VIDEO: #Love Cramlington 2020 Youth Sports Award

Cramlington Town Council’s Community and Youth Manager Maggie Martin announces the results of the #Love Cramlington 2020 Youth Sports Award on behalf of Councillor Mark Swinburn.

The first runners-up are Cramlington Town Football Club.

The club is committed to providing sports coaching and education to youngsters who are engaged in sport at a grassroots level.

They aim to inspire and motivate boys and girls, providing opportunities to create life-long enthusiasm for football and a positive environment for youngsters as they develop their skills and personal goals.

  

The next runners-up are Cramlington Rockets Rugby League Football Club.

When COVID-19 struck in March, Cramlington Rockets didn’t take off and head for the hills. Instead, using their full time community department, Rockets Community, they came up with new and exciting ways to engage their members. Beat The Bear became a regular feature where Head Community Coach, Dan ‘The Bear’ Gilroy set weekly challenges for the players to do with their families in the safety of their own homes and gardens. 

When the rules began to relax a little the club did what they do best … go into the local schools and be enthusiastic about sport. Socially distant rugby was something no one thought possible, but the community experts pulled it off. Offering free coaching in the Cramlington primary schools, children were thrilled to see the return of their favourite coaches and the hint of little bit of normality. 

In September over 100 children attended their new COVID-19 secure site – no tackling, no handshakes but plenty of hand gel and laughter. 

 

And the winners are…Cramlington United

This year was Cramlington United’s tenth anniversary and this is their biggest season so far.

They now have 57 teams and almost 700 playing members and are Northumberland’s biggest sporting club and engage with over 100 volunteers who help run the club.

The disability section now has 4 teams and over 40 players. The female section has  11 dedicated teams and over 100 players. New for 2020 are the Wildcats sessions for ladies that aren’t part of a team and like the young girls just want to be part of a group.

2020 was also the year of walking football. They now have a regular group of 15-20 men aged over 45 training and playing games with local teams.

The club also works with local primary schools and assists with Due of Edinburgh Awards and sports leadership qualifications

They have a great charitable ethos – they arranged for over 500 strips to be sent to Gambia,  support the local food bank and toy appeals  and are committed to supporting mental health charities.

For the fifth time in the last six years, they  were named Northumberland Football Association’s Club of the Year. To summarise, a true community club offering so much more than just football to hundreds of local residents.

Worthy winners, well done Cramlington United.