Exmouth teenager wins regional sport award

Seventeen-year-old Yasmin Nelmes has been named Devon’s Satellite Club Participant of the Year in recognition of her outstanding commitment to taking part in community sport.

The award ceremony will take place on 8th Sept at Exmouth Community College sports hall, where Yasmin will be presented with her award by a representative from the national Sport England team.

Satellite clubs – a National Lottery funded Sport England initiative – are extensions of community sports clubs, which use different venues such as a secondary schools or colleges to offer a range of sports to young people who may not be regularly active, or lack the confidence to join a sports club.

Yasmin attends the Exmouth Jester’s Basketball Club, one of 60 satellite clubs in Devon coordinated by Active Devon. From being virtually inactive at school, Yasmin now supports the satellite club in many ways, as an activity leader, welcoming new participants and organising friendly fixtures and coaching sessions.

Satellite clubs offer an invaluable experience, providing young people with a solid foundation in the skills they need to progress to playing sport with their local sports club. By 2017, every secondary school in England will have been offered a satellite community sports club on its site. Satellite clubs are delivered by community sports clubs supported by the network of county sports partnerships and national governing bodies of sport.

Sport England’s satellite club investment also includes a partnership with the Premier League, focused on the delivery of the ‘Premier League 4 Sport’ programme which sees professional football clubs linking with community sports clubs to create satellite clubs in 12 non-football sports.

Yasmin said “I was not at all active at school and was not exercising on a regular basis. Through Jester’s Basketball Club, I have gained friends and we come together once a week to play as a team and work together. It has helped me to gain confidence and improve my fitness. Winning the Regional Participant of the Year award is just the icing on the cake.”

Matt Evans, Active Devon’s CEO said, “Jasmin is a real credit. She is looking forward to a bright future, learning new skills and even getting a new qualification as she’s progresses through a coaching qualification in basketball. By attending Jester’s Basketball Club her self-confidence, communication and team work skills have really grown. Satellite clubs build bridges for young people who may not have had positive experience of sport in school. We hope that many more young people will be inspired by Yasmin to dip back in and give sport and physical activity a try in their local satellite or community club”

Director of Community Sport at Sport England, Mike Diaper, said: “Yasmin is a fantastic inspiration for young people in Devon that may be thinking about getting active. Satellite clubs offer young people the chance to learn something new, uncover hidden depths and realise new talents. Yasmin has met this challenge head on and should be very proud that all her hard work has paid off.”

Yasmin Nelmes is one of 430,286 young people who have attended 9,348 satellite clubs across England since 2012. Two thirds of the young people benefiting from the clubs report that they would not be playing sport in their own time if it were not for their satellite club.