npower announces award winners for August

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:57:09 GMT

npower has announced the winners of the players and managers awards for the npower Football League in August.

Sheffield Wednesday striker, Ryan Lowe, is the npower League 1 Player of the Month for August. Lowe netted four league goals and three in the Carling Cup for Bury before making a deadline day switch to Wednesday.

Sky Sports' Football League expert, Peter Beagrie, sits on the npower Player of the Month judging panel. He said: "Ryan was the top-scorer in League 2 last season and he has continued to score goals in a higher division this season."

In the npower Championship, Middlesbrough striker, Marvin Emnes, is the npower Player of the Month for August. Emnes netted four goals during the month to help Boro to an unbeaten start and fourth place in the table.

Finally, in the npower League 2, Dagenham & Redbridge defender, Mark Arber, is the Player of the Month for August. Arber netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over Swindon Town and helped keep three clean sheets as The Daggers made an impressive start to their npower League 2 campaign.

As for the managers of the month awards, Milton Keynes Dons manager, Karl Robinson, is the npower League 1 Manager of the Month for August. Robinson led The Dons to the top of the table with five wins and a draw from their opening six games.

Former Charlton Athletic boss, Alan Curbishley, chairs the npower Manager of the Month judging panel. He said: "MK Dons have made a fantastic start to the new campaign, both in npower League 1 and the Carling Cup.

"Not only has Karl Robinson led his men to the top of the league, they are also top scorers in the division and winning games in style."

Over in the npower Championship, Brighton & Hove Albion manager, Gus Poyet, is the Manager of the Month for August. Poyet led The Seagulls to the top of the table with four wins and a draw from their first five games.

npower’s Head of Sponsorship, Emma Collins, said: "Brighton lit up npower League 1 last season and now they are doing the same in the Championship.

"They have settled easily into their new stadium and performed very well in the first five games of the new campaign.

"I'd like to congratulate Gus and the team on behalf of npower, and wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season."

Rotherham United manager, Andy Scott, is the npower League 2 Manager of the Month for August. Scott led The Millers to second in the table with four wins and a draw from their opening six games.

The judging panel comprises Sky Sports Football League expert, Peter Beagrie, Football League head of Communications, John Nagle, BBC Sport's, Mark Clemmit and npower’s Head of Sponsorship Emma Collins.

About npower:
npower is the title sponsor of the Test Match Series in England, Women's Test Series and the Village Cup, with results appearing on the npower cricket website.

npower is the proud sponsor of the npower football league, including The npower Championship, npower League 1 and npower League 2 commencing July 2010.

npower is an energy supplier to 6.6 million residential gas and electricity accounts throughout the UK, including business energy accounts. npower is a market leader in renewable energy and aims to help customers with their energy efficiency. npower juice matches green energy primarily from off-shore wind farms for juice customers at no extra cost.

Npower 'What's Your Goal' gives teens start in football industry

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:13:01 GMT

Npower's 'What's Your Goal' series, broadcast on Sky Sports, has given six UK teenagers their start in the football industry. The programme follows the journeys of six ambitious youngsters as they get to grips with working alonsgide the brightest and best behind the scenes in the football industry.

Aizaz Hussain from Surrey kickstarted a career in the football industry with John Sibley as a sports photographer on national TV. Aizaz beat hundreds of eager young people to win the one-of-a-kind work experience placement. He can be seen being mentored by Action Images veteran John Sibley and completing a challenge set by him.

Renaee Oduro from Brixton was mentored by Sky Sports' Billy McGinty as a TV producer on national TV and can be seen completing a challenge set by McGinty on the show.

Grace Copley from Leicestershiore was mentored by Lynn Walker, the business manager for Ipswich Town FC, shadowing her for the day as she 'meets and greets' important commerical partners. Grace was even given the responsibility of presenting competion winners with their prize in front of a stadium full of fans on the pitch at half time.

Louie Waldock from London can be seen being mentored by Sasa Ihringova, one of the most senior female referees in the npower Football League, and completing a challenge set by her. As part of his mentoring session, Louie was given a one-to-one training session with Sasa before helping her to referee a real youth team game. The camers then followed Louie as he and his mentor arrive at Old Trafford to watch a play-off final where they are given access to the match officals' briefing, something that has never been allowed before.

Luke Harris, a dedicated QPR fan from Kent, was mentored by the team's manager, Neil Warnock, as he steered the team into the premiership at Loftus Road. Luke was also given access to the QPR training ground where he was invited to lunch with Neil and took the opportunity to grill him on what it’s like to be a 'Marmite manager'.

Ollie Marden, also from Kent, spent time with Sky Sports' David Jones. As part of his mentoring session, Ollie travelled to Portsmouth where he spent the day in an outside broadcast studio at Fratton Park, learning how to research facts and stats under the guidance of David before the game took place as well as writing and presenting his very own piece to camera.

The npower What’s Your Goal initiative was launched earlier this year to showcase the vast and varied careers found in Britain’s national sport and to encourage young people to start thinking about what their dream job would be.

Clare McDougall, npower's head of education and community, said: "'What's Your Goal' offered young people fantastic once-in-a-lifetime experiences that allowed them to get stuck in with the professionals and learn the ropes first hand, so we weren’t surprised by the overwhelming response we got from parents and their children across the UK.

"The TV show will help to spread npower's What's Your Goal message even further and we look forward to seeing npower’s What’s Your Goal winners as they make their TV debuts on screen, showing the world how ambitious and talented our teenagers are and hopefully encouraging others to start thinking about what their goal is."

About npower:
npower is a top energy supplier to the UK business market, serving over 238,000 small to medium sized enterprise sites and around 17,000 industrial and commercial customers, with over 100,000 sites.

npower specialises in risk management solutions, including market-leading flexible energy purchasing, business energy efficiency, and broader energy management functions, tailored to every size of business.

Npower Football League professionals work alongside teens for 'What's Your Goal?' competition

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:25:27 GMT

Earlier in the year, npower offered every budding Alex Ferguson, potential Howard Webb and future Jeff Stelling a chance to bring their dreams to life with the 'What’s Your Goal?' competition.

From the high-pressure role of a football manager to the split-second timing of a pitch-side photographer, this was an opportunity for children yearning for a job in sports media to get first-hand experience of the industry.

The prizes took youngsters to the QPR training ground, inside the Sky Sports studios and even within touching distance of the players in the npower Championship Play-Off final at Wembley Stadium.

Among the professionals offering their advice were Queens Park Rangers manager, Neil Warnock and Sky Sports presenter, Dave Jones.

In this three-part series, the children demonstrate the desire and passion needed to cut it in one of the nation’s biggest industries.

And for those youngsters aiming for a similar career, heed the advice of 12-year-old Oliver Marden who, having won the chance to experience being a sports presenter, said: "You should try for everything and grasp every opportunity you can."

npower is bringing back its What’s Your Goal initiative bigger and better than ever before for 2012. Any young people interested in getting involved should keep an eye out for updates on the npower What's Your Goal website: www.npower.com/whatsyourgoal.

-ENDS-

About npower:
npower is one of the top energy suppliers to the UK business market, serving over 238,000 small to medium sized enterprise sites and around 17,000 industrial and commercial customers, with over 100,000 sites.

npower is dedicated to helping UK businesses use energy more efficiently and therefore spend less money on their bills. npower aims to have a positive impact on the communities it serves and reduce its customers' carbon footprint whilst always improving its service to its customers.

npower specialises in risk management solutions, including market-leading flexible energy purchasing, energy efficiency, and broader energy management functions, tailored to every size of business.

Npower supports Cricket in the City

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:37:13 GMT

In support Cricket in the City in Birmingham, Test Series sponsor npower will be bringing its Urban Cricket to Victoria Square.

A scheme to encourage grass roots cricket and get children playing the game, Urban Cricket is now in its fifth year. As part of the scheme, five dedicated Urban Cricket facilities were opened across the country - including one in Highgate Park in Birmingham which was opened in 2008.

Birmingham City Council, working in partnership with Warwickshire Cricket Board, regularly uses the facility to run cricket coaching programmes for local schools.

npower will bring Urban Cricket to the city centre as part of the Cricket in the City event, with a giveaway of hundreds of cricket kits, including a bat and ball.

Clare McDoughall, Education Programme Director at npower, said: "Initiatives like Urban Cricket are essential to get more young people interested in playing cricket. It's easy to learn, anyone can have a go and you don't need expensive equipment."

Urban Cricket is a national project run in conjunction with ECB, which launched in 2006 with a clear goal to get more children playing cricket. The scheme has also been responsible for the development of 5 purpose built cricket facilities across UK, those being in Brixton in London, Abbeyfield Park in Sheffield, Highgate Park in Birmingham, King Edward in Nottingham and Bignor Playing Field in Manchester.

About npower:
npower is one of the UK's largest energy suppliers and has 6.6 million customer accounts across the UK.

npower has been awarded platinum status in Business in the Community’s CR Index and is one of twenty-nine companies to have achieved the CommunityMark since its launch. All CommunityMark achievers have been recognised for demonstrating excellence in their holistic and strategic approach to community investment.

Fleming and Skupski visit Eastbourne Sports Park ahead of this weekend's Davis Cup tie

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:32:09 GMT

AEGON GB Davis Cup doubles pair Ken Skupski and Colin Fleming took a short respite from preparations for the forthcoming Davis Cup clash against Turkey to visit Eastbourne Sports Park, to see for themselves how tennis is changing within local parks.
Eastbourne Sports Park was recently awarded beacon site status by the Tennis Foundation in recognition of their high quality, affordable community tennis programmes.
The 3-court indoor facility in Eastbourne has been selected for the accolade along with 44 other Beacon sites across the country and is one of the first community sites to achieve the status, which recognises the best community-focused facilities, as part of AEGON Parks Tennis.
AEGON Parks Tennis aims to increase community access to tennis in parks and communities nationwide. Led by the Tennis Foundation and supported by the LTA, AEGON Parks Tennis is a key programme in British tennis’ drive to increase participation and grow tennis at all levels. The long-term aim is to have one beacon site acting as a centre of community tennis excellence in each of the 442 local authorities in Britain.
Colin Fleming from Linlithgow, Scotland and Liverpool’s Ken Skupski both enjoyed having a hit with local juniors and seeing how tennis is thriving park sites such as Eastbourne Sports Park to enable more people to get involved in tennis.
After a rewarding day spending time with players from the local community, Ken Skupski said;
“It was great fun. It’s nice to give something back to the kids. There’s a lot of great talent here which is good for British tennis. It’s great for the locals to be able to come out and support us but also to see the level of what they could be one day in the future.”
The visit offered the players some time-out from the team’s training in the build up to the tie.
Doubles partner Colin Fleming said; “We’ve had a good week’s training, and it’s nice to come out and relax and do things like this, but we are all focusing on the tie.”The British duo are set to join singles players Jamie Baker and James Ward in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie which will take place on the grass courts of Devonshire Park in Eastbourne from the 9th -11th July.
The British No. 1’s have enjoyed a run of good form of late and will contest their match on Sunday. Speaking ahead of the tie, Colin Fleming said;
“We’ve had a great week so far. All our form coming into the tie has been good. Ken and I played well back here at Eastbourne at the AEGON International last month, and at Wimbledon, and the singles boys had a great week in Manchester, so we’re ready to go.”
-ENDS-

Sophie Ashcroft
Sponsorship Media Relations Manager
AEGON UK

Tel: 0131 549 2224
Mob: 07740 897932

Mel South goes Back to School

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:22:10 GMT

Team AEGON player, Mel South, took time out from playing at the AEGON Classic and joined pupils at Raddlebarn Primary School in Birmingham to check out the changes in tennis which are taking the nation’s youngsters by storm.
The Tennis Foundation (TF), supported by the Lawn Tennis Association, (LTA) has been implementing a new AEGON Schools Tennis strategy to increase children’s access to tennis and the British number five was on hand to see the new style tennis delivery in action.
Team AEGON is the elite British squad that receive funding and support from the LTA and today, Mel experienced first hand just what an impact the initiative is having in Birmingham.
She said: “To encourage more kids to take up the sport and stay involved, we want to make tennis more accessible at school and we want them to have a quality experience of this great sport, and the session I saw today was exactly that.”
AEGON Schools Tennis provides a range of resources for schools, including an innovative coach-led DVD. The new tools are designed to give teachers everything they need to offer tennis, and to challenge old-fashioned views of the sport. They demonstrate how tennis can be taught in small areas to large groups, whether in the playground or the school hall.
Tennis is the only sport to have developed such an interactive child-facing DVD resource, meaning the pressure of demonstrating tennis skills is taken off the teacher.
The programme also provides the equipment to make it happen and over 7,000 packs have been distributed nationwide completely free-of-charge – the equivalent of 230,000 tennis rackets and 461,000 tennis balls and Mel believes quality experience of tennis at school is key for the long-term growth and success of the sport.
She added: “The resources provided by the Tennis Foundation, including the innovative schools DVD, are great ways to help teachers and coaches develop their knowledge, and boost their confidence in offering quality group tennis lessons. The AEGON Schools Tennis equipment bags also give schools the physical tools they need – whether rackets, balls or nets.”
It is estimated that 79% of schools already offer tennis but Tennis Foundation research shows many teachers don’t have the confidence to teach tennis to large groups of children*.
Schools lack equipment or are worried about a lack of space. The tools being rolled out across British Tennis are designed to tackle these barriers. Following the success of AEGON Schools Tennis at primary level, the programme has been extended to secondary schools and was launched earlier this year in February.
The LTA and Tennis Foundation are also working to build the links between schools and clubs so more young people continue to play the sport and achieve their potential.
Raddlebarn Primary School Sport Co-Ordinator, Tim Weatherup, said:

“The programme has provided our school with the resources to help enrich the teaching and learning of tennis within the primary curriculum. Having the necessary equipment is the first step to ensuring successful delivery of tennis within our school and will, I am sure, encourage more schools to offer increased opportunities within the game. We also arrange for local coaches to come in and deliver fun sessions to our pupils."

Raddlebarn Primary School Class Teacher, Katie Smith took the tennis session and said:

“The lessons address the key skills needed for pupils to take part in the game and have been enthusiastically received by my pupils. As a non-specialist teacher, I have found the resources supportive; bringing expert tuition into the lesson through the use of ICT allows the demonstration of correct technique and has really motivated my children.

Ian Murray, Head of Sponsorship, added: “The work carried out by both th

Bogdanovic qualifies as Murray brothers prepare for Monday doubles

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:34:48 GMT

The British No.2 Alex Bogdanovic made an impressive comeback from a set down to defeat Ilija Bozoljac, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 and qualify for the main draw of the AEGON Championships. His reward is a first round match on Monday against the richly-talented 19-year-old wild card, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

The first day of the tournament will see a number of British players in action, with wild cards Jamie Baker and James Ward attempting to claim notable victories against 16th seed Dennis Istomin and American Robby Ginepri respectively.

After those matches, Kei Nishikori takes on Richard Gasquet on the Centre Court, followed by Bogdanovic against Dimitrov, and then the Murray brothers, Andy and Jamie against Scott Lipsky and Sam Querrey in doubles action.

Matches begin at 12.30pm on all courts.

The AEGON Championships will be broadcast live, every day, on BBC Television and Eurosport.

To view the full order of play, click here: http://www.lta.org.uk/3G/Tournaments/AEGONChampionships/Draws/Order%20of%20Play.pdf
To view the full main singles draw, click here: http://www.lta.org.uk/3G/Tournaments/AEGONChampionships/Draws/menssinglesdraw.pdf

Notes to Editors:
- In recent years, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal have all completed the grass-court double, winning the AEGON Championships and Wimbledon in the same year.

- AEGON became the Lead Partner of British Tennis in January 2009 in a five-year partnership covering all aspects of tennis, from grass roots to international events such as the AEGON Championships.

- AEGON is one of the world’s leading insurance groups. In the UK, AEGON offer pensions, life insurance, asset management and financial advice to corporate and individual customers.

Media contact:

David Law, AEGON Championships Media Director - david.law@aegonchampionships.com; +44 (0) 7764 186090

Horse Racing teams up with Sportpost.com to attract a younger audience

Wed, 05 May 2010 16:01:52 GMT

Sportpost, sports social media site, has become an odds on favourite for fans of horse racing as the sport battles for viewers and looks to attract the next generation of fans. This week both Racing UK and 'At The Races' (The UK's biggest broadcasters of horse racing content) have joined the growing list of channel partners at Sportpost.com. This move also works hand in hand with the sports move to overhaul betting and utilise decimals which is a language much more familiar to the younger generation.

The two channel partners join recent Grand National winner and jockey legend A.P.McCoy who already has his own blogging portal within the Sportpost site. The move is highly significant in that horse racing, which has always previously used traditional distribution methods, has now fully embraced social media. Social media is increasingly being seen as the medium of choice for engaging younger viewers and increasing brand awareness, sportpost.com is at the forefront of this shift.

Richard Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of Racing UK said: "Racing should always be looking at ways to introduce the sport to a new audience, and Sportpost is an innovative solution to do just that. Racing UK's strong video content will contribute to the success of the site."

Sportpost (Europe's first sports social media site) is proving very popular with sports stars, rights holders and media owners as an exciting promotional tool. The multi-sport site already boasts, after less than a month since its launch, media partners such as Red Bull, Nike Football, the UFC, Euro League Basketball and now the two premier horse racing broadcasters in the UK. The full list of channel partners can be found within the sports videos portal at Sportpost.

Matt Taylor, Head of Online for At The Races said, "Exclusive content is very important to any broadcaster or publisher, but it is impossible to ignore the opportunity to drive fresh viewers through social media. Sportpost is a fantastic tool as it enables At The Races to widen racing's overall appeal and grow awareness of our brand."

Sports stars are also seeing the potential of the sports blogs portal within Sportpost. The site partners with stars such as tennis world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki, England rugby stars James Haskell and Danny Care and recent Grand National winner AP McCoy, who immediately blogged of his success exclusively through his Sportpost blog.

AP.McCoy was in high praise of the site, "The way I can now communicate directly with fans through Sportpost is great. I can tell my side of things very easily and quickly."

Sportpost.com bridges the gap, giving brands and sport stars a smarter, more cost effective and targeted alternative for reaching passionate fans compared with the creation of their own websites or micro-sites. Sportpost.com is smashing all expectations since its launch in March 2010.The site aims to build on this fantastic first month and plans to stream live content with partners within the next three months.

- ends -

About Sportpost.com:
Sportpost.com is a pioneering, independent sports social media site combining the best videos, blogs, sports news and sport forums from the world of sport into one central location. Set to revolutionise the consumption of content amongst sport fans globally, the site allows users to create, promote and share the best sports content such as football videos and blogs under the mantra 'share your sport with the world'. Sportpost.com also gives voice to the superstars of world sport, with exclu

JD Sports announces official partnership with M.E.N. Arena

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:41:54 GMT

Leading British and now global sports fashion retailer JD Sports is pleased to announce its continued partnership with Europe's largest indoor venue and the world's second busiest arena in 2009, the SMG Europe managed M.E.N. Arena for 2010.

First opened in 1995 the arena, which is located within 60 minutes drive of 11.4 million people, played host to Mike Tyson’s UK debut fight, seen by over 100 million worldwide, and has hosted superstar acts such as U2 and Madonna stage concerts.

As well as having strong connections with sports fashion brands like adidas Originals and Fred Perry, JD Sports is also proud of its continued musical connections which include previous link-ups with Ian Brown and Doves as well as a current partnership with popular live music club Moho Live, and the M.E.N. Arena continuing to host the biggest names in music, comedy and sport since 1995, the exclusive footwear and clothing retailer is delighted to team up with the premier venue for the duration of 2010 onwards.

The 21,000 capacity arena is known throughout the globe for hosting some of the biggest names in the entertainment business and attracting in excess of 1 million visitors a year as well as being consistently nominated for International Venue of the Year, this venture will enable JD Sports to acquire tickets for a host of specially selected and immensely popular events such as Lady Gaga, Stereophonics, Black Eyed Peas, JLS, Peter Kay’s record-breaking 2010/11 residency and many more throughout the year. These sought after tickets will then be made available to win exclusively through our Facebook fan page which has close to 50,000 members.

To keep up with the huge growth in social media within the business and retail environment, using Facebook as the main tool in which fans of JD Sports can win tickets to a varied number of events over 2010 will hopefully further raise the profiles of the two North West based household names.

About JD Sports:
JD Sports Fashion Plc is the leading UK specialised multiple retailer of fashionable branded and own brand sports clothing and casual wear. Their reputation has been built on providing high quality, high fashion men's and womens trainers. The company operates over 350 stores through the UK.

JD Sports was founded in 1981 with one shop in Bury. It expanded into the Arndale Centre in Manchester in 1983 and consolidated its position throughout the 1980s with further openings, largely in the North and Midlands. The first London store was opened in Oxford Street in 1989 and by the time of JD Sports' stock market flotation in 1996 there were 56 stores.

The business continued to grow organically until 2002 and then grew further with the acquisition of more than 200 stores, further consolidating its position as the leading UK retailer of fashionable sports and casual wear.

As well as offering customers leading brands such as Nike, adidas Originals, Lacoste, Converse trainers and K-Swiss, JD Sports also stocks 'own-label' brands.

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