Recognition of Good Practice
Suffolk Spartans were approached by EFDS (English Federation of Disability Sports) to feature as a case study to demonstrate good practice within disabled clubs across the country. It is a wonderful testament to how far the club has come in such a short space of time that we are being held up as a club of good practice to others despite being in existence for less than 2 years. This club is a credit to all those that support it and is very important to all those involved in it.
Awards For All
The Spartans made an application to this Lottery Fund and was granted just over £4,000 to develop the Suffolk Spartans further and establish a second club in Essex. This is an exciting time for the club as they have also just received an award from Norwich Union of £1,000 as well. The money will need to be spent carefully to ensure that both clubs are sustainable but for now the members are simply celebrating an amazing year.
Best Newcomer
At the National awards ceremony for Wheelpower held at Five Lakes Hotel Zoe Newson was given the honour of being named the best newcomer following an exceptional year.
Zoe said that the whole experience has been something of a whirlwind but she is now firmly focused on training and improving on an amazing first year in Powerlifting and she'll need to work hard to keep that trophy as shiny as it is now.
21st November 2008
Competition Time Again
Suffolk Spartans held their first competition back in April of this year and those that attended have been keen to see another one take place. The event will take place at East Bergholt Sports Centre on 21st November anyone wanting to take part should arrive as soon after 9am as possible. We are limited by numbers that can take part and so to ensure a trophy and that you are not missed out you can contact Louise on 07984 452872 to enter your name in the competition.
19th October 2008
Awards Night for Suffolk Spartans
During the evening celebrations individuals and clubs across Suffolk were recognised for the achievements made in the last year. There was a large turnout of Suffolk Spartans for the event and we received a plaque to recognise the clubmark award that was given the month previous. In addition the club was also runner up in the ‘contribution to disabled sport’ award which was sponsored by Optua. An enjoyable evening was had by all at Trinity Park.
National Recognition
Suffolk Sport have reviewed our application for Sport England Clubmark and subject to a few minor conditions our application has been successful and we expect to be awarded this at the Suffolk Sport Awards to be held in Ipswich on 19th October. A great deal of effort has gone into this award and everyone at the club are excited at this prospect. The Suffolk Spartans will be the first Powerlifting organisation in the country to achieve this award and are proud of this fact. There is no time to rest though as the club will be attending the Suffolk Disability Sport Academy Showcase Day on 27th September at Mildenhall.
17th July 2008
World Class Achievements
The World Junior Development Championships were held in .jpg)
America and within the Powerlifting event 4 lifters were invited to attend and within this 2 were members of Suffolk Spartans. Zoe and Nathaniel were honoured to be representing Great Britain in such an important event and are pictured with Head Coach Jon Amos. During the competition Zoe achieved a personal best and lifted 62.5kg more than 1 and a half times her own bodyweight and this was enough to secure first place.
Nathaniel lifted 92.5kg which was his personal best in the British Championships in June this year and is showing how consistency achieves results as this earnt him second place in this World event. The club are so proud of the results that have been achieved in such a short time and just hope that many more Spartans can join these two in representing Great earn't in the future.
29th June 2008
Beaten by the Bombers
A team representing the Suffolk Spartans took part in the Bury Bombers annual wheelchair basketball marathon event at Bury st Edmunds. This event raises much needed funds for the Bury Bombers Wheelchair Basketball club.
We were narrowly beaten by two points when faced with a team of Bombers as this was our first attempt the team are pleased with this result but vow to come back next year and go one better.
Competing Over the Channel
Zoe and Nathaniel took their recent form overseas in June and .jpg)
competed against a team of French powerlifters. After a close call at weigh in Nathaniel made bodyweight and took first place with an 92.5kg while Zoe managed second place with 57.5kg as well as scoping most impressive female of the competition.
The event was a great deal of fun for both of them although they are looking forward now to the Junior World Championships in July and food they are more familiar with in America.
7th June 2008
Suffolk Spartans take top honours once again
On 7th June 2008 three members of the Suffolk Spartans were entered into the BWAD British Finals held at Stoke Mandeville. All three were successful and came away with top honours during the close run lifting that went on during the day.
Zoe Newson beat of 2 other female competitors and took two awards the first for winning her class with a total of 60kg at a bodyweight of only 42kg. The second award that Zoe was given was the prestigious 'most improved or most promising female' at the competition.
Chris Rix won the British title for his weight class with a final lift of 105kg which is an increase of 25kg compared to this event last year. Nathaniel Wilding also improved on his lifting last year with an increase of more than 20kg to finish on 92.5kg.
Presentations were also made to Zoe and Nathaniel in the form of tracksuits and pennants as both will be representing Great Britain abroad in the French Open next weekend and in America at the Junior World Development Games later this summer.
28th and 29th May 2008
Welcomed back to the Suffolk Show
The fundraising continued over these two days
with a larger guess the number of sweets in the jar and also a name the cuddly toy both of which were well supported by those at the Suffolk Show this year. The equipment was once again out for those who wanted to have a go and many people from other sporting organisations had a go including Colin Poole the Chief Executive of Optua. A fun two days was spent in the sporting village despite the rain coming often. Once again huge thanks to members of the club that turned out to support this day (Zoe, Nathaniel, Katherine, Chris, Alex, Tracey, Tim, Daniel and Louise). If Optua invite us back again for a third year hopefully the weather will be nicer.
27th May 2008
Fundraising Day in Hadleigh
Babergh District Council ran a Family Fun Day in Hadleigh to which the Suffolk Spartans. There was a varied range of sports available on the day of which Powerlifting was one. In addition Suffolk Spartans had a number of fundraising opportunities including a raffle, guess the number of sweets in the jar and a table top sale. The weather just about held off and a big thank you to Zoe, Tracey, Alex and Louise for helping out as well as Gemma and David from Optua who supported us by attending as well.
26th April 2008
Local Showcase Day
Optua's fourth Showcase day was held at Great Cornard Sports Centre and the Spartans were there as always giving local disabled people the opportunity to try the sport and support Optua in the 
tremendous Academy work they perform. These days are always well attended and this one was no exception with more than 80 participants attending the free day.
A most enjoyable day was had by all and during the course of the day Nathaniel was the 13th person in Suffolk to be given a SportsAid award wich shows how far this sport has come in the area as he was also the first disabled athlete in Suffolk to receive this award.
Off to see the World
Two members have been invited to join a squad that will be attending the World Development Powerlifting Championships in America this July. Zoe and Nathaniel are excited at this wonderful experience and relish the opportunity to test their Powerlifting skills against the rest of the world. This will be a step up for both of them but we are confident as a club that they will do very well in this exciting arena. In addition to this both Zoe and Nathaniel will be appearing in the French Open in June and so this will definately be a jetsetting summer for the pair.
5th April 2008
Spartans first Open Day
The Suffolk Spartans received some funding from the Suffolk 
Foundation in order to hold an open day. This event was a big success with 19 people competing in Suffolk Spartans first competition, many of whom had never competed before and there were a number of father/son and mother/daughter battles through the day. A special mention to the Eva and Matthew Percy who managed to get both mum and dad to enter the competition.
3rd April 2008
Trip to the Town Hall
The Suffolk Spartans attended an event organised by the Ipswich Disability Sports Forum at Ipswich Town Hall. A number of sports were on show and powerlifting was one of those we had a number of people come and try the sport In addition to sports there were a number of organisations present that deal or promote sport. An enjoyable afternoon was had by all and following this event two new members have joined the club so welcome to Tracey and Alex.
13th and 14th March 2008
Essex Disability Sports Academy
On Thursday 13th March a summit evening will be held at Askins University, Chelmsford. During this evening a number of presentations will be given by members of Sports Essex and organisations connected with sport in the area. Louise Pennell will be giving a speech along with Colin Poole and David Finn from Optua. This summit marks the launch of the Essex Disability Sports Academy which has been supported by Optua and with the close proximity of the Spartans to Essex we will be a member of both the Essex and Suffolk Academy's.
On 14th the regular club night will remain open an extra hour and a half from 5.30 - 9pm and this will be promoted to people within Essex. Everyone is welcome to attend this session and for all new members this evening is free of charge.
Fundraising
There will be an open evening held at East Bergholt on 14th March from 6-9pm. This is one of the events involved in the launch of the Essex Disability Sports Academy. As a club we are keen to support these new developments. If anyone would like to be know more about this Academy please view details at www.sportessex.com and please get along to a local event that you are interested in. Suffolk Spartans have a entered an initative run by Norwich Union and are keen to receive your support by voting for our club at www.norwichunion.co.uk/joinourteam if you type in the postcode of CO7 6RJ it will bring the Suffolk Spartans application up and you will then need to complete a form with name and address details. Each email address is able to vote once and we value each and every vote that we receive. Please support this club and vote as we rely on funding and donations to support this voluntary club.
2nd February 2008 Appointment News
Louise attended the East Midlands AGM for Powerlifting's National Governing Body, BWLA and was voted in as the Disability Development Officer for this year. Louise said 'I'm delighted with the continued support from the committee and hope to improve on the success already seen this year. I will be looking to increase the number of clubs within the area that offer oppertunities in this sport for disabled athletes.' Louise has been undertaking this role as part of a caretaker position for the past 2 months.
12th January 2008
Successful Day All Round
Three of the Suffolk Spartans were invited to attend the UK Invitational in Cardiff. Chris 
performed well and finished with 105Kg and improvement of 25Kg on his last competition in June. Nathaniel achieved a total of 85Kg which was again a personal best and in Zoe's first competition she lifted 47.5Kg unluckily failing with the 55Kg. They were not only up against some of the best lifters in the UK but a French team had made the journey and were competing as well. Coaches Neil, Louise and Daniel were all on hand to assist the Spartans and other newcomers to this level of competition and Daniel was on the platform ensuring the lifters were safe. The successes achieved are well deserved as all have been training hard.