Panathlon Challenge

Posted: Monday 8th February 2010
Category: General Panathlon

A competitor from the Wandsworth Panathlon team who was taking part for the first time, gave us her view's on her first Panathlon experience. "It was a bit of a scary day for me because I was nervous and wanted to win. I am new to table cricket which i find different and sometimes difficult but I'm improving because i have coaching. It was a very exciting day and i like getting medals and different t-shirts! I can't wait for the Final in a few weeks time" Thanks Rebecca - we look forward to seeing you competing in the Final !!

Posted: Saturday 6th February 2010
Category: General Panathlon

Hello everybody! The Panathlon Challenge 2010 season is well underway, with the regional finals coming soon after half term. The last week has seen another high quality football coaching course run by Panathlon for its coaches and borough co-ordinators. Jointly run between Panathlon Challenge, The Wheelchair Football Association, Aspire and Tottenham Hotspur FC, the Powerchair Football coaching course was a HUGE success. 25 candidates learned the history and theory behind the game, including the equivalent to the offside law, which provoked a lot of thought and initial confusion! The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the experience of controlling – or attempting to control - a powerchair. Whilst most of the 17 candidates were comfortable enough with moving the chair, at the lower speeds at least, it was a different matter when it came to controlling a ball! This greater understanding gained about how a chair behaves and just how difficult it is, should help our coaches with their work. Each region now has its own ‘hub’ centre where powerchair football will be delivered for players in the surrounding boroughs. Each region will enter a team to represent it in the main London finals on June 24^th. For more information on Powerchair Football, the Junior Kit Scheme, Grading Model, or any other aspect of the Panathlon Challenge football programme, please do not hesitate to contact me! Matthew Edwards, Panathlon Challenge Football Co-ordinator matthew@panathlon.com A quick snippit of action if you click below !

Posted: Wednesday 3rd February 2010
Category: General Panathlon

Hello everybody! Here's a football activity update Competitions Unfortunately, the snow and severe cold weather meant we had to cancel two of the regional football tournaments. The other regional football tournaments have now all been completed. Congratulations to those boroughs that have progressed to the regional finals will take place, which will take place after half term. We will look forward to round two which will involve 5 more competitions involving 20 boroughs. The Westway Sport Centre was the venue for our Coaching Disabled Footballers Course, which took place 2 weeks ago. A thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all, with many intriguing discussions about a wide range of topics. Everybody, including myself, came away from the day having learned a lot more about themselves and their coaching skills. May I take this opportunity to thank Steve Bartlett for his tremendous delivery of the course, especially when you consider the position of the pitches. They may be a superb use of space, but being under the A40, it is a little noisy! This coming Friday sees another course for our regional coaches to attend, and those who have a place on it should have received final details for this. It will see over 20 people London-wide become qualified to deliver Powerchair football sessions in each of the 5 Pro-active regions. This will enable each region to select a team to enter the Powerchair competition on the main finals day on June 24th. For more information on Powerchair Football, the Junior Kit Scheme, Grading Model, or any other aspect of the Panathlon Challenge football programme, please do not hesitate to contact me! Matthew Edwards Panathlon Challenge Football Co-ordinator matthew@panathlon.com

Posted: Tuesday 2nd February 2010
Category: General Panathlon

On February 1st I spent the day at a Panathlon event. I had a great time watching the kids get involved in the different sports and celebrating their different achievements and medals, some more enthusiastically than others. I was put in charge of capturing some of this on video, with varying success. Some of these extremely professional videos can be viewed on youtube using the following link. Please excuse any rather squeaky comments from myself! See Panathlon in action here.