special Olympics in July.

With Bradford taking eight athletes to the Gala, to come back with 15 Medals is a great achievement.

The breakdowns of medals are:

• Heidi Karaba (2 Bronze)
• Sharon Morris (1 Bronze)
• Nigel Halliday (2 Silver, including a personal best)
• Chris Kershaw (1 gold, 1 silver)
• Robert Thompson (1 Bronze)
• Ashley Dale (1 Gold, 1 Silver)
• Neil McCallum (1 Silver, 2 Bronze)
• Steven Wilcox (1 Gold)
• Male Relay Freestyle (1 Silver)

Special thanks go to Dean Carol, Pauline Montgomery and Sylvia Halliday.

Here are all of the events that are happening in Bradford Disability Sport & Leisure calendar this year:

February 14th - The city of Hull Swimming Gala

February 15th - National MENCAP 11 A-Side football trials, Warwick

March 28th - Boccia and Short Mat Bowls - Richard Dunn’s Sport Centre

April 4th - Widnes Athletics

April 19th - Festival of Athletics, Sheffield

April 25th - Regional Ten Pin Bowling Competition

April 26th - Football Festival - Bradford and Keighley

May 2nd - Indoor Athletics, E.I.S Sheffield

May - Regional Indoor Bowls

June 20th- Regional Athletics - York

July 25th - 31st - Special Olympics - Leicester

September 18th - Ten Pin Bowling Invitation

Also we have several funding events, if you are interested please ring the office using the Contact page

May 14th - May 17th: Coast to Coast Cycle ride

Gerry Sutcliffe, Minister for Sport, recently launched the new Senior Sports Academy at the Bradford College, Trinity Green Campus on Friday 9th January 2009.

The launch was a huge success, seeing pupils from three schools across the district involved in the taster session provided. The launch of the academy has enabled Bradford Disability Sport and Leisure to work in partnership with Bradford College to bridge the gap for young people with disabilities in further education to participate in sporting activities out of school hours. The academy has now been running for two weeks and has already seen an increase in the number of people attending, enjoying fun and active multi-sports sessions.

75 athletes and coaches from the Bradford District will be attending the National Special Olympic Games in Leicester next summer. The Bradford squad will be representing Yorkshire & Humberside Special Olympics who will be taking a 250 strong team.

Athletes are currently taking part in weekly training sessions as well as competing at local and regional competitions in preparation for next summer.

Athletes from Bradford will compete in a range of events including, Swimming, Ten Pin Bowls, Athletics, Power-Lifting, golf, Indoor Bowls & Basketball and Football.

Special Olympics provide a vital service to people with learning disabilities, competitions are structured so that athletes compete against people of the same ability giving everyone the chance to participate, perform and achieve.

At present athletes with Learning Disabilities are excluded from competing at Paralympics competitions across the world. Next summers national games will be the biggest sporting competition of the year with over 3000 athletes with learning disabilities competing in the week long event.

The cost required to take the Bradford team is approximately £34,000, Money raised will go towards training, accommodation and transport.  A further several thousands of pounds will be needed for all the kit required.

BDSL is looking for sponsors, donations and support from the whole of the Bradford community.  The athletes will be fund-Raising themselves by a number of sponsored Walks. Swims, and so on.

The ages of the athletes range from 15 to 50 years old and come from all over the District of Bradford.

The date of the games is 25th – 31st July 2009 and is being hosted by Leicester City Council.