Lancashire Constabulary Sports & Social Club

The secretary had received reports from each respective sports section that highlighted the successes and achievements during the past year. The club committee were impressed by the continued high standard of sporting talent and the countless number of first, second and third placings at PSUK National and Regional levels.

Running seems to go from strength to strength in terms of popularity. This is probably because it is one of the key 'keep fit' sports and playing costs are minimum. Also, there is much scope to encourage all skill levels of runners who can participate at both county and national events.

The section organises two annual Inter-Divisional events - a cross-country in February and a 10k road race in July. Both events were well supported totalling over 90 competitors from the force.

Again, well turned out with the Lancashire men scoring 4th place in the team event and ladies also scoring 4th place team.

A team of 14 members attended the national championships in Birmingham, West Midlands.

Ten members travelled to Essex and attended the Colchester Stadium. Star jumper, PC John Wiggans (Central) won a gold medal in the Men's long jump with Ian Pudge (Pennine) romping home in 3rd place in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Shirley Worrall (HQ) was on good form to come 3rd in the 3000 metres ladies veteran track.

Lancashire Constabulary Athletics Section were proud to host the 2004 national championships at Lancaster University. A hilly but very scenic two lap course from the campus gave the 250 strong field an enjoyable race. Fine weather and clear blue skis added to the overall success of this event that attracted 33 UK police forces.

Despite the close proximity of this year's event only four members of the force braved this 26.2 mile course in Blackpool. Good results were had by those who attended.

Four members of the force attended a very hilly 10-mile course in the Snowdonia region of North Wales. The strong team of Lancashire runners comprised Mile Riley, Paul Johnson (Central) Chris Shaw (Pennine) and Phil Corris (Northern) gave Lancashire a tremendous third place overall.

Five members of the section represented the force and competed in this International event in the Czech Republic in May. Phil Levens (Pennine), Roger Scarborough (HQ) Dave Watkinson and Mick McKortle (Southern) and Steve Broadbent (Northern) ran this popular city marathon. The five runners, all veterans, a combined age of around 250 years all ran good times with Phil Levens attaining a PB of 3 hours 10 minutes.

Three members of the section represented the force and competed in this International event in Italy in November. Dave Watkinson, Steve Broadbent and Michael Horne (Northern) ran this city marathon.

Following on from last years report the Lancashire officers who won the regional tournament went forward to represent the North West in the PSUK national finals in Wales in April 2004. The event was again a success and was enjoyed by everyone competing.

The best results at the nationals were Paul Hope and Keith Ashton in the open Men's doubles where they again made it to the semi-finals , but a great achievement was in the Vets Men's doubles where Keith Ashton and Peter Wright went one better than last year and won the national title.

The regionals in 2005 have been hosted again by Lancashire although Cheshire have kindly offered to host the event next year. The entry from Lancashire was bigger than in recent years as a result of new events – super vets for men over 45 and ladies over 40, and also new recruits like Ashley Gibson from Preston who is no doubt a champion of the future.

All the above have now qualified to represent the North West region in the PSUK finals in Edinburgh from 22 April – 25 April 2005.

Also of note is that again both Paul Hope and Keith Ashton were selected to represent the PSUK British team this year in both matches and also the European Championships.

This year, the Basketball Section fielded a team in the Burnley Basketball League, and entered the Police Sport UK National Championships. We also made a return visit to Gibraltar.

We completed the 2003/04 season in the league in second place, and in the period up to New Year in the 2004/05 season, we have won two & lost two.

In the Regional Qualifier for the Police Sport UK National Championships hosted in Gateshead, we fielded a below strength team due to injury and short notice for the tournament. We were narrowly defeated by both Northumbria and South Yorkshire. The net result of this was that we did not progress to the finals.

During our visit to Gibraltar we played three games, beating both the Gibraltar Police and the Fire Service, and losing by fifteen points to the Gibraltar National under 21’s. We have been invited back to participate in their centenary celebrations in June 2005, where we will be playing police opposition from Wales and Ireland as well as Gibraltar. We are looking forward to our return visit.

We have managed to recruit three new players recently, but are always looking for more, so if you are interested in playing basketball, please contact the secretary, Peter Zsigmond on 07973 254932, or email: bigzig@lineone.net or Peter.Zsigmond@lancashire.pnn.police.uk

PC Howard Kershaw, a new member to the section, won this year’s champion at Headquarters.

Lancashire hosted the PSUK North West Regional finals, and provided both finalists, PS Adrian Adams defeating PC Howard Kershaw in a close final. PC Paul Wood also qualified to the National finals held in Birmingham.

All three progressed to through the first round but went out in the second round.

In the team KO Lancashire defeated South Yorkshire, GMP and Derbyshire in the group stages and lost narrowly in the final to Civil Service.

A British Police team entered The National Federation Bowling League and competed in Division 6. The team won all their fixtures in gaining promotion. The following players from Lancashire represented the team in the victories

PC Paul Wood was a comfortable 21 – 3 winner to win the PSUK North West Region singles final.

We are actively seeking new members of all standards, particularly members of support staff who have not previously been involved in police sport.

2004 saw the members of the Clay shooting section enjoying excellent camaraderie and were unfortunate to not walk away with a few prizes this year. The year started on a high when in the Regional Down the line event the Lancashire team who had won the competition in 2003 turned in an even higher score this year. However, the feeling of confidence of another success was short lived with the late arrival of Insp Graham Nield from G.M.P. Graham needed to return a perfect score for the team to take the title, which over 100 targets isn’t easy. Well he did it in style and G.M.P took the title for 2004 with just 1 point in front. Well he does shoot for Great Britain so we’ve tried to arrange it that he’s on leave next year. (Only kidding)

That set the scene for the rest of the regional competitions and Lancashire “A” team came second to G.M.P. in all the other competitions, however, the team took consolation in that their scores where higher than last year. Everyone agreed that the increased scores were put down to the increase in practise the team were able to enjoy with the help of PSUK. PSUK provided subsidised funds to allow the team to compete in three additional events this year. The sport of clay shooting requires a degree of natural ability combined with experience through practice, which the team members certainly were able to get through the additional fixtures.

Due to the high scores obtained by the members this year Lancashire was well represented in the National Championships. With full teams of 5 members competing in the sporting and down the line events. A change of rules this year saw the obligatory wearing of protective eye wear in all disciplines, which threw some of the seasoned (another word for old) shooters, me included. It was one of those days when the glasses seemed to permanently steam up, well that’s our excuse anyway.

The clay section currently has 20 active members from new to seasoned shooters and is always actively seeking new members. The secretary personally would like to thank Ken Tyson on behalf of the members for all his help in the organising of the teams. Ken Tyson who has been shooting throughout his career retired this year but still acts as Chairman.

One of the members Matthew Kneale has utilised his skills this year in obtained some sponsorship from a local gun dealer who has provided 5 skeet vests for the use of the team. The last gun jointly owned by the team has been sold but the transfer to the new owner has yet to take place.

During the last 12 months the angling section has participated in numerous events at both regional and national levels. The various teams have been made up of four serving members and six retired members who have rejoined the club. We participated in 3 inter force team matches and four individual North West competitions.

On the sport UK front we had a very successful year. In June we organised the North West Regional event and provided the first 5 individual places as well as winning the six man team event.

At National level we entered a 6 man team to the event held in Essex. Despite never seeing the water before we produced two individual runner up spots and came 4th in the teams out of 29. This year a sports UK inter service event was launched and 2 members were picked to represent the North West region.

2004 was another very positive year for the Cricket Section, building further on the resurgence of talented new players the previous year. Another influx of promising talent has emerged this year – clearly the right questions are being asked in the Constabulary recruitment process! The outcome is that we have probably the strongest squad of cricketers for many years, and we should be in a position to make a strong challenge for the 2005 Police Sport UK Cricket Knockout.

As in 2003 it was a case of “so near yet so far”. In the first round of the 2004 knockout, Lancashire were drawn ‘away’ to Cheshire, whom we had beaten at the same stage the year before. Cheshire were out for revenge, but were beaten quite comfortably in the end, by 45 runs, in the splendid surroundings of Chester Boughton Hall CC. Lancashire batted first and made 212 for 6 off their 45 overs (PC Leo Cook 76 not out, PC Andy McNicholas 51, DS Richard McCutcheon 39). Although threatening victory at one stage, Cheshire collapsed to 167 all out (Richard McCutcheon 4 for 14).

In the second round, Lancashire entertained South Wales Police, historically a very strong side, at Great Harwood CC. Again Lancashire batted first and made 204 for 8 off 45 overs (PC Andy Ingham 66, PC Leo Cook 48). South Wales, after a faltering start, looked well on the way to victory, before the pressure told and the last few wickets fell. South Wales were all out for 184, Lancashire winning by 20 runs (DC Gary Bolton 2 for 22, PC Neil Bibby 2 for 24, DS Richard McCutcheon 2 for 35).

The quarter final was played at Great Harwood CC on 8 July, with Northumbria Police the visitors. Heavy rain was falling just about over the entire north of England apart from a one mile radius around Great Harwood, permitting the game to start late and being reduced to 20 overs per side in wet, cold and windy conditions. Northumbria batted first and scored 156 for 2 (PC Andy Sidgreaves 2 for 22), with 28 off the last over (which Richard McCutcheon doesn’t want mentioning!) later proving crucial. The Lancashire reply was always up with the asking rate of nearly 8 runs per over, and the game came to an exciting finish when 12 runs were required off the final over. After the inevitable scampered runs and run outs, a 6 was needed off the very last ball, with retiring skipper Andy McNicholas facing. Making excellent contact, the ball was on its way, unfortunately to the longest boundary on the ground, where it fell just a couple of feet inside the rope, for only 4 runs and defeat by 1 run. Literally ‘so near yet so far’.

Northumbria went on to the final where they were narrowly beaten by Nottinghamshire, which just shows, as in 2003, that we are on a par with any team in the country. Perhaps third time lucky this year? Special mention must go to Andy McNicholas who has handed over the captaincy after several years’ sterling service, to Richard McCutcheon, to skipper the younger charges. There would be no more fitting tribute to Andy, and one or two other veterans, than for Lancashire to win the trophy in 2005 before their playing days are over.

Another quiet year for the cycling section - a few lone riders in lone events, none of any note.

I will do my best (as normal) to encourage others to participate - there are probably more active cyclists than ever before but they ride with local clubs and I need to do some work on them to take part in the PSUK events.

For the season of 2004 members from the club competed at 4 competitions on a regional basis and one member competed for a national affiliated team.

During June 12 members fished in a 3 day boat competition at Rutland. This is an organised event which has been running for 10 years and is self funded for officers outside Pennine Division. This year there has been much interest in the competition which is organised by the Pennine Division fishing representative, Dave Milburn. Any interested parties should contact Dave at Eastern Division PPU.

July 12th Tuesday Esthwaite reservoir. The first match of the year due to a diary error was attended by 10 members who completed a successful match by boating 37 fish to a total of 63lbs. This regular match is reported on the fishery monthly report in the national fishing press.

August 12th Thursday Stocks reservoir boat fishing Versus Cheshire Constabulary. The Constabulary fielded a team of 10 who fished in adverse weather conditions for most of the day with high winds and driving rain. Returns were low for both teams and a total of 19 fish for Lancashire was beaten by Cheshire with a total of 25.

September 20th Thursday Barnsfold lake at Goosnargh hosted the Lancashire police Northwest Open which saw an entry field of 25 including many retired officers. This event is a bank match to allow access for all as space is often limited at smaller waters. Again high winds made fishing difficult but members persevered for a return of 13 fish.

The club owns a membership ticket for the practice facilities available on this water and during the year 37 members used the facilities throughout the year. Application has been successful for this coming year and the facilities will be available for 2005. Any member wishing to fish the facility should contact me to ensure availability as the water has limited numbers allowed. New members are welcome to make use of the facilities as a means of getting back into or interested in the sport and visits can be arranged with some members to assist novices.

The Football Section operates two teams, a regular and a veterans squad. The section has developed a fine pedigree over the years in PSUK terms. The regular team have been national champions on 3 occasions and the veterans retained their title for 4 consecutive years until 2004.

In July 2004 the regular squad reached the PSUK National Cup Final and hosted this prestigious event at Lancashire Police Headquarters in Preston. The opposition was the Metropolitan Police, and in a competitive encounter the hosts lost 3 – 1.

The veterans squad were finally beaten in a knockout round of the PSUK Veterans Cup in March 2004! They had not lost in any knockout stages for almost 5 years, but were beaten 2 –1 by Avon and Somerset Police in Bristol.

At the PSUK Veterans 2004 Cup Final Lancashire’s manager Dave Charlton was presented with an achievement award for his success in for 4 consecutive cup finals.

The regular squad participates every Saturday during the season in the West Lancashire Football League, associated cups and the Lancashire Amateur Shield.

The Football Section is regularly looking to recruit new players and anyone interested should contact the secretary.

The team overall had a good year without winning too much. We reached the Northern Zone finals of the British Police Team Championships, narrowly losing to Cumbria. In the North West regional Hart Trophy we made the final (gaining revenge on Cumbria in the semis) but were beaten by Merseyside. In the annual Palfrey Trophy match against GMP we won easily to regain the trophy which we had lost the previous year for the first time in 20years. Back in its rightful place!

Individually for County Players it was a fantastic year. Insp. Martin Kay entered the North West PSUK Championships for the first

time and blew away a very strong field over two rounds to win the event. PC Ian Hill had two excellent rounds to be runner-up in the Gross section of the event.

Following on from this Ian took part in the National PSUK Championships and for the first time in Lancashire's history he won it! After four rounds it needed a play-off to sort it out and Ian won at the third extra hole.

Due to Lancashire's early exit from the PSUK Ladies Hockey Competition 2003/04 Lancashire played in the local 7 a side summer league held at Longridge Sports Centre, this competition ran from April until August 2004. Although results were not as good as the previous season a nucleus of 9 players regularly attended each Wednesday with the following results 4 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw.

The Police National 11 a side Hockey Championships were held over weekend 14th & 15th August 2004 at Leeds. The Lancashire Ladies Hockey Section entered a team and performed very well. The Ladies Competition was split into two sections Lancashire were drawn in Section B with Thames Valley, Lothian & Borders, Durham and GMP the results were as follows:

Lancashire 1 v Thames Valley 1
Durham 0 v Lancashire 2
Lancashire 2 v GMP 2
Lancashire 0 v Lothian & Borders 0

These results saw Lancashire runners up in their section, which saw them drawn in a Semi Final tie with archrivals Merseyside the next morning. This was a bruising encounter and with some very good defending including several outstanding saves from GK Bev TAYLOR and two well taken early goals by
Lisa Griffin and Karen Nuttall saw Lancashire into the Final.

Merseyside 1 v Lancashire 2

The final was a very close affair against Lothian & Borders who came out winners to a very harsh penalty stroke decision which Bev Taylor only just failed to keep out.

Final Result

A superb weekend and a result we could not have dreamed of.

The PSUK Ladies Hockey Championship 2004/05 has begun and Lancashire have had two home ties. On 9th November 2004 Lancashire played Strathclyde Police at Stanley Park, Blackpool in the 1st round, which Lancashire won 4-2 scorers Jo Orry x 2 Wendy Eastham x 1 and Karen Nuttall x1.

On 16th December 2004 Lancashire played local rivals GMP at Leyland in the 2nd round and won 4-0 scorers Wendy Eastham x 3 and Jayne Ashton x 1. Lancashire are now waiting to find out who their Quarter Final opponents will be as the Metropolitan Police have to play Northamptonshire Police.

There has been no activity during 2004 mainly due to Dave Newton retiring. We are currently trying to re-kindle the section and are looking for a new secretary.

The Lancashire Constabulary Motor Club is affiliated to the Federation of British Police Motor Clubs in the same manner that we are associated to the Police Athletic Association. Like many other sports there seems to have been a decline in interests over the last few years but the Motor Club has been kept alive by a small but determined band of about 23 members.

Keith Shuck (Retired Traffic Sergeant), has served as Vice-Chairman of the Northern Region of the FBPMC since 2002 and is just about to re-elected for 2005.

Throughout 2004 members of the Section have assisted at various Rallies and Charity Events throughout the Region and have attended Regional Meetings representing the Constabulary.

A Lancashire Constabulary Motor Club Team was entered in one Motor Cycle Trek in 2004:

I am pleased to report that as a result of the Sports and Social Club Web Site two new Members have come forwards to let me know of their activities in Marshalling at Events and competing in Motorcycle Sport.

The Section is looking forwards to 2005 and thanks the Sports and Social Club for its assistance and support.

Keith Shuck - David Winnard - Michael Hodgkinson - Colin Peacock - Richard Kemp - Dennis Firth - Mark Jenkinson - Barry Spargo - Greg Andrew - John Gibbons - Robert Wiseman - John Whitaker - Eric Fletcher - Fred Smith - Scott Williams - Brian Elliot - Ken Stanton - Scott Williams - Brian Peel - Malcolm Hill - Tony Fletcher - Alan Hazlewood - Bob Flewitt

The netball team participated in the Bedfordshire tournament and came about eigth. Both A and B teams are through to the quarter finals at present. The A team are through to the cup and the B team are through to the plate. Just to give you some up to date info we have had a recent increase in recruits for the netball team and we are currently training at headquarters every two weeks with a great turn out.

The section said goodbye to Insp Wayne Howard. Wayne had been the driving force behind the establishment of the section and had entered various events around the World representing Lancashire Constabulary.

I took over as Secretary. We have three members of the section at the moment who are competing regularly Indoor with others expressing an interest but for various reasons not being able to compete. The regular competitors are Peter Burke of Blackpool Division, Carole McNally of Burnley Div and myself from Northern. Carole competed in the Grand Prix events round the country and even though she was incapacitated with a broken leg after Xmas she entered the 4/6 events required and gained a great second place overall. She collected her Silver medal on crutches at the North of England Indoor Rowing at Manchester on 13th Feb 2005.

Peter Burke, Carole and myself all entered the British Indoor Rowing Champs at Birmingham in November 2004. The results were as follows

Travel expenses, meals, entries and overnight accommodation were funded by Sports and Social.

As the sole representative of the Outdoor part of the rowing section I attended the Police rowing champs held by the Metropolitan Police in September 2004. Five forces entered teams of singles, fours and eights. Unfortunately conditions on the day were pretty terrible with high winds and a spring tide on the Thames. As the only person willing to put her single scull on the water I won the race by default. I also entered fours and eights making up composite crews with Strathclyde and Avon and Somerset. The four made it to the final but was beaten by a good team from the Met.

The next events for the Indoor section are North of England Indoor Rowing Champs on 13th Feb 2005. The main event target is now the World Police and Fire Games in Quebec to be held June/July 2005. The biannual event is well attended by British Police, Fire service and Prison service personnel. I will be co-ordinating the Indoor rowing section interest in this event.

Due to the demands of the job, The Constabulary were unable to raise a team for their scheduled game against Cumbria and so forfeited. It is hoped that some friendlies will be arranged.

Rugby League

Lancashire players Gary Lowe, (Central Div), Chris Holland (Southern Division), Aidey Harrison (Central Division), Eugene Swift (Eastern Division) and Alan Clarke (Southern Division) were selected to tour New
Zealand with the British Police Rugby League squad. they were accompanied by Clive Tattum ( Central Division) who is Vice Chair of British Police Rugby League association.

On the domestic front the Constabulary made it through to the Plate Final of the National Competition but were again defeated by the Metropolitan Police.

The Sailing Section is on the crest of a wave, increasing in active membership, and raising its profile in the Constabulary, and in Police sailing nationwide.

Sailors representing Lancashire Constabulary have been active in both dinghy sailing regattas, and offshore yacht racing. Members of the Sailing Section attended the following events last year:- Strathclyde/ North British Police offshore sailing championships. Held in June, 2004, with four days of race series covering 135 nautical miles in the Clyde area. Two yachts were entered in the event, with crews made up of eight members of the sailing section. Overall result was 5th and 6th place.

Cheshire Police Open Dinghy Regatta. Held in September, 2004,at Winsford Flash sailing club, Cheshire. Two Lancashire dinghies attended, a Laser class dinghy sailed by PC Andy Cuddon (8th place), and an RS200 dinghy crewed by Supt Gary Stephenson and Insp David Shepherd (10th place). For the forthcoming year, there is a full programme of sailing fixtures available suitable for all sailing abilities, at regional, national, and international level. It is proposed to enter two yacht teams in this years PSUK offshore sailing championships to be held May 15-19th in the Argyll, Oban area of Western Scotland. This will be the first year that Lancashire Constabulary will have entered this major event. The competitive dinghy sailors are preparing for the PSUK National Dinghy Championships to be held at Cleveland on 15-17th June, 2005.

I am pleased to report that the section has once been reasonably successful again.

Iain MacDonald showing us the way forward yet again in the full bore rifle, not bad for a retired officer. The pistol section is still struggling to get back on track – the introduction of new pistols to comply with the legislation is helping but slowly. We have success in the Gallery rifle and Lightweight sporting rifle events with Phil Davies and Alan Jones from Pennine Division. Dave Hodson, Paul Hatton, Steve Edmondson and Rod Quirk continue to dominate the North West Police Sport UK region in small bore rifle.

During the year both Dave Hodson and Paul Hatton were fortunate enough to be selected to represent the PAA in the annual matches against England, Wales, Army and the Inter services.

The section also competed in PAA winter league competitions and several other Civilian comps.

UK Police Championships - winner of the Individual, Veteran and Long range competitions, 2nd place in the International

He has once again been selected to represent the National Rifle Association against the Europeans.

He has regularly represented Lancashire in numerous competitions around the country.

Phil Davies and Alan Jones competed in the Gallery events at the National Police Sport UK Championships with the following results:

2005 has started well with Dave Hodson becoming the Short Range Individual Rifle regional Champion with Paul Hatton 2nd

The winter league has just been completed and the Lancashire team won division 2

This newly formed section did not get off the ground soon enough to compete in January 2005. The Police Sport UK championships are held in Austria in January and requires a one week minimum stop over. In view of this interested members of the force needed to plan in advance their time-off and leave.

There are around 14 members of the force interested in competitive in ski and snowboarding. It is hope to forward plan better and attempt to send a team to the PSUK indoor Championships in July 2005.

The 5 person squash team has again competed in the North West Counties Squash League and will play 26 games in total. At present they are in mid table with a couple of months to go of the season.

The Lancashire Open Force Tournament, in Jan this year was won by Insp Upton who went on to win the PSUK North West over 45 title.

This years nationals were to be hosted by our region in Carlisle but the recent floods put the courts six feet under water. The nationals have been hurriedly rearranged and will again take place in Edinburgh from 18-21 March.

We have a ladies competing for the first time in many years, Ann Fingleton from Blackburn. There would have been two but for leave commitments.

Our most improved player is Dave Sherrington from Blackburn and our most committed player has been Ray Bell from Morecambe, who has travelled the county at very short notice to fill the gaps when others have been unavailable.

Insp 6052 Simister gained two silver medals and a bronze in her master’s events.

PC 3245 Ashcroft, PC 350 Clayton, DC 1904 Sinclair and PC 1376 Brooks won the men’s medley relay and were second in the men’s freestyle relay.

Insp Simister, PS 1056 Whyatt, PC 2956 Whalley and PC 3082 Corner came second in the ladies freestyle relay and third in the medley relay.

PC 643 Plummer, PC 810 Briggs, DC 1904 Sinclair and PC 1376 Brooks represented the North West water polo team and gained second place.

Due to their success in the championships the following officers were selected to represent the British Police throughout the year DC Sinclair and PC Whalley.

Arthur Marshall represented the British police masters team at the national masters competition in Sheffield, winning all his age group events.

Neil Gibson and Roger Ravenscroft won the police North West Regional men's doubles event hosted by Greater Manchester Police at Bolton.

They then represented the force at the National Championships ,hosted this year by the Strathclyde Constabulary in Glasgow.

They narrowly lost in the semi-final of the competition to the previous winners and highly experienced pair from GMP-Bromley and Bentley.

At the same event, Neil Gibson reached the final of the men's singles event ,before eventually losing to Dave Reed of the Metropolitan police.

Neil Gibson again represented the British police in two matches ,helping them to record victories against the British Army and National Tennis Centre at Nottingham.

Any person wishing to participate in competitive tennis (at whatever level)-contact DS 1274 Neil Gibson at Eastern CMU or PS 453 Barnes at Preston custody office.

If there is sufficient interest in 2005, we propose holding the force tournament in May 2005.

This years PSUK Championships were held in Essex at the Five Lakes complex. The Constabulary entered a Mens and Ladies teams.

The men's team saw some experienced players returning to the fold in Jason Moore (Central Division) and Mick Walkden (Motorway). They joined up with Jon Molloy (Central Div), Eammon Spencer (Central Division), Ian Halstead (Southern Division) and newcomer to the squad Sam Martland (Motorway). Despite some spirited performances they were unable to progress through to the final stages but gave a good account of themselves.

The ladies team led by Sue Harrison ( G Division) built on their ever improving displays from the previous year and in a close run Plate Final emerged victorious beating Essex 2 sets to 1. It was the consistent service of Sue that was a decisive factor and the ever improving Sarah Snowdon (SDC training) also made a big impact. These factors added to the experience and talent of Julie Peter (Eastern Division), Michelle Barrass (Northern Division), Liene Nowell (Southern Division) and Rachel Freeman (Eastern Division) saw the team through to what was a well deserved and hard earned
victory.

Next Year competition sees the team travelling to Scotland. Anyone interested in training and playing please contact Team manager Andy Edwards on 07813328476 or Player/Coach Sue Harrison on Ext 412743.

No 2004 budget was applied for or contact made from the secretary. Likewise no 2005 budget has been submitted.

The Lancashire Constabulary Jitsu club has continued to develop over the past year. Highlight of the year was attending the PSUK Judo Championships 2004 at Cheshire where we represented the Constabulary at a number of levels. Although we are not strictly a Judo club, PSUK were happy to accept us and we acquitted ourselves well. PC Lister Worthington won bronze medals in the open kyu and the 95kg kyu events.

In other competitions, we attended the 2004 Jiu Jitsu National competition where PC Worthington won gold medal in the Open category and DC Horton won bronze medal in the 100kg+ category.

We have arranged and enjoyed club visits from various notable martial artists over the year.

PC Matt Clempner from Greater Manchester taught a session in December 2004. PC Clempner is a former Olympic wrestler and holds black belts in a number of martial arts including Judo. As a result of this visit, a number of club members have been invited to attend a training event with the British Police Judo Team in April 2005.

We were visited by Morecambe Jiu Jitsu club who practice a different style of Jiu Jitsu. Their visit was led by their septuagenarian head of style Hanshi Bill who taught a session that was well received by all those who attended.

Sensei Mark McNally, a retired Jiu Jitsu teacher and legendary practitioner from Yorkshire was coaxed out of retirement to teach an extended session hosted by the Lancon club and attended by around 50 Jiu Jitsu students from as far away as Cheshire and Carlisle.

Sensei Richard Goulding who is a 3rd Dan black belt with our governing body, The Jitsu Foundation, also took a monitoring session and was very happy with the development and standard of the club.

We continue to maintain strong links with Preston Town Jiu Jitsu Club and University of Central Lancashire Jiu Jitsu Club. In particular, Sensei Dhiren Patel from the Preston Town Club has been extremely helpful in assisting us with training and preparation for grading events.

Our membership continues to grow with about a dozen regular club members including both sworn staff and civilian employees attending our weekly sessions. We have held a beginners night during 2004 and further events have been planned to ensure that all members of the Constabulary are aware of the opportunity to learn Jiu Jitsu.

The Club has supported a number of players take part in PSUK and British police representative events. These players include:

All these athletes represented the PSUK competing against other organisations on a national level at a very high level of play.

The following members acted as PSUK regional or national committee representatives in a variety of sporting fields:

Our first game was against a professional side in Canterbury on the South Island. The host team boasting some first grade players from the National Rugby league competition (GB Super league equivalent) in Australia. At half time we were ahead 20-18 but unfortunately ran out losers at 48-22. Chris Holland was magnificent along with Gary Lowe, unfortunately Chris picked up an injury which was to plague him for the rest of the tour.

It was then on up to the Wellington on the North Island and the first of 3 tests matches against the NZ police at their National Training Centre. A very close game (they all were) where literally with the last play of the match NZ snatched a victory 28-26. The Lancs players particularly Gary Lowe and Eugene Swift were outstanding. Swift with a solo try the full length of the field outstripping the NZ defence and gaining the admiration of the substantial crowd..

Then on to Rotaura and a game against local side Bay of Plenty at Waikota park. A hard fought game (there is never anything else in NZ) and our boys came out on top 34-24. Again Swift was magnificent with three tries. Then the second test against NZ Police at the same venue, again the same pattern GB leading until the last quarter and then NZ gaining a victory in the dying part of the game 34-28. Gary Lowe picking up a nasty back injury which was to be the end of his tour.

Then onto Auckland for the final of the three tests. The venue was the Erikkson stadium (home of the Auckland Warriors NRL team, although in NZ they play in the Australian competition). A fantastic venue but not such a fantastic result. GB were without influential skipper Gary Lowe through the back problem. NZ raced into a convincing lead, the GB boys pegged it back somewhat in the second half but it was largely over with by half time. NZ 48-GB 34.

Then onto Singapore for a development game against Singapore select. An easy victory for the boys in this one, with a great deal learned by the Singapore RL. Some great local and Australian press on the development work of our boys.

On the development theme whilst in rotaura did some development work with local schools which got some great press locally and nationally in NZ.

Also on the plane over there we dealt with an air rage incident en-route between Singapore and Christchurch, again much press in GB and NZ. I ended up doing several interviews with TV back home.

All our boys performed well in the games and quite rightly can be very proud of their efforts in representing GB and the Constabulary.

Over all a fantastic experience and very very grateful to sponsors for making it happen.