We’d like to say a big thanks to Kettering & District Lions who have donated £500 to Kettering Town Harriers to support our Leadership Academy.
Athletics is a popular sport for young people, particularly of late primary and early secondary school age. And the current boom in road running the establishment of a Kettering parkrun have meant we are a rapidly growing club. As with any voluntary organisation recruiting and retaining volunteers is always a challenge.
Like Kettering Town Harriers, most athletic clubs take young athletes from 9 years old, but we are finding that at that age, most youngsters are already involved in other sports which makes recruitment and retention in athletics a challenge.
Earlier this year we established a junior athletic club (KTH Bolts), in an attempt to address this issue. At the same time we also launched our own Leadership Academy offering young KTH athletes (11-14 years), the opportunity to develop leadership skills and play an active role in volunteering at the club to support its growth.
The leadership programme is accredited through Sports Leaders UK and Pacesetter Sports are helping us to train 12 of our young athletes to become Sports Leaders.
We have been looking for funding to support the programme as the associated training, equipment and clothing provision is quite an investment for the club. The £500 donated by Kettering Lions with fund training and clothing provision for 25% of our young leaders.
I’d like to thank Kettering Lions on behalf of Kettering Town Harriers and our Young Leaders for their generous contribution.
Matt Brown
Chairman, Kettering Town Harriers
September 2017
Picture shows Matt Brown, Kettering Town Harriers Chairman receiving a £500 from David Wagg, Kettering & District Lions