Boxer Kell Brook to defend his IBF World title in March

Kell Brook will defend his IBF World Welterweight title against Romanian "Jo Jo" Dan at the Motorpoint Arena on 28th March.

 

Kell wowed his fans when he attended a Civic Reception in his Sheffield hometown in August 2014 after defeating Shawn Porter for the IBF World Welterweight title. 

He was expected to make a first defence of his title last December, but that was affected by a machete attack in Tenerife shortly after his Civic Reception.  All credit to Kell who later said "I was lying there helpless and hopeless on teh side of the street.  I was thinking about my kids, my family, looking at the blood pouring out of my leg."  Well done on the recovery and all the best for a show-stopping performance in March.

Is there a problem with sport participation in the UK?

The latest Active People Survey from Sport England has, perhaps surprisingly, indicated an overall fall of 125,100 less people playing sport for at least 30 minutes at  a moderate intensity.  During the period Oct 2014 to Oct 2014, 15.7m people aged 16 or older played sport at this level - this is down 125,100 on the previous report (but up 1.63m compared to 2005/6).

The biggest loser seems to have been swimming which has seen a 245,000 fall in participation numbers over the last year, even though 2.69m people swam at least once a week for 30 minutes between October 2013 and October 2014.

"I am disappointed with these figures, said Sport England chief executive Jennie Price.  Swimming has lagged behind running and the gym in terms of offering an attractive, modern experience to people who want to play sport and exercise.  That has to change and to change quickly."

 Jennie Price, chief executive, Sport England

Swimming remains the country's most popular sport but Price added she was "very concerned" about the drop in numbers.  The outcome of Sport England's latest survey means that swimming, along with other sports such as basketball, must wait until March to find out if its funding is affected.  

The report can be found at: http://www.sportengland.org/research/who-plays-sport/

Take a few minutes to check your facts......

Recently I was at the Northern Athletics Senior Indoor Championships at the EIS, Sheffield where I captured Katarina Johnson-Thompson breaking the Championship record with 6.63m in the long jump.  Her good start to 2015 prompted many articles, one of which claimed:

"...And, clearly, it has helped.  Body and mind fully refreshed, Johnson-Thompson returned to action with a bang at the Northern Indoor Championships in Sheffield last weekend, smashing her 2014 best in the long jump and equaling [sic] her PB in the 60m hurdles. That it was all done in Jess Ennis-Hill's hometown won't have been lost on anyone..."

Anyone with access to an internet search engine would have soon seen that her 6.63m was good but still well short of her 6.92m set in Glasgow on 11th July 2014.  (And that was confirmed by the IAAF not just Wikipedia......).  Cue one vacancy in the Copy department?  

Sheffield Junior Saints U14s go 10-0 for the season so far

After a good away win at York Eagles last weekend (104-42), Sheffield Junior Saints U14s had their first home game since November and ran out 137-8 winners over Leeds Tigers.  Looks like doughnuts are on the menu for training again this week.

Everyone contributed to a good team effort and looks forward to a trip to Harrogate next weekend.

Action from the Northern Athletics Senior Indoor Championships

Some photos of the action at the Northern Athletics Senior Indoor Championships held at the EIS, Sheffield 17-18th January 2015.

 Katarina Johnson-Thompson sails through the air on her way to 6.63m and first place in the Senior Women's Long Jump.

 Alexandra Russell (Wigan) 5.97m, Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Liverpool) 6.63m, Micaela Brindle (Wigan) 5.82m - the medal winners in the Senior Women's Long Jump.

 

Kristie Edwards (Sheffield AC, coach Lewis Samuel) easing over the line in her heat of the U20 Women's 200m.

Louise Bloor (Trafford AC) easing over the line in her heat of the Senior Women's 200m.

Richard Yates (City of Sheffield AC)  battling it out with James Williams (Liverpool AC) in their heat of the Senior Men's 200m.

Craig Jones (Liverpool Harriers AC) competing in the Senior Men's Long Jump.

Full results can be found at: http://www.northernathletics.org.uk/download/senior-indoor-championship-full-results-2015/

Coverage in Athletics Weekly at: http://www.athleticsweekly.com/featured/weekly-round-up-jan-19-15842/

Katarina Johnson-Thompson starts off the 2015 indoor season in fine style

Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Liverpool Harriers AC, coach Mike Holmes) came to the Northern Indoor Athletics Senior Indoor Championships at EIS Sheffield this weekend for her first indoor competition of the year.  She overcame a sore throat to post 8.40seconds in the 60m hurdles (to equal her PB), managed 12.32m in the shot put, and a winning 6.63m in the long jump.

As I had chance to set up a static remote today, this picture is a composite of her first jump, merged together to show the flowing action.

Good performances in the England Athletics Combined Event 2015

Some photos from the first athletics meeting of the year.  I'm hoping that 2015 will start off in the same explosive way that 2014 did. 

Joe Hobson (City of Sheffield AC) putting in a good performance of 8.76 seconds in the Men's Junior 60m hurdles.

 Tom Bosworth (Tonbridge AC) won the 3k walk in a time of 11:52:36

Karla  Drew (City of Sheffield AC) on her way to 1.74m in the Senior Women's High Jump and a total of 4,199 points to win the Senior Women's heptathlon.

Jo Rowland (Crawley AC) on her way to 12.48m in the Senior Women's Shot Putt and a total of 4,115 points to third in the Senior Women's heptathlon.

Sheffield Saints basketball overcome Killamarsh Arrows

After a slow start (well, it had been a long Christmas break) Sheffield Junior Saints U14s started 2015 as they finished 2014 and maintained their unbeaten run in the Northern league with a 36-92 victory away at Killamarsh Arrows.

The donuts were never in real danger this weekend as too many points were squandered throughout the game.  But in a team performance that would have done credit to Saint Sebastian, Saints kept on plugging til the end.  The strength of their bench told as points were gained from all players.

Sheffield Hatters comeback to win the Betty Codona Classic

Sheffield Hatters came back from an almost impossible 13 points down to Nottingham Wildcats to win the 2nd Annual WBBL Tournament named in honour of Betty Codona.

At half-time it seemed as if there was only one team in it and Nottingham had been swishing the three-pointers with ease to build up a commanding lead.  But a different Hatters team came out after the break to take the lead with barely five minutes remaining and win almost comfortably in the end.

Nottingham Wildcats 73 (17,39,54) (Reynolds 26, Prior 12, Pressley 12)
Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters 79 (14,26,50) (Gandy 26, Hutchinson 16, Torres 13)

The two teams meet again next weekend for the WBBL Trophy Final at the NIA in Birmingham.