At the recent EnergiseMe Hampshire Sports Awards, Lindsey Andrews from Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts in Jays Close won the coveted Hampshire Sports Coach of the Year award against entrants from Football, Sitting Volleyball and Skateboarding.
The Sports Coach of the Year award was sponsored by Energise Coaches who are part of EnergiseMe. There were over 270 nominations from across Hampshire for these prestigious awards split across thirteen categories. Lindsey was the only winner from Basingstoke in 2018.
As always the awards were very professionally run with an independent panel deciding upon the finalists and voting for the winners. The event was ably hosted by TV Sports Presenter Michael Kurn who did a great job of keep the evening on track and interviewing all the finalists. The evening was held at Southampton Football Club’s St Mary Stadium.
Motivational speakers Victoria Gosling and Dave Henson spoke about the legacy of the Invictus Games and the challenge many of it’s competitors faced and yet how the Games had given them hope and something to strive towards. Dave who lost both legs when he stood upon an Improvised Explosive Device in Afghanistan spoke about how he used sport as a catalyst to facilitate his recovery going onto win a medal at the Paralympic Games.
Overview of Lindsey’s achievements over the past year.
Lindsey has a rare talent for successfully combining participation and performance coaching, teaching people from 4 years old to 60+, Year R to Grandparents. Recreational and health related learners through to elite performers at an International Level who have won European and World titles.
She teaches Ladies Only Kickboxing (Sanshou) at her club which has encouraged Mums and Grandma’s to get active again in an environment which is conducive to learning, with a world class female coaching team. Because they socialise together and support one another outside of class, it feels more like a friendship group rather than a sports class. She provided scholarships to local college students to help them learn self-protection skills. Regular feedback from participants is “Absolutely brilliant session buzzing.”
She listened to feedback from parents at her club about what they wanted from an exercise class and designed “Martial Music Blast” accordingly. She selects upbeat fun music and choreographs routines. It has been designed to be suitable for wheelchair users, or those rehabilitating, with a seated or standing option available at each class. There are several people who attend because they are welcome to sit down during the class when they need to and still fully participate. It’s proven to be a huge hit and since starting last Autumn, there has been a minimum of 20 attendees a night. She inspires the class with little challenges to motivate them to work harder, E.G. To see who can beat their own targets on fitness watches, 1137 calories expended in 60 minutes is the record so far.
On the Performance pathway she has coached people to UK and international golds in Karate. Team players achieved 4 Gold Medals at the World Union of Karate Federation International league competition plus two silvers and ten bronze medals against top international players. Nationally her development squad are also starting to win Medals.
At the WUKF European Karate championships in Romania, she coached the England team to win two Gold Medals. Lindsey and Paraplegic European and World Champion Mandi Miles spent many hours choreographing and rehearsing complex kata and fighting routines to be performed live at the opening ceremony in front of thousands of people, which received a standing ovation and showcased Adapted Karate.
She has organised two charity events, raising funds for Disability Martial Arts and for Hampshire Paediatric Diabetes Trust. Total funds raised were close to £4,000. The funds given to HPDT meant that they could take a group of children away for a fully resourced residential with healthcare professionals.
Whilst another coach was incapacitated for 10 weeks from an operation she voluntarily coached at a Satellite SN school to ensure that the Children could continue studying Martial Arts with no interruptions. She also took part in two whole-school activity days. Moreover during this period, she also covered over 100 extra classes.
She runs a monthly coach education class for club coaches and invited guests to help them improve their coaching skills and knowledge. She attends courses all over the Country and internationally to improve her coaching skills. She also utilises online learning with tools like Udemy to increase her knowledge.
