Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy in Basingstoke has been awarded the Basingstoke Sports Club of the Year award for 2010

 In the face of stiff competition from Basingstoke Bluefins (swimming), Basingstoke Gymnastics club, Basingstoke Rugby Club, Basingstoke Volleyball Club and Totally Tennis, most of whom have been previous winners of this prestigious award, we have been awarded the 2009 Sports Club on the Year award for Basingstoke at the annual sports awards ceremony on 26th February 2010.

The awarded was presented by The Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane Cllr Brian Gurden to coaches Katherine White, Lindsey Andrews and Bryan Andrews.

 

This recognition for Shin Gi Tai as a centre of excellence for general sports and not only Martial Arts in Basingstoke has been due to the hard work of all of the coaches (Lindsey, Katherine, Neil, Jonathan, Bryan, Teresa and Jackie) within the Academy and the dedication of it’s members in pursuing excellence in the field of Martial Arts. A special mention must also go to the parents of our members who support their children in the quest to become Black belts and whose support and encouragement is vital to the success of the children. The support from Sue Parker and Greg Knight from Basingstoke and Dean Council and Kevin Laing from the Local Sports Council has also been important in helping us develop us a club and we’d like to thank them for their contribution during this year and look forward to continuing to work with them to deliver sporting opportunities within Basingstoke.

 

Basingstoke and Deane Borough is fortunate to have a very strong sporting community, which is demonstrated both in the success of it’s athletes in competition and also the provision of grass roots sporting opportunities in the local community. The Borough Council, Local Sports Council and Basingstoke Sports Trust all play a big part in recognising and supporting this achievement at the annual Sports Awards.  The Basingstoke annual Sports Awards are coordinated by the Voluntary Local Sports Council and are hosted by the Apollo Hotel with support from the Basingstoke Gazette Newspaper. The awards ceremony celebrates the success and achievements of clubs, teams, coaches, officials and individuals involved in sport within the Borough.

 

During the 2010 awards ceremony, the standard of the Basingstoke Sports people and the clubs was clearly evident with many Olympic athletes represented along with national, international and world champions from sports as diverse as Judo, Ice Hockey, Powerlifting, Gymnastics, Football, Equestrian Vaulting, several Athletics disciplines and Boccia. The future looks bright for sport in Basingstoke with many excellent coaches, clubs, officials and players. With such high quality competition, we can be very proud of our achievement.

 

Bryan Andrews Chief Instructor for Shin Gi Tai commented “The award of Sports Club of the Year 2009, means a lot to us, being the first Martial Arts club to win this award. It is a great culmination to an excellent year of progress for us as an Academy with many notable achievements including:-

 

  • Moving into Basingstoke’s only fully equipped Martial Arts centre
  • The first of our members achieving their Black Belts
  • Becoming accredited as Coaching assessors for the Martial Arts Standard Agency
  • The introduction of a specific children’s Coaching programme to help develop the skills of Junior coaches with mentoring from more senior coaches
  • The production of our first booklet, a children’s guide to combat Bullying called “Don’t Bully me!”
  • Becoming recognised by Sport England through our affiliation to the BCCMA and Shikon International
  • The introduction of various awards to celebrate the success of our members

 

The award gives us a lot to live up to in the coming year, but we have more exciting plans for 2010, that we are working towards including Clubmark accreditation with Sport England.”