At the Sport Hampshire and Isle of Wight awards on 23rd March, our Martial Arts Academy from Basingstoke won the prestigious award of ‘Hampshire Sports Club of the Year.’
Katherine Wight, Sarah Godley and Alison Lee from Biscoes, Oliver Andrews on their shoulders, Lindsey Andrews and Nicola van Meerkerk.
The awards ceremony was held at Southampton Football Club and was organised by Sport Hampshire and Isle of Wight, The event was hosted by Roger Johnson of BBC South today.
This award represents the culmination of a very successful year in Basingstoke for Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy, which included.
- Moving into it’s own full time professionally equipped Martial Arts centre
- Providing Martial Arts classes in Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Ju Jitsu, Tai Chi and Vale Tudo and fitness classes in Les Mills’ Bodycombat, Pilates and Circuits.
- Becoming Basingstoke and Deane’s Sport Club of the year 2009/2010
- Achieving Sport England’s Quality Kitemark ‘Clubmark accreditation’
- Hosting numerous courses during the year with world class coaches
- Teaching quality Martial Arts at all levels from recreational users to successful national level elite competitors and ages between 4 years old and 60+
Programme Director Lindsey Andrews, Coach Katherine White and Centre Manager Nicola van Meerkerk represented the club at the Sports awards along with 9 year old Oliver Andrews who is one of the students. This years Sports Awards saw a record number of nominations, with over 200 from all over the Hampshire region in 17 different categories and nominees included many international and Olympic level athletes. There was stiff competition for the coveted title of Club of the year with 20 clubs from the region put forward. The award was sponsored by Biscoes Solicitors (www.biscoes-law.co.uk) and the three shortlisted nominees were Chawton Park Indoor Bowls Club from East Hampshire, Warsash Wasps Football Club and Shin Gi Tai.
Heather Windust from Sport Hampshire IOW commented “The awards are a fantastic celebration of sport throughout the county, and reflect not only the quality of local sporting achievement, but also the dedication, commitment and excellence of the many unsung heroes. The club of the year category had over 20 nominations, it was a tough decision to whittle them down to just 3 and even tougher to decide on a winner. However the work Shin Gi Tai do in the local community and the dedication they have to developing their coaches and members made them deserving winners.”
There were a number of other Sportspeople from Basingstoke also made it into the top 3 in their respective categories, they were:
James Feighery-Murphy (Karate) – Junior sportsman of the year
Rob Tobin (Athletics) – Senior sportsman of the year
Ben Hazell (Athletics) – Senior sportsman of the year
Rebecca Jane (Football) – Senior sportswoman of the year
Basingstoke Teamgym squad (Gymnastics) – Senior team of the year
Nigel Long (Tennis) – Performance coach of the year
The Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane Cllr Keith Chapman said: “I am delighted that this forward thinking and proactive club won the award against tough competition from other strong clubs across the county. It was very well deserved and is a testament to the hard work of the club and its many volunteers. The club is a credit to the borough, making a contribution not only in the area of sport but to the local community, for example running self-defence classes and anti-bullying sessions. The council has worked in partnership with the club on various sports development initiatives and great links have been established with schools and voluntary organisations. The club is very highly regarded locally.”
Chief Instructor Bryan Andrews said of the award “We have a great team of highly experienced coaches and staff and many enthusiastic members taking part in our classes. This award is really theirs and it is down to their hard work, effort and their determination to be the best they can. I’m delighted that their efforts have been recognised by Hampshire County”
Certificate presented to the winning club at the Hampshire Sports Awards 2011
Further information on Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy: – Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy is Basingstoke’s only full time Martial Arts center teaching a range of Martial Arts including Kung Fu, Karate, Judo, Tai Chi, Ju Jitsu and Vale Tudo. In addition there are a number of fitness classes including Pilates, Body Combat and Circuits based classes.
There are specific class for adults and children to train in seperately. Children’s class are split into age specific groups of 4 – 6 yrs, 6 – 9 yrs and 10 – 15 yrs. In addition there are family classes where parents and children can train together.
Classes take place during the day time and evenings.
Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy is registered with The Martial Arts Standards Agency, Shikon International, The British Council for Chinese Martial Arts, Karate England, British Judo Association, World Union of Karate Federations and is accredited with Sport England’s ‘Clubmark’ Accreditation.
The award for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Sports Club was sponsored by:-
Clubmark Accredited Sports Club
