During the half term break, the Sennocke Centre at Sevenoaks School opened it’s doors to local children to take part in a variety of sports including Rugby, Netball, Football and Tennis plus a whole week of multi-sports for those who wanted a bit of everything. Chelsea FC and Rachael Burford were just a few of the talent on hand to assist the coaching. We also attended the inaugural Sevenoaks Sports Coaches’ Forum held at the school in February.
The Sennocke Centre at Sevenoaks School opened its doors in February to over 130 children taking part in multiple sports activities over the 5-day half term holiday.
Unusually for a sports camp, the Sennocke Centre took the steps to ensure a variety of options were catered.
They had enlisted coaches from Chelsea Football Club plus Rachael Burford, a current England rugby player (she was an immensely influential protagonist in England’s eye-catching 52-0 win over Wales in the Six Nations just four days beforehand), assisted in coaching the Girls Rugby Taster day despite being on crutches.
The most popular by far was the Netball Camp for girls aged 8-14 years which was fully booked. The football, squash and rugby camps gave the children an opportunity to get involved with these sports at a high level in first class facilities.
Garrath Williams, the centre’s Sports Performance & Programme Manager said of the Multi-Sports Camp: “It was great to have so many happy and hardworking children involved on the Sevenoaks Sports Camps February Half Term Programme. They all showed keenness towards trying new sports and I hope they enjoyed and benefited from the experience.”
He continued to say: “We put together an ambitious programme that saw over 130 children here at the peak of the week. Unperturbed by some challenging weather and supported by our energetic and enthusiastic coaches, the children all did a great job – and smiled a lot!”.
Sevenoaks Sports Coaches Forum
The inaugural Sevenoaks Sports Coaches Forum was held at the Sennocke Centre in early February with the purpose of bringing like-minded coaches together under one neutral roof to share, listen and learn.
The event went well and over 25 coaches from a variety of individual and team sports including Sevenoaks Swim Club, Mark Janes Golf Academy, Surrey County Cricket Club and Sevenoaks School were present, along with representatives from Sevenoaks Hockey Club and Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club.
The proceedings were kicked off with an enlightening talk from Len Busch, Head Coach of the Sevenoaks Suns women’s basketball team and SE Region Performance Coach Coordinator.
A focused coach, Len who decided to quit golf because he only got down to a handicap of four, is clearly passionate about sport and those who play it. It was particularly fascinating to hear Len’s thirst for knowledge and keenness to learn from coaches of other sports.
Garrath Williams, who organised the event, said: “We hope to build on the success of the event and will look to bring the group, and hopefully more coaches, back together in May.”
Attendee, Zachary, who is Head of Junior Development at the Mark Janes Golf Academy said: “It was good hear opinions and different ways that other sport coaches handle certain situations”.
What Garrath and his team are achieving at the Sennocke Centre is fantastic for the local community. The facilities are first class too, as are all the coaches. Next up is Easter.
