Industry Shorts: W Series, England Athletics, Mongoose…
W Series, a new motor-racing championship for female drivers, has agreed a partnership with UK commercial broadcaster Channel 4.
Under the deal, Channel 4 will show live HD coverage of each of the W Series’ inaugural six races, beginning with the season-opening event at Hockenheimring in Germany on 3rd-4th May.
Programming will also include build-up and behind-the-scenes insights from each circuit, qualifying and full race coverage. Races will also be able to view live online and on a catch-up basis via video-on-demand service All 4.
England Athletics has launched a new campaign focused on encouraging more people to become event officials.
‘Officials: The Beating Heart of Athletics’ will allow running and athletics fans to qualify as an event official and learn from the best this year through England Athletics’ classroom and practical experience qualification programme.
Fans can discover how to train to start races, keep time and judge events with their local England Athletics Club.
To help promote the campaign, England Athletics has engaged with event official Alan Bell, who was the race starter for the 100m final at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, both won by Usain Bolt.
He also started the 100m final at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships. During the latter he had to disqualify Bolt for a false start.
Bell said: “I have been an official for over 30 years now since I stopped competing and have been involved in some of the biggest events and races around the world. Remember, without officials there wouldn’t be any results, PBs or medals for anyone from Olympians to those competing at your local town’s athletics events.
“I would encourage anyone interested in running and athletics to give officiating a try – whether you used to compete, want to make new friends or one of your family members competes and you want to be involved yourself – whatever your inspiration, take your Level 1 course and see where officiating can take you.”
The British Athletes Commission (BAC) has strengthened its leadership with the appointment of three new Non-Executive Directors to its Board.
The appointments include two former athletes, swimmer Lizzie Simmonds and sprinter Donna Fraser.
Simmonds and Fraser will be joined on the BAC’s Board by Lee Murgatroyd who is the Managing Director of Point Communications and has more than 20 years’ experience in media and communications.
Carrie Brown has succeeded Paddy Barclay as Chairman of the Football Writers’ Association (FWA), becoming the first woman to hold the role and the first female chair of a major football organisation.
Brown, who is Senior Sports Correspondent for beIN Sport, was elected unanimously at the FWA’s Annual General Meeting on 23rd April.
She has been a member more than 10 years and an active member of the National Executive Committee for the past two years.
Mongoose Sports and Entertainment has been appointed as the exclusive agency to help drive commercial success for sport in the British Army through to 2021.
Selected following what has been described as a competitive invitation to tender process, Mongoose will work side by side with the Army Sport Control Board (ASCB), the regulatory body for sport played in the British Army at all levels.
Mongoose will be working to streamline the sponsorship offering and commercial structure for Army Sport and will assist with the implementation of current sponsors rights and onboarding of new partners across the 45 sports played in the Army.
EMD UK, the national governing body for group exercise, has announced its CEO, Ross Perriam, is to step down in June.
Perriam joined EMD UK, then named The Exercise Movement and Dance Partnership, in 2015. He repositioned the organisation as EMD UK in 2016 and increased its remit to grow participation in group exercise through training and supporting the fitness workforce.
Perriam will leave EMD UK in June to become Chief Executive of the RAF Central Fund, a charity dedicated to supporting the development, wellbeing and morale of RAF personnel through their participation in sport.
The LMAX Exchange Everest Rugby Challenge, arranged by Wooden Spoon, has surpassed its fund-raising target of £200,000 a week before undertaking its major challenge of playing the highest ever games of rugby.
Wooden Spoon, a charity which aims to use the power of rugby to positively transform the lives of disabled and disadvantaged children, has embarked on the challenge in a bid to set two Guinness World Records on Mount Everest. They are seeking to play the highest game of full contact rugby and the highest game of mixed touch rugby in history.
The group, led by former international rugby players and comprised of leading business executives and other members of the rugby community, aimed to raise £200,000 to help fund charitable children’s projects across the UK and Ireland.
