Partnerships

We established partnerships with other organisations already working within the Aston area. Several relationships we had developed and were working successfully with were:

Aston Old Edwardians Rugby Club – Kim Furlong (coach):

Kim Furlong came down to observe and assist with coaching tag rugby sessions at Birchfield School. We were hoping to send some of the children to his rugby club on a Sunday. Sadly a lack of coaches at his club meant that that could not take place. However, this is an on-going partnership and we are hopeful for further opportunities next year;

Camp Hill Rugby Club & Bromsgrove Rugby Club:

We managed to establish links with Camp Hill Rugby Club and Bromsgrove Rugby Club. It is anticipated that we would be having some matches against their teams next season to increase social integration throughout Birmingham;

King Edward VI Aston Sports Development Partnership:

We made strong links with King Edwards VI Aston. They had loaned us their rugby pitches for the tag rugby club. We stayed in contact with them about running combined sessions with the year sevens and the primary school children in order to move the children on from tag rugby to full contact. There were also talks about some of the older boys from King Edwards Aston gaining some coaching experience by working with the younger children from Birchfield which is something that may be developed next year.
We have also worked with Alex Smith to deliver the half-term holiday club and she helped by providing volunteers for our Aston Fit4Sport Day held on 23rd March. She asked us to help her with a large sports day on the 28th June 2007 at Moor Lane, Aston.

Phoenix United Football Club:

Links with Phoenix United Football Club were being established at the time of writing this report with the hope of increasing participation in girl’s football in Aston.

Local Leagues had a significant impact on the Aston community.
Through the work we done, over 190 girls engaged in sports on a weekly basis. We saw them grow not only in physical fitness but also self-esteem and confidence.

Football Development Officer – Aston:

We worked alongside Matt Kendall successfully and recruited a number of volunteer coaches to help out with special needs football on Friday nights at the
Aston Villa Academy.

Local Leagues had helped Aston Sports Club to establish a Saturday Netball Club for girls in years 4 – 6 in the Aston area. It was slow to start but has since had 14 girls on the books and continued to grow. As well as a Local Leagues coach, we had 4 female volunteers from Broadway School who were being taught how to coach and gaining valuable work experience through the netball club.

Summary of Aston Activities

Local Leagues will hopefully be able to continue the work started in Aston and further the relationships formed within the schools.

Month	Sessions / Week	Girls Registered	Boys Registered	Ethnic Breakdown
				Asian	Black	White
Sept	4	54	31	85	9	0
Oct	7	88	54	130	22	0
Nov	8	8	64	131	22	0
Dec	8	90	64	132	22	0
Jan	11	121	100	185	34	2
Feb	11	127	106	193	36	4
Mar	12	147	106	213	38	5
Total		635 (55%)	525 (45%)	1069 (85%)	183 (14%)	11 (1%)

Many girls in Aston showed an interest in sport and we would like to see this interest continue and progress as they move into secondary education. We aim to branch into secondary schools over the next year and help young people build on the foundations they have acquired at primary level.
Many schools also requested an opportunity to compete against other schools; either in a league format or as one-off matches. Extra funding would help Local Leagues to develop these types of activity within the Aston area by working with existing organisations in the area and establishing leagues.
We desire to continue to develop and promote rugby in Aston. It would be rewarding to see children in Aston feeding into local rugby clubs such as Aston Old Edwardians with an aim to maintaining and supporting existing clubs with new players and providing new players with match opportunities.
As well as rugby, an increase in basketball in Aston over the next year would also be rewarding. We anticipate holding a basketball game between Birchfield Community School and Canterbury Cross in order to kick-start the basketball campaign early next term.
We hope to increase the out-of-school activities, particularly holiday based sports programmes and will be running a full summer scheme at Birchfield Community School for children from the Aston area in conjunction with Aston Sports Partnership and the school.

The year has been a terrific success in Aston. The foundations have been laid by Local Leagues to continue working in Aston, helping children and young people to benefit from sports participation, social integration, and education about healthy lifestyles, and it is with great enthusiasm and excitement that we look forward to the coming year.