Whitley Bay
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Whitley Bay
SPORTING CLUB
Established in 2015, Whitley Bay Sporting Club is committed to providing players of all ages
with a safe and enjoyable environment in which to play the game. Sport NE Magazine recently
caught up with Robert Nixon to find out more about the good work they’ve been doing lately.
Atmosphere
He told us, “I hope that the atmosphere
is positive across our player and parental
community. The club committee put a huge
collective effort to make this club the best it
can. As a sporting club we also encourage
our members to participate in sports and
activities away from football.
In the last twelve months we have
introduced Strength and Conditioning
sessions as well as recently introducing kids
Muay Thai classes (kickboxing). We also
have a link with the Central Exchange in
North Shields who create a range of exciting
opportunities for people of all ages to explore,
learn, develop and grow.”
2018
“2018 was a really exciting and successful
year for the club. Working with Whitley Bay
High School to help them develop a second
3G pitch, we were able to launch eight new
teams as well as bring in over 25 new coaches
to the club, working across many different
teams.
We also worked with NE Hearts for
Gold to fund free screen testing for our older
players for any cardiac issues. In June, we
held a 24hr football charity event, raising
over £6k. All money raised was split between
the Whitley Bay High School to help towards
floodlights for their new pitch and CHUF
(Children’s Heart Unit Fund) who were
instrumental in saving one of our younger
players life.
We also ran a Young leaders programme
where we put 22 of our U16 squad through
their Junior Sports Leader II qualification
not only to help them achieve a nationally
recognised qualification, but so we can
identify possible coaches of the future.”
2019
“As we do not have our own site, we
are very reliant on utilising the facilities of
local schools and other sporting clubs. This
restricts our ability to grow, but we continue
to look at what facilities we can use in order
to progress the club. Our short-term aim is
to introduce a reserve senior team to give a
soft(er) landing into senior football with a
crop of talented youngers coming through
our older junior teams. We are also looking to
expand our gender specific girls teams with
the intention of having at least one girls team
in each age group.”
Youth
“Youth development is extremely
important to the club. At the start of this
season, we created five new teams at Under
7, with every player coming through our own
development centre which is very popular
with at least 70 attending every week.
These players are the future of the club
and along with their normal 90 min training
session and scheduled game, we have put on
an additional futsal session to encourage the
development of these players.”
“I first got involved in Whitley Bay Sporting Club when my nephew
was playing for one of the junior Football teams, CDL ended up
sponsoring the team kit for his team which has gone on for two
years now.
My son Sam Birkett joined last summer and plays for the U11
Yellows. The club is local to us and has some great coaches
who handle themselves very well and make all the children feel
comfortable and encourage them to have fun and enjoy their
football in a relaxed friendly environment.
There is a great atmosphere around the club and I can only say
how much of a positive experience the club is for the children
playing. From all of us here at CDL we would like to wish everyone
associated with the club all the very best and keep up the great
work!”
Darrel Birkett
8 Issue 01