Bowls clubs in Harrogate have featured in a national campaign to raise participation levels.

The All to Play For initiative was launched during the Commonwealth Games in an effort to broaden the people taking part in the sport.

The Harrogate Amateur Bowling Association featured heavily in the campaign with filming taking place at the Black Swan Bowling Club, Devonshire Place, Harrogate and also at Wetherby Bowling Club, Grange Park, Wetherby.

Dave Rowson, secretary of the HABA, said:

“We were delighted to be selected for the National Play Bowls campaign and see some of our local clubs and players included.

“We are grateful to the support from North Yorkshire Sport and Sport England and hope we can encourage as many people in the local areas to Try Bowls.

“It really is a sport for all and can be played by families and individuals of all ages.”

Part of the campaign included shooting a promotional video, which includes shots from players in Harrogate taking part in the sport.

You can watch the video by Bowls England below.

The campaign comes as bowls clubs in the Harrogate district joined together in a bid to recover from the covid pandemic.

All 16 clubs that play in the Harrogate league came together after it became clear that some were at risk of folding.

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The clubs recently received funding from North Yorkshire Sport and Sport England in order to come up with a plan to increase participation.

The league has also trained 10 coaches, bought new equipment and put on “Try Bowls” sessions as part of the effort.

The HABA will also be hosting a charity bowls event on Sunday (August 28) in aid of the Robert Ogden centre.

For more information on how to get involved with the open bowl sessions, email habasect@gmail.com.

England karate competitors will be training in Ripon this week, as they make their final preparations for next month’s Commonwealth Karate Championships in Birmingham.

The team will be training under national team coach, Ady Gray, at his school, The Karate Dojo.

Seventeen athletes will take part in the event, where they will practice their kata skills.

Kata is the Japanese word for ‘form’ and sees athletes recite choreographed patterns of martial arts movements.

Mr Gray said:

“This training camp will put the finishing touches to the athletes’ preparations for the Commonwealth Karate Championships on September 6 and 7.

“As the England head coach, it will be great to bring my athletes and coaching team together and show them what our city has to offer and what a great venue Ripon is for our final preparations.”

Following the training camp, the athletes will head to Birmingham to take part in the Commonwealth Karate Championships.

They will competing in the event for national teams on September 6 and 7, which is followed by a club competition between September 8 and 11.

In its 10th edition, competitors from around the Commonwealth will be coming to the city, which recently hosted the Commonwealth Games.

Thursday’s training event will be open to the public and people will be able to take part in a training session with the team.

Mr Gray hopes that the camp will lead to greater exposure for the sport, both in Ripon and beyond.

He pointed to the fact that karate is already a popular sport, saying that his dojo sees people at “all stages [and] ages.”

However, he admitted that karate did not have the money it needed to reach the attention of more people. The sport made its debut at the Olympics in Tokyo last year. Mr Gray added:

“We’ve got to get that exposure.”

He now hopes that the separate championships will lead to karate being included as an official part of the Commonwealth Games in 2026.

Harrogate squash player James Willstrop has won another Commonwealth Games gold medal — a week before his 39th birthday.

Willstrop, who won gold in the singles at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and is a former world number one, won the doubles in Birmingham yesterday with partner Declan James.

He had earlier finished fourth in the singles.

Willstrop told the Stray Ferret the intensity of the last few days had been immense and he was delighted with the outcome.

He said lockdown had enabled him to reset and focus on competing at another Commonwealth Games at a stage in his career when he thought it might not happen again.

The event, he added, was the highest profile squash competition in the world even though the World Championships featured all the leading players.

Willstrop grew up in Pontefract but lives in Harrogate with his partner Vanessa Atkinson, who is a former professional squash player.

He plays at Harlow Hill Squash and Sports Club and Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre.

Willstrop now plans to travel to America for some coaching and training camps before having a holiday and deciding what to do next. He said:

“I’ll see how my body reacts and if it’s in good shape I might play a bit longer on the tour.”

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Ripon’s Jack Laugher has won his second gold medal for England at the Commonwealth Games.

Laugher clinched the title for the synchronised 3m springboard alongside Anthony Harding this afternoon.

The medal becomes the 27-year-old’s second gold in 24 hours.

Yesterday, Laugher defended his 1m springboard title for a second time at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham.

The medal was among the first titles on offer in diving at the games.

Laugher took gold after scoring 447.05 to finish 10 points ahead of Australia’s two-time world champion Li Shixin.

Afterwards, he dedicated the victory to his late grandma, Bernice, who died a couple of months ago and lived seven miles away in Sedgley.

He said:

“It’s really special that today I’ve hopefully done her proud. She was my biggest supporter and I think hopefully I have done her, my family, my mum on poolside, my girlfriend’s parents up in the stands, I hope I have done them all proud.”

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Laugher said there was pressure to defend his title, but he was relieved to clinch gold in front of a home crowd.

He added:

“There was loads of pressure coming into here, trying to defend that title that I’ve had for eight years now.

“It was a great performance, very steady, a few mistakes here and there but I’m really, really happy with everything and to do it in front of a home crowd makes it a little sweeter.”

Laugher was joined on the podium by Jordan Houlden who won the bronze medal.

Speaking after his victory, Leanne Jalland, chair of Harrogate District Diving Club, said:

“We are incredibly proud of Jack, he is not just a talented athlete but an excellent ambassador for diving as a sport. Our divers will be eagerly watching and cheering him on during his next events on 3m.

“It’s great to see so much British talent on show during the 2022 Commonwealth Games to inspire the next generation of young divers”

Diver Jack Laugher may be the biggest name in the Harrogate district at the Commonwealth Games but the area will also be strongly represented at another sport.

Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre at Hookstone Wood Road has played a major role in developing international talent at squash.

James Willstrop, who lives in Harrogate, will be defending the gold medal he won at the last Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018.

Harrogate’s David Pearson is coaching Scotland and Aidan Harrison, who turned professional at the age of 16 while based in Harrogate, is coaching Barbados.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret shortly before today’s opening ceremony in Birmingham, Mr Harrison said the Harrogate club had a worldwide reputation for producing talent thanks largely to Mr Pearson:

“A lot of people here in Birmingham have Harrogate connections.

“Harrogate has had a great reputation as a club since the 1980s and 1990s with many people going there to be around David Pearson and to seek his advice.”

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Mr Harrison, who attended St John Fisher Catholic High School in Harrogate, captained England to the world junior championships in 1990 and broke into the world top 50 as a senior before retiring at the age of 23.

He moved to Dallas in America in 1991 to pursue a career in coaching, which has included a stint as head coach of the American women’s junior team. He was named USA Olympic Squash Coach of the Year in 2002.

Aidan Harrison coaching the Barbados players.

Three months ago he was appointed to help the five-member Barbados team in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games, which is the sport’s premier event.

Mr Harrison said New Zealand, England, Australia, India, Wales, Scotland and Malaysia were the top squash countries at the games but Barbados had the chance of a medal in mixed doubles. He said:

“These players that we are coming up against are top 10 in the world and I would love for our players to make a statement and show that they have what it takes to medal at such a major event.”

Mr Harrison’s parents and sister still live in the Harrogate and Knaresborough area.

He last visited in Harrogate in 2019 but has no plans to return full-time. At the end of August he will be moving to New York to start a new coaching role at Westchester Country Club.

A 20-year-old Harrogate athlete is set to compete at the World Para Powerlifting this weekend when she has the chance to earn a place at the Commonwealth Games.

Charlotte McGuinness is lifting in the women up to 50kg category at the event in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi today and tomorrow.

While she is still unable to bring anyone with her due to coronavirus restrictions, her supporters are able to watch the competition on the Paralympic Games YouTube channel.

She studies Sport and Exercise Science at Leeds Trinity University but Charlotte is from and lives in Harrogate and is proud to represent her home town.

Her passion for the sport began while studying at St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate.

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Earlier this year we reported on how she won a bronze medal for Team GB at the Para Powerlifting World Cup in March.

That success in Manchester combined with a good result this weekend in Georgia would give Charlotte a good chance at qualifying for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year.

She told the Stray Ferret ahead of the big day:

“It would be amazing because it’s a home Commonwealth Games, so that is my main aim.

“To be able to be one of the paralympic representatives of the town is cool. I am proud to fly the flag for Harrogate.

“I have had a couple of international experiences so I know what to expect now. With the event over two days recovery will be important. But I feel well prepared.”

Harrogate weightlifter Jack Dobson has become British champion and put himself in pole position for a place at next year’s Commonwealth Games.

Jack, 27, who went to Starbeck Primary Academy and Harrogate High School, achieved a 310kg total at the British Weightlifting Championships in Twickenham, London — 15 kg more than the runner-up.

It means he is currently British Weightlifting’s top pick for the England men’s 96 kg class at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham but there are two more qualifying events at which rival lifters will have the opportunity to better his total and win selection.

In his first competition for two years because of covid, Jack hoisted 138 kg in the snatch and 172 kg in the clean and jerk, which are both slightly below his personal bests.

Jack Dobson (centre) winning the British Championships.

He said:

“I wasn’t happy with my performance. Because it was my first competition back, me and my coach decided to be a bit conservative with the totals we aimed for.”

Jack’s ambition is to represent his country internationally. He missed the chance to do so in Georgia in 2018 because of lack of funding. UK Sport does not currently fund weightlifting, which means Jack has to pay for his trips.

To make ends meet, he works as a coach at Black Wolf Fitness in Knaresborough and also works as a personal trainer, sports masseuse and as a staff member of the parks an environmental services department at Harrogate Borough Council. He says:

“It hasn’t been an easy road but you have to take it on the chin and drive on. I just love Olympic weightlifting.”

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Jack sometimes trains with fellow Starbuck man Luke Richardson, who has twice competed at the World’s Strongest Man.

Many people mistake weightlifting for strongman, powerlifting or bodybuilding.

Weightlifting consists of two lifts: snatch and clean and jerk, with the winner achieving the highest overall total. It’s an Olympic sport but only three British athletes — Zoe Smith, Emily Campbell and Sarah Davies — achieved the qualifying standard for this month’s Tokyo Olympics.

Jack invested in some weights at home a few years ago so when gyms closed during covid he was able to improvise at home by adapting some wooden planks into a lifting platform.

Now he hopes the years of hard work will pay off with a place among the sporting elite at Birmingham 2022.