PONTELAND RUNNERS INVITE YOU TO COME ALONG AND RUN WITH US

Week commencing 23rd September we are inviting anyone to come along and try any of our running sessions. You don't have to pre-register, just turn up to one of the sessions and its all for free! If you've just done the GNR and need some motivation to keep that fitness, it's an ideal time to come along and try us.

Sessions are as follows:
Monday 8pm from Ponteland leisure centre - main club session of about 6 miles training run using intervals, hills etc (intermediates/advanced)
Tuesday 7pm from Ponteland leisure centre - ladies only social run 3 to 4 miles at 10-11min/mile steady run (beginners)
Thursday 9.15am from the corner of Darras Road and Eastern Way. 4 to 5 miles training run using intervals, hills etc (beginners/intermediates)
Friday 7pm from Ponteland leisure centre. Steady run 4 to 5 miles (intermediates/men's beginners)

Please share the post with your friends and relatives. It'll be great to see a load of new faces coming along and it's always easier when you know that you're not the only new one there. 

Have a look at our website for more information www.pontelandrunners.org.uk or find us on facebook.
For more information email secretary@pontelandrunners.org.uk or contact Sue on 821547

Cricket Girls' Success

A TEAM of girl cricketers from Northumberland has represented the North of England in a national competition.

The nine Year Six pupils from Ponteland Community Middle School  narrowly missed out on a place in the semi -final of the Asda Kwik Cricket finals at Leicestershire County Cricket Club on Monday.

They won one of their group games but narrowly lost a second by just three runs to deny them a place in the last four.

Teacher Stephen Salter said: "The girls are obviously gutted about not qualifying for the semi-finals. But they are also very proud that they are in the top 10 best teams in the country.

To get to the national finals the 11-year-olds  from PCMS first had to see off opposition from five other schools to win the area finals. They then took the county title at Stocksfield CC after beating 12 other teams.

In the regional finals they won the right to represent the North of England after beating off competition from all over the North East and Cumbria

Mr Salter added: "This is the second time in three years that our Year 6 girls have qualified for the national finals. Two years ago at Derby CCC we won two and lost one in the group stages and didn't qualify for the semi finals."

More than 12,000 schools from across the country took part in the initial stages of the competition.

The PCMS girls are Francesca Burrin, Jessica Farnham, Lauren Beales, Holly Huntley, Katrina Sanders, Victoria Lynch, Madeleine Reynard, Emily Large and Rebekah Wilson.

Ponteland Rugby Windfall

PONTELAND Rugby Club will be able to improve its facilities after receiving a major funding boost.

It has been given a £50,000 grant from Sport England's Protecting Playing Fields Olympic legacy fund.

This will improve its drainage and enable the club to turn an adjoining playing field into new training facilities.

Director of Rugby John Chappell said: "We have three senior teams and more than 300 boys and girls in the junior and youth sections.

"This puts enormous pressure on our training and playing areas – often resulting in lost training sessions and matches when the weather is bad.

"This money, along with financial support from some local councillors, will allow us to train and play more often.

"We will also be able to expand the girls' section and strengthen our links with the local schools by providing coaching sessions on site."

Under the scheme, all of the playing fields supported by the fund will be protected from developers for at least 25 years.

It is part of the Places People Play programme, which aims to bring the inspiration of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities all over the country.

Sport England's Chairman, Richard Lewis, said: "These investments will transform the local pitches where many young people have their first experience of sport."

Source: Morpeth Herald

New Badminton Sessions for Ponteland

Ponteland Leisure Centre is offering adults a new badminton coaching session.  The leisure centre is the venue for a new morning coaching session.  Adults will be coached by Phil Hall, Level 2 Ponteland Community Coach who has worked throughout the region with adults and juniors.

The ‘No Bars and No Strings’ session is for all adults and all abilities, no membership fees, no need to book and equipment provided if needed.  Running 9.30-10.30am Friday at Ponteland Leisure Centre, FIRST SESSION FREE, £3 thereafter. 

Contact Phil Hall for more information 01661 823063, 078100 84153

Ponteland golfers' aim is true

THE women golfers at Ponteland have come out on top in two divisions of the county leagues.

The first division Shield is coming back to Ponteland after an impressive season when the first team had convincing wins over clubs around Northumberland and Tyneside.

They have beaten teams from the City, Gosforth, Bridlepath, Hexham, Bamburgh and Alnmouth.

Their top player, 21-year-old Ami Storey, is playing off plus one and has already returned to Kansas, where she is halfway through her four-year golf and education course.

On vacation this summer, she played in a number of national events and her best finish was seventh in the English Amateur championships at Whittingham Heath in Staffordshire out of a field of 120 players.

Her coach, John Harrison at Matfen, still helps Ami and is in constant e-mail contact to help her improve her consistency. Ami is obviously very happy in Kansas.

"I have made many friends at college and they have invited me to their homes in many different parts of the States," she said.

"I love the golf and I am aiming to be an automatic pick for the college team this year."

The youngest player on the team is 15-year-old Rachel Bruce, who plays off a five handicap.

She is the County Junior Matchplay champion and produced a memorable round this year in a club competition. She carded a round of 72 which is three shots below the par for the course of 75.

Rachel says she is thinking about a golf scholarship in America but is also keen on studying engineering.

Lesley Marsh and Val Crute are veteran team players in both senses. They have played on the Ponteland team for more than 30 years and also play for the county Vets.

Lesley won the Vets championship this year. The other team members have single figure handicaps and they have all contributed to a winning season.

The Ladies' third team won their division six and will be promoted.

It was a nail-biting finish for them when they played Prudhoe Ladies at home last week.

They needed at least four points from their last match and were waiting for the last game to come in before Helen Woodhouse won the crucial point by beating her opponent.

Ponteland Golf Club Lady Captain Margaret Cobb poured the champagne for the third team and their opponents and said: "This is fantastic to win two divisions and to get the Shield back to Ponteland. Well done everyone."

By Muriel Sobo

Source: Morpeth herald

Celeb clients for Ponteland masseur Barrie Graham

MOST folk dream of rubbing shoulders with stars like Alan Shearer and Robbie Williams, but this man literally gets his hands all over them.

Qualified massage therapist Barrie Graham’s tender touch has relaxed the muscles of a host of famous stars.

His long list of celebrity clientele includes pop star Robbie Williams, Mamma Mia actor Dominic Cooper, Northern comedian Paddy McGuiness, actor Ralf Little and X Factor star Olly Murs.

Barrie, from Ponteland, Northumberland, put his years of massaging experience to good use on the stars after scooping the job as massage therapist at the Soccer Aid charity football match earlier this month.

The 31-year-old said: “I got the call and they asked if I was able to do it, and I wanted to get involved because it was football and for a good cause.”

But despite working with a host of famous stars from the music, TV and sporting world, the 31-year-old wasn’t fazed by the celebrities at the tip of his fingers. He said: “It didn’t really bother me because I’ve worked with some big-named people before.”

Barrie was on hand at the match at Old Trafford, Manchester, to ease the pains and strains of the England team, with every member getting a rub down from him, and he had nothing but praise for the squad, particularly pop star, and England team captain, Robbie Williams.

He said: “He was such a nice guy, really down to earth and very warm. They were all lovely.”

The former Ponteland High School student is no stranger to celebrity skin as he was the personal masseur to ice-skating legends Torvill and Dean in April this year.

When the Dancing on Ice live show came to Newcastle Arena for a three-day stint, Barrie was booked to loosen up the Olympic heroes before they took to the ice.

Back in 2006 he was also the team masseur on Sky One’s The Match which, much like Soccer Aid, saw a team of famous faces take on footballing legends.

The likes of musician MC Harvey, Coronation Street actor Danny Young and Big Brother six winner Anthony Hutton, originally from Consett, all benefited from Barrie’s massages.

Barrie has worked as a sports masseur throughout his career doing two seasons with Newcastle United, before moving on to his current position as team masseur with the Newcastle Falcons.

As well as celebrities Barrie, who studied sports massage therapy at Sunderland University, has made a name for himself among the sporting world and counts Alan Shearer as a friend.

The Toon and England legend was one of the many football stars also taking part in Soccer Aid, and he took Barrie under his wing at the match.

Barrie said: “I know him quite well and he introduced me to people. He looked after me, it was a bit of an ice breaker.”

In between all the massages, Barrie still found time to enjoy the day and watched the match alongside Shearer and Teddy Sheringham, but much to the disappointment of the Newcastle United supporter his healing hands weren’t enough to lead the celebrity team to victory.

The Rest of the World squad beat England on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Barrie said: “It was a really good day apart from getting beat.”

Source: ChronicleLive

Ponteland duo top of the golfing crop

JULIE Ross, eight times the Northumberland champion, talked in Teeing Off recently about a promising crop of youngsters the county have high hopes for.

At the time, she was highlighting Nicola Haynes, the 14-year-old over half her age she had just beaten in the women’s final but, as if to underline Ross’s point, another good prospect, Rachel Bruce, 15, from the Ponteland club, has beaten Haynes in the junior county matchplay final.

In turn, that has completed a double for Ponteland. Another of their members, 18-year-old Richard Robson-Crosby, has won his county junior matchplay title.

This was also a double for the Ponteland professional, Alan Robson-Crosby, Richard’s father and coach, who also coaches Bruce, and quite a tribute to his teaching skills.

Two years ago, when Richard was 16, he became the youngest club champion in what was then the 82-year-old history of Ponteland and last year he won the St Andrews Boys’ Open. A pupil at Newcastle RGS, his latest trophy came when he beat Bellingham’s Will Robson 3&2 in the county final. His superior putting, and an ability to get up and down enabled him to ease out to victory against an opponent with top ten finishes this season in the county strokeplay championship and the individual places of the county teams event.

Bruce, who goes to Ponteland High School and has a another coach in the Hexham professional, Andy Paisley, was involved in an altogether different sort of final.

Like Robson-Crosby’s match, it was played at the Bedlingtonshire club, but this one went to the 19th, where Bruce rounded off a memorable comeback, having teed off at the 15th three down.

When Haynes found a bunker and Bruce went through the green, it was Bruce who handled her problem better, bending a wedge round a tree, when 15 yards from the green, to escape with a bogey against Haynes’ double bogey.

The 16th was halved, at 17 the margin was reduced to one when Haynes went through the green via a bunker and wiped out altogether at 18, where she drove out of bounds.

When it came to the first extra hole the decisive blow was struck when Bruce kept her composure after sending a six foot putt seven feet past the hole. She made no mistake on the return journey.

Source: JournalLive

Alan Shearer: Geordie Royalty Now Official Representative of The Queen

Former England footballer Alan Shearer, who is already considered Geordie royalty for becoming the top scorer in Necastle United's history, is to become an official representative of the Queen. The ex- England captain has been appointed deputy lieutenant of Northumberland by the county's lord lieutenant, the Duchess of Northumberland. Shearer, 39, will stand in for the Duchess on occasions when she is unable to fulfil her role as the Queen's representative in the region. Shearer, from Darras Hall, Northumberland, said: "I look forward to assisting the Duchess of Northumberland in her official duties."

Source: The Guardian