Tag: Blackhall Athletic

Blackhall Athletic nets Neighbourhood support

Nigel handshakeInverleith Neighbourhood Partnership recently awarded a community grant to local sports club Blackhall Athletic. The club used the funding to equip some of their teams with new tops, and INP Convener Councillor Nigel Bagshaw called in to a training session at Broughton High School to meet players and coaches last week.

Nigel said: “It’s great to support local initiatives like this. Community grants can make a real difference to small organisations and we’re delighted to be able to help Blackhall Athletic, who are doing a great job with our young people”.

Blackhall1Blackhall Athletic’s John Adams said: “We spend an awful lot of time trying to raise funds to support club activities but everyone knows how difficult that has been in recent times. We are constantly working at it and we hope to be self-sustaining in the future, but in the meantime this grant is really welcome. Quite simply, without this support we would not be able to continue to do what we do – so we are all really grateful to Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership”.

Blackhall Athletic is run by twenty-five adult volunteers who carry out a variety of tasks including coaching, first aid, administration and and committee duties. The club
currently has five teams, four boys and one girls, and they plan to start two more over the coming months – giving well over one hundred local boys and girls the opportunity to regularly take part in active sport.

Blackhall aJohn added: “As well as the sporting element, there are other benefits too. All of our boys and girls will, through training and playing, undertake over 180 hours of physical activity which is a health benefit.

“And then there’s teamwork. Our players come from all over the area; they go to different schools and come from different backgrounds but they are all the same when they put on the club strip. This teaches them that they must all work together to achieve success and the young people learn the life skills they will need as they grow into adulthood.”

That sounds like a home ‘win, win’ for both Blackhall Athletic and the wider Inverleith community.

Nigel closeup2

News from Blackhall Athletic

bafclogoThe club currently has five teams (4 boys and 1 girls ), we are in the process of starting up another boys team and girls team and in January another boys team will be launched. That will give us 105 boys and girls having the opportunity to take part in active sport.

As well as the sporting element, there are other benefits too. All of our boys and girls will, through training and playing, undertake over 180 hours of physical activity which is a health benefit.

And then there’s teamwork. Our players come from all over the area; they go to different schools and come from different backgrounds but they are all the same when they put on the club strip. This teaches them that they must all work together to achieve success and the young people learn the life skills they will need as they grow into adulthood.

Recently the Inverleith Partnership awarded a grant of £1164 to equip some of our teams and we have just heard that Scotmid have awarded the club a grant of £450 which will be used to equip a new girls under 13 team .

The club would not exist without this financial support and the dedication of the 25 adult members of the club who carry out a variety of tasks such as coaches, first aiders, admin duties and committee members .

John Adams, Blackhall Athletic

Community celebrates rapid rise of Blackhall Athletic

Broughton High School was the venue for a reception to mark the formation of a new local football club last night. It’s been a meteoric rise – six months ago Blackhall Athletic didn’t exist, but now has teams playing in three football leagues!  

Club chairman John Adams explained: “Blackhall Athletic really came about through conversations in the pub! A number of parents were talking in the Blackhall Lounge – their kids were members of a team but the boys were not always getting a game. Everyone agreed that it was important that the kids get a chance to enjoy taking part in sport, no matter their abilities. It was from those conversations that the idea for the club was born”.

John (pictured above) is retired, but remains very active within the community and he was ‘coerced’ into helping parents set up a new football team for boys from Blackhall and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In August, just months later, Blackhall Athletic had three teams playing league football.

That’s a cause for celebration and last night parents, coaches and players got together at Blackhall Athletic’s Broughton High School home to say thanks to the people who made it all possible – Carey, Peri, Blackhall Sports Committee, Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership and Craigleith Blackhall Community Council have all showed their support for the new club through sponsorship.

John added: “We’ve received tremendous support from a number of sources. To make a success of something like this you really need two things – money and dedicated people to volunteer their support. It’s been quite  lot of hard work but we have both in place and we’re now able to offer young people the opportunity to come along and get involved, enjoy a game of organised football whatever your skill level. We will never be results driven – Blackhall Athletic is very much a community football club, all about sporting endeavour and playing the game in the right spirit. Everything is set up for the boys now – we have good coaches and the facilities here at Broughton are first class.”

Robert Ure (pictured below) is the Active Schools coordinator based at Broughton High School’s Sports hub. He told guests: “Blackhall Athletic is the first club to be launched from the hub here so this is a very exciting time. We are delighted to host Blackhall Athletic, and I’m delighted they have made their home here at Broughton. Our aim is to offer sporting activities for everyone – we provide a wide range of sporting opportunities with lots of different options, from dance to rugby and everything in between, so come along and give it a try!”

Blackhall Athletics has two Under Tens teams and an Under Thirteen squad side too. Given their meteoric rise, don’t rule out more teams and age groups being added to that list some time soon!