I was asked if I could give a talk to the children at Kings College School in London to help inspire them on the run up to the Olympics and Paralympics games, of course I said yes, but unfortunately the traffic was horrendous and I arrived a little late. I made my apologies and spoke to a very small group of children that seemed to enjoy what I had to say,
after my little speech I was asked if I would like to try my hand at Water Polo, it was my first time and
Southend-on-Sea’s sporting heroes were honoured at the borough’s sports awards. The annual sports awards took place on the 9th November 2011 at the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff. Cyclist and Commonwealth Games time trial silver medalist Alex Dowsett was the guest of honour presenting the awards & trophies.
You will be pleased to hear that Jo-Jo received several awards that evening. But due to her training commitments at Loughborough, for London 2012, she was unable to attend the prestigious ceremony. Her father, Andrew, stepped in and collected the following awards on behalf of Jo-Jo.
Jo-Jo was named Rochford District Disability Sports Personaility of the Year 2011, she was also nominated with distinction for Sports Personality of the Year.
Services to Sport went to Doug Drake (Head Coach)
Sports Personaility of the Year went to Phil Harper (Masters Swimmer)
The 4th Annual Rochford District Sports Awards took place on Thursday 13th October at the Mill Arts & Events Centre, Rayleigh, and once again Waters & Stanton were proud to be sponsoring the ‘Disability Sports Personality of the Year Award’. Nearly 200 guests attended the event which was compered by BBC Essex Sports Journalist Ben Fryer.
Swimmer Jo-Jo Cranfield won the ‘Disability Sports Personality of the Year’ for the second year in a row. At the DSE Short Course Junior Nationals 2010 held in Sheffield in February she won Silver medals in 100m Freestyle, 200m Medley, 400m Team Medley & 100m Breaststroke. She also passed her A-Levels and earned a place at the prestigious Loughborough University studying for a degree in Sports Coaching, she has also been offered a place in the Elite Loughborough University Swimming Team alongside World Championship swimmers such as Liam Tancock and Joanne Jackson. W&S would like to wish Jo-Jo the best in her campaign to compete in the 2012 Paralympic Games and congratulate her on her win at the Rochford Award Ceremony, you can find out more about Jo-Jo here on her website.
Pictured below is Jo-Jo collecting her award from Chairman of Rochford Council, Simon Smith and Jeff Stanton of Waters & Stanton.
Jo-Jo enrolled on her B.Sc Honors Degree in Sports Coaching at the world renowned University/College Loughborough on the 19th September 2011
She is settling in well, and after only being there for one week she has already made an impression on her peers and consequently she has been voted in to be the female Sports Coaching – Course Representative
Jo-Jo PASSED her A Level’s in Philosophy, Physical Education & Psychology and has now gained enough UCAS points for her to accept her very much sought after place to study for a
Degree in Sports Coaching at Loughborough University/College.
To qualify as a lifeguard she had to attend a week long course, which covered a variety of life saving skills and at the end of the course PASS five individual exams, which were.
A Theory test, CPR exam, First Aid exam, Pool exam, and Spinal board exam all of which she did at the Virgin Active Leisure Centre, Clements Hall in Hawkwell/Rochford. The course run from the 25 to 29 July 2011.
“As expected, Jo-Jo has proved to be reliable and punctual. In a short space of time she has managed to forge an excellent working relationship with both the staff and the six and seven year olds, imparting skill, expertise and enthusiasm.Jo-Jo has made a valuable contribution to our school. Long may the association continue and we are so grateful for Jo-Jo’s help. I have no hesitation in recommending her services.”Mrs J A DaviesHeadteacherThe Westborough SchoolWestcliff-on-Sea
An aerial view of Millfield sports ground and the world famous 50m Swimming Pool, in which I have the pleasure of training everyday, alongside the athletics track, where I do some of my land training.
This fabulous view is only a very small part of what Millfield have to offer
Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE)
NVQ Level 3 Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance (Sports Specific)
Qualification 1
Qualification Title: Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence.
Qualification Type: Advanced Apprenticeship
Qualification Level: 3
Components: Level 3 NVQ in Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance, Level 2 Minimum Technical Certificate (schools/college courses), Level 2 Key Skills/GCSE’s.
Awarding body: Skills Active
Qualification 2
NVQ Title: Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance
Qualification Reference Number: 50073977
Qualification Level 3:
NVQ Units:
Unit 1 – Plan, apply and evaluate your technical skills to achieve excellence in your sport
Unit 2 – Plan, apply and evaluate your tactical skills to achieve excellence in your sport
Unit 3 – Plan, apply and evaluate your physical capability to achieve excellence in your sport
Unit 4 – Plan, apply and evaluate the attitudes and mental skills needed to achieve excellence in your sport
Unit 5 – Plan and manage your lifestyle to achieve excellence in your sport
Unit 6 – Manage your sporting career
Unit 7 – Communicate and work effectively with other people whilst seeking to achieve excellence in your sport
Unit 8 – Maintain the health and safety of self and others whilst seeking to achieve excellence in your sport
Awarding Body: First for Sport
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What is AASE?
AASE is a Government funded initiative that has been designed to meet the needs of young people (aged 16-18) who have the realistic potential to achieve excellence in their sport and are seeking to perform at the highest level as their main career goal, whilst continuing with their education. Notionally taking two years to complete, the AASE framework will provide for the first time a structured national training and development route across all sports for talented young athletes, many of whom may go on to represent their countryon the world stage.
The apprenticeship is the first to offer elite and potentially elite athletes to achieve proper recognition of the skills, knowledge and understanding they are developing/gaining in their quest for excellence.
NVQ Level 3 Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance (Sports Specific)
This qualification recognises excellence in a specific sport. The NVQ is made up of 8 sport specific units: To gain the full NVQ all eight mandatory units must be achieved. The England Talent Team delivers the NVQ Level 3. Edexcel awards this qualification. The NVQ will be delivered at training, competitions, AASE Workshops/Camps and Online.
This NVQ is specifically designed for elite athletes to help them achieve success within their sport and hopefully achieve a World Class status. The NVQ is rewarding and beneficial to all those selected to come onto the programme.
The NVQ is all about being an elite athlete and it is broken into 8 units that cover important factors of an elite athlete’s life.
Skills Active will award the overall apprenticeship after all 3 components have been completed.
Employers and Universities such as Loughborough, Bath, Manchester Metropolitan and Leeds Metropolitan have signed up to recognise the AASE programme when considering individuals for places on courses. Many other universities will have an AASE recognition scheme within the next two years.
British International swimming championships / European Trials, held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield between the 8-10 April 2011. There were over 24 different countrys competing at this event, Austria, Belguim, Brazil, Catalona, China, China Taipei, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine, and Wales. All the events were MD (multi disability) and I was up against swimmers of all ages, and all disabilities in all classifactions. Which is not good, because it normally means the lower classifications win. I qualified for all 7 events available in my disability classification, which is S9 SB8 SM9, I chose to enter only 2 events due to the amount of A level course work I am currently doing at the moment.
Here are my Results
British International Swimming Championships (50m) 2011
MD (Multi Disability) events up against all disabilities
British Gas National Championships / European Trials, This was an able-bodied long course event with some multi disability events mixed in. I qualified for all 7 events available in my disability classification, which is S9 SB8 SM9, they were all MD (multi disability) events, which meant I was up against swimmers of all ages, and all disabilities, which is not good, because it normally means the lower classifications win. The competition was over 8 days at the Manchester Aquatic Centre in Booth Street, because of this, I chose to enter only 2 events due to the amount of A level course work I still needed to complete, I could not afford to have a whole week away from school, missing vital A level lessons so close to my final exams. I was a little nervous because I was a long way from home and this was the first time my parents were not there to support me, they had to stay at home to look after my best friend, Bruce ♥ (my dog)
Here are my Results
British Gas National Championships / European Trials 2011 Long Course
MD (Multi Disability) events up against all disabilities
February 2011 I qualified and entered 7 Individual & 2 Team Relay events for my last ever DSE’s (Disability Sport Events) National Short Course Junior (18 & under) Championships at Ponds Forge international sports centre in Sheffield.
Results
DSE 18u National Junior Short Course Swimming Championships – Sheffield
100m Freestyle S92nd
200m Individual Medley S92nd
400m Team Medley Relay 2nd(Jo-Jo Freestyle)
100m Breaststroke SB82nd
400m Freestyle Team Relay 4th
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The weekend started out well and I was looking forward to the competition.
My daddy, met me at Sheffield to stay and support me whilst my brother and mummy stayed at home with my best friend Bruce (my dog). Unfortunately Bruce who is 15½ was not very well he has been on medication for his heart for a few years now. As the weekend progressed Bruce’s health deteriorated so much so that my dad had to leave for home in the middle of the night. We prepared ourselves for the worst. I pulled out of most of my events because I was so upset. I just could not stop crying. I was going to lose my best ever friend. Did I want to go home with my dad or did I want to stay away? I didn’t want to see Bruce in such a bad way. I love Bruce so so much. We all prepared ourselves for the worst.
First thing Sunday morning my mummy, daddy and brother took Bruce to the vets.
The vet came out of his room and asked why are you all crying? Bruce could not stand up un aided he keeps falling down, walking into things, his eyes are shaking all the time and his head is all twisted over. The vet replied, Bruce has got a problem with his middle ear, which is affecting his balance, and that he would be fine in a week or two.
Phew! What a relief.
As you can probably tell I did not swim that good and I only ended up entering 4 events plus 1 relay. But on the other hand Bruce is still with us Hooray and you will be pleased to know he is on the mend.
I like to spend my half term holidays helping others. This half term I was a PE assistant for Mr Funa at The Westborough School in my hometown of Westcliff-on-Sea.
The photo above is of myself and Sir Mike Jackson MBE from The Presidents Sporting Club with one of Westborough’s PE teachers Mr Funa and some year 2 children.
Sir Mike Jackson MBE had just presented me with a donation towards my Paralympic dream.
