Will the Athlete Biological Passport sort out tennis?

By Tom Copeland

The announcement by British Tennis Federation to introduce the Athlete Biological Passport programme is a step in the right direction for a sport which has recently come under an increasing amount of fire for its lack of measures to combat doping and bring down the cheats. However the way the programme works means that it will do little to stem the cynics in the short term as it isn’t as clear cut as whether a player is clean or dirty. ­­

The International Tennis Federation, ITU, has agreed to increase its current funding budget, currently a rather abysmal $2m – less than a quarter of the UK Sport’s anti-doping funding even after it has been cut by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Another way of putting into perspective how small the budget is is to compare its funding to the prize money for winning the Australian Open, which stands at an astounding $2.5m in 2012. This really epitomises what there is to gain from doping in tennis, and why so many people have reason to be sceptical.

The water gets even muddier when you look at how often tennis players are actually tested. In 2011, the last year for which figures are currently available, only 131 blood tests were performed, with only 21 of those being taken out of competition, and furthermore only three of those were on women players.

Blood doping is currently seen as the area to target in order to bring down the cheats, looking for use of products such as human growth hormone and erythropoietin (EPO) – of which you hear so much about in cycling at the moment. And blood testing is vital in order to discover such products, yet fewer than 6% of tests by the ITU were on blood in 2011.

Athletics performed better with 17.6% of their tests on blood in 2011, while cycling boasted a strong 35% of testing on blood – often hinted at as the reason why so many drugs cheats are caught in cycling.

It is easy to see why top players such as Andy Murray and Roger Federer were quick to raise concerns for the health of their sport following the uncovering of several large scale doping rings in Europe recently.

So how will the Biological Passport help to combat this lack of confidence by both players and fans alike?

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) cites the fundamental principle of the Passport as: “the monitoring of selected parameters over time that indirectly reveal the effect of doping, as opposed to the traditional direct detection of doping by analytical means”.

It is the ‘over time’ aspect that causes a slight issue.

The Passport works by taking data from many blood tests over a period of time and creating individual player blood profiles, which can then be analysed for significant changes in levels of haematocrit and other identifiers. If profiles move out of set parameters, seen to be caused by means from outside of the body, then that is enough to open a doping case against that athlete.

But would blood doping products such as EPO make much difference in Tennis?

Although a lot of tennis comes down to skill and precision, endurance and recovery also play a major part in the long, draining tournaments that players compete in. EPO works as a blood booster, which means that it would help players to stay stronger for longer especially in some of the epic contests we have seen recently – The Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was a near six hour marathon, the longest Grand Slam final in history.

For tennis, implementing the programme now will mean that it will take time for profiles to be built, samples to be taken, and analysis to be made. All this takes time, perhaps into the years. Cycling implemented the Passport programme in 2008, and it took over a year and a half for the first cases to be brought against riders.

When taken into consideration, this then raises the issue of whether tennis may not want to implement a wide scale anti-doping programme that could lead to the immediate foiling of players using of banned substances.

The money could have been better spent on a increase of the number of out of competition blood tests, at a time when players would use performance enhancing substances to built strength and endurance. The result of more out of competition testing: more players being caught and a dark shadow being cast over the sport as a whole. Not something that a sporting governing body wants.

Without proof of doping, this is all scepticism. It is altogether possible that the lack of positive tests in tennis shows that the sport is clean, but the criticism cannot be ignored and more direct testing is needed for clarity at a time when a clear-cut crackdown on the cheats is required.

Albion’s new training ground: good or bad?

Albion’s Amex stadium

By Mollie Bennett

Work is well under-way on Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club’s new state of the art training ground, but just how will it benefit the community.

The new £29million facilities will be based at New Monks Farm in Mash Barn Lane, Lancing.

It boasts 11 full size outdoor football pitches, with five for use by the first team and the other six for academy, youth team and community use.

It will also have a distinctive Y-shaped two-storey building, which will contain an indoor pitch, changing rooms, a swimming pool, medicine facilities, a gym, physio rooms and offices for the club’s analysts.

Albion have also recently submitted an application for three more pitches at the venue, insisting that it would not increase the number of people using the training ground.

They claim it would allow extra rotation at the facilities, to decrease wear on the pitches, increase the availability for community use and allow more time for schools and local clubs during the week.

Despite this, residents have objected to increase the application insisting it will impact on the local flood plain.

The club, however, say that as the pitches are being built four and a half metres above the existing ground water table, they will collect the rain waiter and use it for irrigation of the pitches.

The site, which is being built on land that was unused, is set to boast the local economy but some residents are not pleased with the project.

The Mash Barn Community Group fears it will create late night noise and light issues as well increase the traffic around the area.

They argue the land could have had greater public use if Adur District Council had instead opted to develop the site into seven public football pitches.

On the other hand, Albion insist the site will deliver a vital economic boost with the estimated 300 jobs it is set to create, along with the three million pound worth of building contracts that could be injected into the community.

Barry McLaughlin, of Albion in the Community believes it will have a positive influence, stating that it would serve to strengthen some of Brighton’s community engagement, including its Want to Work scheme, which has seen more than 300 people gain employment over the past year,

The bid was eventually accepted in September 2012 when eight councilors took just an hour and a half to decide unanimously to back the project.
Neil Parkin, leader of Adur District Council, said: “This is the largest investment in Lancing’s history and very important for the people of Lancing and Adur.”

A decision was originally expected in May 2012 but Albion were forced back to the drawing board when a number of concerns were raised over noise pollution, extra traffic and access to the site.

Councilors agreed to grant planning permission, subject to amendments, which included shorter lighting columns in the car park and alterations to the access roads.

Despite the amendments neighbours are still concerned about the noise pollution as well as traffic and access to the site, which would be along a two-way road that passes through a neighbouring estate,

The site would also include a 303-space car park with room for a coach and about 30 bicycles.

Brighton and Hove Albion director Martin Perry, reacted to the criticism insisting the club is eager to develop a good relationship with its neightbours at the Lancing site.

He said: “The facility will have a community-use agreement and subject to availability it will be open to the public.”

Perry also believes the site will create a new community legacy as the club has confirmed the scheme is making an investment of £1.3m towards additional sporting facilities within Adur to support emerging talent.

The Sussex County FA, based in Culver Road, Lancing, say they are delighted to see the development go ahead, insisting it will enhance the community in various ways, including bringing in business for the local businesses and creating employment possibilities in the local area.

They went on to explain how it will enable the local community to utilize better facilities by way of the financial contribution from the club to Adur District Council to enhance the existing faculties within the district.

“The Sussex County FA is delighted to see the development go ahead and will work with both the club and the local authorities to ensure that the community is a winner here,” they said.

Carrie Reynolds, who is community development manager at Inspire Leisure, the local gym facilities partnered with the Arun District Council, is also in favor of the new training ground.

She said: “Having BHAFC in our local area has had such a positive impact on community sport, and the work that the AITC team do day-to-day which improves the lives of so many.

“To have the football club invest in this fantastic facility will only improve community sport opportunities even further.”

Albion have been criticised for the location of their training facilities as they are outside Brighton, however they believe the 40-acre location will attract fans from across the whole area.

The club has selected the same company that constructed the Amex and the highway maintenance to and from the stadium, to build the site which is set to be fully functional for the start of Albion’s 2014 pre-season.

Buckingham Group Contracting will be constructing the site as part of a £22 million contract, while Adenstar Developments will be constructing the access road linking with the existing Mash Barn Lane.

The Adur-based company previously built the access roads through the University of Sussex, and will be performing under a £600,000 engineering contract.

Pearce’s Young Lions comfortably defeat Austria 4-0 in friendly

By Liam Lawrence

Stuart Pearce’s youngsters secured their ninth consecutive victory with a 4-0 win over Austria at the Amex.

England continued with their winning streak and kept another clean sheet with goals coming from Jonjo Shelvey, Josh McEachran, Marvin Sordell and Conor Wickham.

This victory is the last before the European Championships in Israel and will ensure they go into the tournament with high spirits and unfaltering confidence.

Swiss official Adrien Jaccottets red cards to Austria’s goalkeeper Richard Strebinger and defender Peter Farkas on either side of half time turned the tide in favor of England.

Strebinger was dismissed after handling the ball outside the area and Shelvey hammered home the resulting free kick.

A handball in the area from Farkas resulted in his second yellow card and Josh McEachran converted the penalty to make it two.

After Austria were down to nine men England were free to dominate with number three coming from Marvin Sordell with a shot from close range.

The final nail in the coffin came on the 74^th minute when Conor Wickham avoided the offside trap, took it round the keeper and coolly slotted it in.

“It was give or take before the sending off,” said England manager Stuart Pearce.

“But there were a lot of pluses, they certainly outweighed the negatives.”

England will be prime contenders for success in the European Championships with this ninth consecutive win and having not conceded in any of these games.

Pearce’s side start the championships against Italy on 5 June before facing Norway three days later and then play the hosts on 11 June.

Budget helps to cement Olympic legacy

By Tom Mackintosh

Usain Bolt will be among a host of non-resident athletes to benefit from new legislation after the Chancellor’s budget revealed plans to relax tax laws during the London Anniversary Games.

George Osborne announced a one-off income tax exemption for overseas Olympians and Paralympians taking part in a repeat of last year’s track and field event.

The decision will mean athletes will not have to pay income tax on appearance fees, prize money and endorsement income earned in relation to the three-day event.

The event, which will be held at the Olympic Stadium in July, will mark the one year anniversary of the London 2012 opening ceremony and help maintain the Olympic legacy.

Osborne said: “The Government is determined to do everything possible to secure the Olympic legacy and I am delighted to grant this exemption.”

The temporary exemption in the Chancellor’s budget will persuade top athletes, such as Bolt, to participate when usual non-resident tax rules would prevent them from competing.

Bolt stole the show last summer winning gold in the 100 metre, 200 metre and 400 metre relay running events in blistering pace to secure his legendary sporting status.

The reappearance of the eight-time gold medal winner would boost the calibre of the event by luring back other high profile athletes and other international interest.

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson welcomed the decision: “We want to attract the very best athletes, and this helps us do that.”

The financial constraints for foreign athletes with no provision in place could discourage them from taking part as they would make an overall financial loss.

Not only does the UK claim a proportion of the prize money and appearance fees, they also demand a share of sponsorship income.

The Government intend to include the policy as part of this year’s Finance Bill with the exemption applying only to income tax and will not cover resident athletes.

Southcoast Zodiacs fly the flag for UK Competitive Cheerleading

By Nathalie Jacquemard

Cheerleading is booming in the UK.

A study published by the Department for Education showed that nearly two in five schools (37%) now offered cheerleading in P.E lessons. Even though cheerleading is on the rise over here, it is a discipline that is still met with scorn by many.

Last month British cheerleading team Southcoast Zodiacs attended the two-day National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia: their first international competition.

Eastbourne Half Marathon 3/03/13

Hat-trick hero Ulloa sinks Huddersfield in 4-1 victory

Poyet confident ahead of Huddersfield clash

Poyet targets Chelsea job

by Tom Mackintosh

Brighton manager Gus Poyet reaffirmed his desire to manage at the highest level after being linked with a return to former club Chelsea yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of his side’s clash with Huddersfield, Poyet responded to claims that he was one of the front runners to replace Benitez at Stamford Bridge.

Brighton currently lie sixth in the Championship and go into Saturday’s game on the back of three straight league victories and have conceded just once in the last four games.

When informed that he was 7/1 on to succeed Benitez, Poyet said “That’s my aim. I want to go to the highest level whether it’s Chelsea or someone else.”

The Chelsea manager claimed he was ready to leave the European Champions on Wednesday night and this has fuelled speculation surrounding who will replace him in the summer.

Benitez reacted angrily when the Chelsea supporters targeted him with a series of chants and display of banners at his side’s 2-0 victory away at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fifth round.

“Chelsea gave me the title of interim manager which is a mistake.” Benitez told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I am the manager. The fans are not helping us. At the end of the season I will leave. They don’t have to worry about me”.

Gus Poyet made 105 appearances for The Blues in a four year stint, winning the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, earning him legendary status at the Bridge.

However despite the rumours, the Uruguayan insisted he didn’t watch Chelsea in midweek and was focussed solely on preparations for Saturday as Brighton look to cement a play-off spot.

“I can assure you I didn’t watch Chelsea against Middlesbrough. I was paying attention to preparing for our game against Huddersfield on Saturday by watching them in a competitive game at Burnley. That’s my job.”

Lopez strike lifts Brighton up to sixth

By Tom Mackintosh

Brighton 1 Burnley 0 - report of Saturday’s match

David Lopez’s first-half volley was enough to sink Burnley on Saturday, and move Brighton into the play-off places, as the season moves into the business end. The Spaniard latched onto the end of a Wayne Bridge cross to score his fifth goal of the season in front of a bumper crowd at the Amex Stadium.

Burnley, whose promotion push has started to recede, have failed to win any of their last four league games. Brighton, on the other hand, have won three of their last four. And despite a number of commanding outfield performances, it was Tomasz Kuszczak who stole the show with a string of sensational saves.

Albion boss Gus Poyet on goalscorer David Lopez: “He is a different player and I always try to play him. Because of his technical ability he scores some very important goals and he showed that again.”

Burnley manager on his side’s efforts: “We deserved something, absolutely. You win games with displays like that and to come here and perform like that was very pleasing.”

Brighton, who started slowly, had to withstand early pressure from the visitors but took the lead on the twenty minute mark. Vicente capped a masterful display in the heart of the Seagulls midfield by spraying a ball out wide for Bridge. The former England defender’s cross was flicked on by Ulloa and Lopez arrived at the back post to fire past a helpless Grant to give Brighton a 1-0 lead.

This didn’t prevent Burnley’s dominance and they were unfortunate not to equalise on the half hour mark. Keith Treacy’s corner was met by Burnley skipper Jason Shackell but his effort was cleared off the line by Wayne Bridge.

A few minutes later, Shackell got on the end of another Treacy corner, but his bullet header was excellently saved by Kuszczak. Brighton manager Gus Poyet hailed his keeper’s performance after the game and at times he kept his side in the contest.

Burnley started the second half the same way they started the first by maintaining possession of the ball effortlessly It was Brighton who wasted the best opportunity of the half as Leonardo Ulloa failed to convert from close range midway through the second half.  Burnley could have snatched an equaliser right at the death but top scorer Charlie Austin squandered a great chance after getting on the end of Danny Ings’s cross.

Brighton, rather fortunately perhaps, clung on to all three points.

Van Persie saves the day for United in the FA Cup

By Robert Dean

Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie broke West Ham hearts with an injury time equaliser in the FA Cup third round at Upton Park.

Van Persie was able to come on and make a telling contribution, despite Sir Alex Ferguson choosing to rest his star man from the start.

The Dutchman showed his class to expertly control Ryan Giggs’ raking long pass, before finishing confidently with his right foot to level the game at two apiece.

Manchester United had the brighter start and looked comfortable in possession, with Tom Cleverly intelligently knitting play together.

On nine minutes this pressure nearly paid off when Javier Hernandez was inches away from connecting onto a knock down from Chris Smalling.

After this West Ham grew in confidence and the game looked like it had all the makings of a classic cup tie.

They were unlucky not to take the lead on 12 minutes when Alou Diarra rose well to head home a Jack Collison corner, but Paul Scholes stuck to his duty to clear of the line.

Less than ten minutes later West Ham were forced to clear of the line themselves, when 18 year old Dan Potts, son of former Hammers favourite Steve, denied Nemanja Vidic his first goal of the season.

Potts, who was making his first appearance since returning from a loan spell at Colchester,  looked calm and assured in defence and showed he is ready to compete at the highest level.

Manchester United made the break through on 23 minutes with a slick counter attacking move down the right hand side.

Hernandez delivered an inch perfect low cross to find Cleverly in the box, who coolly stroked home to put the visitors 1-0 up.

The game also marked the return of Joe Cole to the club where he started his career.

The former Chelsea and England star always remained popular with the home support and received a rousing reception.

The cultured midfielder was instrumental in West Hams equaliser on 27 minutes, when he delivered and in swinging cross from the left for defender James Collins to skilfully glance home.

The only other chance of the half fell to Danny Welbeck when another counter attack led to him breaking with pace and power to get into the box, only for Jussi Jaaskelainen to beat away his powerful effort.

Manchester United started the second half brightly and should have put themselves ahead on 48 minutes.

After West Ham failed to clear a Rafael cross, the ball, again, sat up nicely for Cleverly but this time he was not so accurate, blazing the ball over from 18 yards.

Joe Cole continued to sparkle and was able to carve out to two good chances for his team around the hour mark.

The first came from a mazy dribble on the right followed by a pin-point cross to Carlton Cole in the box, but, the striker’s header was confidently held by David De Gea.

The second lead to West Ham’s second goal, which was a near carbon copy of their first.

Joe Cole  found himself with room on the left and was again able to find James Collins in the box, who superbly headed home into the corner of the net  to leave De Gea no chance.

After that Ferguson decided to bring in the reinforcements in the shape of Van Persie, Giggs and Antonio Valencia.

Van Persie made an instant impact with his first touch of the game and should have done better with a near post header from a corner.

From there on West Ham defended doggedly and kept Manchester United quiet for the large part, restricting them to very few goal scoring opportunities.

Welbeck and Giggs may feel they could have done better with close range, headed opportunities to level the game, after crosses from Alexander Buttner and Rafael respectively.

Carlton Cole also had a chance to put the game to bed for West Ham, on 88 minutes, when he received the ball unmarked at the far post but De Gea was quick of his line to smother the ball.

The game appeared to be petering  out into an historic West Ham win before Van Persie’s moment of genius levelled the game to send it to a replay.

The replay will be played at Old Trafford on Wednesday 16th of January and the winners will face either Fulham or Blackpool at home in the fourth round.

UFC 155 round up

By Robert Dean

Cain Velasquez stole the show at UFC 155 after beating Junior Dos Santos to regain the Heavyweight belt at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas.

Velasquez won a unanimous points decision in a fight where he landed an impressive 11 takedowns and 111 significant strikes.

The victory was even sweeter for Velasquez as he gained revenge for a first round, knockout loss to Dos Santos just over a year ago.

The fight started at a frantic pace with Velasquez firing multiple takedown attempts, which Dos Santos was able to stuff.

However this early pressure started to pay dividends by the of the first round as Dos Santos visibly slowed and was caught with a huge overhand right, with 1.23 minutes remaining.

The punch, which Velasquez called the “power special” and had been worked on with his coach, seriously wobbled Dos Santos and forced him to go into survival mode to see out the remainder of the opening round.

Dos Santos never really recovered from that shot and for the next two rounds was dominated by Velasquez’s high paced, grappling style.

He showed great heart to see out the fight and continued to plug away but, in truth, he was never able to launch any of the slick boxing attacks that he has become famous for.

After the fight Velasquez said, “It feels great to win but I know he’s going to come back stronger, so I have to keep getting better. That’s the name of the game, constantly getting better.”

Elsewhere Jim Miller beat Joe Lauzon with a unanimous points decision, to win fight of the night honours, in the co-main event.

Miller gave an impressive, well rounded performance, landing lots of sharp, inside leg kicks and opening up a deep cut on his opponent’s forehead in the first round.

Referee Yves Lavigne called time out towards the end of the round to have the doctor check the severity cut, though he saw no reason to stop the fight.

Lauzon did not quit, however, and was unlucky not to connect on a slick heel hook attempt in the third round.

But, in the end, Miller’s class shone through and he confirmed his position as a top contender in the, talent rich, 155 lbs division.

When asked about the doctor nearly stopping the fight, Miller said, “I was hoping he wouldn’t. When I step in the ring I like the three guys in the there to decide the outcome and no one else.”

The rest of the main card was reserved for the Middleweights with Cypriot, Costa Philippou, defying the odds to end Tim Boetsch’s impressive winning streak.

Philippou, who was a last minute replacement for top prospect Chris Weidman, was able to take advantage of an early hand injury to Boetsch and use his elite boxing skills to earn a third round TKO victory and put himself in the title mix.

Yushin Okami will, also, now be dreaming of another shot at Anderson Silva and the Middleweight belt after defeating Alan Belcher on points.

With both fighters ranked in the top ten this was an all or nothing fight, with Okami now that one step closer and Belcher having to work his way back up the ranks.

The biggest shock of the night came when UFC debutant Derek Brunson beat veteran and fans favourite Chris Leben.

Leben, famous for his brawling style and antics in the Ultimate Fighter house, never really got going and appeared to be suffering from ring rust after an enforced, year long, hiatus due to injury.

Brunson also looked gassed early on but was able to score four telling takedowns to win the very low quality bout.

Unfortunately the British contingent, on the under card, were both unsuccessful fighting away from home.

London Bantamweight, Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett was unlucky to lose a close split decision to fellow contender Eddie Wineland.

Phil De Fries, the Heavyweight from Sunderland, was convincingly knocked out, by Todd Duffee, in the first round.

The performance earned Duffee knockout of the night honours in his first fight back with the promotion since being dropped two years ago.

Other Results

• Erik Perez beat Byron Bloodworth first round KO/TKO in the Bantamweight division
• Jamie Varner beat Melvin Guillard split decision in the Lightweight division
• Myles Jury beat Michael Johnson unanimous decision in the Lightweight division
• Max Holloway beat Leonard Garcia split decision in the Featherweight division
• John Moraga beat Chris Cariaso third round submission (submission of the night) in the Flyweight division

Why does basketball have such a small following in the UK?

By Robert Dean

As a basketball fanatic I often feel surprised that it only has a relatively small and specialist following in the UK. If you ask the average Brit to talk about basketball the stock response is usually “erm Michael Jordan, erm Kobe Bryant” with the particularly enlightened maybe being able to recall “erm Shaq”. However I’ve always felt that with some education and more exposure, Basketball could become a very popular sport in the UK for participants and spectators alike.

There’s no escaping the fact that the UK’s sporting landscape is dominated by Football. The large majority of our mainstream media coverage is littered with news and analysis of the, so-called, beautiful game. When you factor in other well followed sports like Cricket, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Golf and Tennis it’s hard to imagine where and how it’s going to fit it in.

This is also not helped by our league offering the British Basketball League, or as it more commonly known the BBL. The BBL is a highly competitive and entertaining league, with a loyal and enthusiastic following and I in no way mean to demean its relevance. However compared with its higher profile sporting competitors, it is essentially a semi professional outfit played in small leisure centers up and down the country. This makes it hard for TV companies to spend big money marketing the brand.

Here a 3 ways in which I think that Basketball could be made more accessible to the UK market;

1. We need to learn from the best. Basketball does of course come out of the good ol’ U S of A. Its flagship product, the National Basketball Association (NBA), is and always will be basketballs biggest draw. Currently the only TV coverage of NBA games and analysis is on ESPN, a subscription channel which essentially only caters for the hardcore US sports fan, with games being shown in the early hours of the morning. If repeats were shown at prime time this might help to boost the profile and draw in new interest. From the January 17th Sky Sports, Britain’s biggest provider of sports on television, will now also be showing weekly NBA basketball coverage. They have been very successful in increasing American Football’s reputation and this could be the shot in the arm that the British market needs.
2. The BBC missed a trick by not giving more limelight to Basketball in the Olympics. With the Americans bringing a squad to rival their legendary ’92 Dream-Team, it was a great chance for a UK audience to learn the nuances of the game and gain an affinity for its star players.
3. Lastly I feel that we have a genuine vested interest on which to tag our allegiance to. Luol Deng is not only a legitimate NBA star – this year earning his belated first all-star call up – but one of the best stories in the whole of sport. Deng, who was born in the Sudan, was granted political asylum as a child and grew up in Brixton, South London. He honed his skills in the UK and managed to earn a college scholarship to Duke university, one of America’s most prestigious basketball programs. He was then drafted by the world-famous Chicago Bulls, for which he still plays now alongside former MVP Derrick Rose. But it is in a Team GB jersey where we should be most proud of him. He played through injury and adversity to lead his adopted home nation out in his own back yard this summer, almost pulling of a shock upset against power houses Spain in a 79-78 loss.

Players to watch out for

• Chris Paul -The tricky point guard is the perfect playmaker and leader.
• Blake Griffin – The big man famous for his thunderous dunks.
• Kevin Durant – All around scoring genius. Heir to the throne of Kobe Bryant and Lebron James as the game’s best.

Slang Dunk – a brief description of the slang terms used in basketball

• Dime – Skillful assist or pass
• Jam – Another term for dunk
• Crossover ­- Dribbling move where a player moves the ball from hand to the other
•  Setting a pick – Where a player creates a physical barrier to block a defender from the opposite team
• Double team – Where the defending team assigns two players to one player from the team on offense

 

 

 

Talking Sport – 2012 in review

Josh Harrison

2012 has been a truly incredible year for sport and many Brits will reflect on the year as the greatest in UK sporting history.
Olympic heroes showed the world we can compete with the biggest nations, Bradley Wiggins became the first Brit to win the Tour de France and Chelsea defied the odds to win their first Champions league.

Wiggins’ Tour De France success combined with the Gold medal he won in the Olympics earned him the Sports Personality of the year award, but he faced stiff competition from other triumphant Olympians, such as Mo Farah who won the 5,000m and 10,000m; Jess Ennis; Ben Ainslie, and Andy Murray.

Murray followed up his final place at Wimbledon with an Olympic gold victory at Flushing Meadows becoming the first British man to win a grand slam in 76 years.

It was also a memorable year in the premier league as a Sergio Aguero strike deep into added time secured Manchester City their first title in 44 years in the most dramatic fashion.

Their neighbors and bitter rivals Manchester Untied were seconds away from claiming the title once again but two goals in 4 minutes sent the home fans into ecstasy.

It was an iconic moment and there will probably never be such a thrilling conclusion to a season ever again.

The only disappointed of the year has to be the English football teams failure to progress past the quarterfinal stage in major competition once again but that’s something we’ve come to expect from the national side.

It wasn’t long however until the nation’s pride was restored with remarkable performances by so many athletes at the London Olympic and Paralympic games.

In Golf Europe achieved one of the greatest comebacks in Ryder Cup history by winning eight and tying one of the 12 singles matches after the U.S led 10-6 and required 4 ½ points to win on the final day.
It was an outstanding comeback and Rory Mcllroy became the youngest multiple major winner since the great Spaniard Everiano Ballesteros 32 years earlier.
The year is drawing to a close but we must build on this years sporting success, children must be encouraged to take up sport from a young age to ensure the next generation can achieve greatness in many different sports.
Hopefully young athletes will be inspired by the sporting heroes of late and will aim to emulate their success but grass roots and amateur levels of sport must be funded and run well, as I’m sure we are going in the right direction in becoming of the best sporting countries in the world.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2012 Preview

Mollie Bennett

After arguably the best year of sport for a generation, this year’s Sports Personality of the Year short-list has been extended from 10 to 12 making the award more eagerly awaited than ever.

With London 2012 Olympic Games, the first ever British Tour De France champion, Chelsea’s remarkable champions league triumph, this year’s emphatic Ryder Cup and the most dramatic end to a Premier League season ever, it is hard to think of a more spectacular year of sport.

This year Sports Personality of Year Awards is showered with inspirational Olympians but with so many amazing stories, the gong really is wide open.

Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins is the hot favourite with the bookies and after becoming the first British rider to ever win the yellow jersey, it is hard to look past him.

The side-burned Briton also picked up his seventh Olympic medal when he took gold in the Men’s Time Trail at London 2012.

Fellow cyclist and 2008 SPORY Sir Chris Hoy is also a contender after picking up gold’s in the Men’s Team Sprint and Men’s Kieren in London.

Double gold medallist Mo Farah is 4/1 after his incredible triumph in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the Olympic Games and after becoming only the fifth person to manage the feat; it would be no surprise if he celebrated the crown with the Mobot.

Andy Murray is third favourite after picking up his first grand slam title to win the US Open, having earlier won Olympic gold in the men’s single.

Elsewhere, Olympic Games poster-girl Jessica Ennis is backed at 8-1 and after her gold in the heptathlon, and making the shortlist three times in the last four years, Britain’s golden girl would be more than worthy of the crown.

Sailor Ben Ainsle, who won the Finn class at London 2012 and became the most decorated Olympic sailor in the process, could make a juicy bet at 150/1.

Ainsle has announced that he will not compete in Rio, meaning that he might gain a sentimental, nostalgic advantage and take the SPORTY crown.

The Weirwolf (aka David Weir) took the Paralympic Games by storm taking four gold medals in the process is a very reasonable 25/1 to win, while Ellie Simmons, winner of two gold’s, a silver and a bronze in the Paralympic swimming pool, is 50/1.

Golfer Rory McIlroy triumphed across the Atlantic as he took the US PGA title, played in Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team and the season-ending tour championship, the Irishman is an outsider at 100/1.

Female Boxer Nicola Adams became the first female fighter to win an Olympic boxing title and she is joined at 200/1 alongside quadruple Paralympic gold medal winner Sarah Storey.

Katherine Granger, who was a silver medallist at three previous Games, has arguably the most inspiring story after securing gold at the fourth time of asking, is also an outsider at 200/1.

The pure talent in this year’s shortlist meant Olympic Gold medallists Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott, Alistair Brownlee, Greg Rutherford and Charlotte Dujardin all missed out, along with Europe’s Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter.

The winner will be decided by a public vote on Sunday 16^th December in front of 15,000 proud, patriotic and eager crowd members at London’s ExCel arena.

There will be live coverage of BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year which kicks off at 19.30, on BBC one, BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website.

Rugby World Cup 2015 draw

 By Tom Copeland

England have been drawn against Australia and Wales in pool A of the 2015 Rugby World Cup following the draw in the Tate Modern today.
The World Cup will be held in stadiums across England including possibly the home of Brighton and Hove Albion, The Amex Stadium.
England, world cup winners in 2003, will look to brush aside some tough competition from ‘the group of death’ in the early stages in their fight for a second world cup trophy in a dozen years.
Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “It is definitely a tough pool and to win the World Cup you have to win big games”.
Scotland also have a tough draw to reach the knockout stages, with games against southern hemisphere teams South Africa and Samoa in pool B.
The final home nation, Ireland, are drawn with France and Italy in a battle of the European nations in pool D.
The final pool, C, will most probably prove to be an easy route to the knockout stages for reigning champions New Zealand, who will play Argentina and Tonga.
The final two qualifiers from each group are yet to be confirmed but will be filled by nations from Oceania, Asia, Europe and The Americas, depending on ranking positions.
The England rugby team will now look towards a successful Six Nations campaign where they will aim to make a mark against their Welsh counterparts in the first stage up one-upmanship in the run up to 2015.