Polocrosse joins ‘Jump UP!’ HOOF - Olympic Legacy coaching day

A polocrosse demonstration is to captivate the audience at the latest London Horse Network coaching day being supported by HOOF, the Olympic Legacy project of the British Equestrian Federation.


Polocrosse joins ‘Jump UP!’ at Reigate’s Littleton Manor Equestrian Centre on Monday 18th April with David Gadsby, London Representative of the BEF explaining, “The focus of the day is to inspire centres to maximize the facilities they have available to encourage new participants and enthuse existing riders.”

With Britain hosting the 2011 Polocrosse World Cup from 8-17th July in Warwickshire, CEO of the United Kingdom Polocrosse Association, Iain Heaton says, “Once they’ve witnessed the game from the sidelines, we are aware of players taking up the polocrosse without ever having shown an interest in horses before and so we hope our demonstration at ‘Jump UP!’ will show the potential of introducing polocrosse to more London centres to increase participation in equestrianism.”

The main focus of the day will be on the Olympic discipline of eventing with renowned BE accredited trainer and former Open European three-day-eventing champion, Lucy Thompson delivering coaching techniques to teach both show jumping and cross-country skills in the confines of an arena, making this Olympic sport relevant to city centres.

Volunteer chair of the London Horse Network, Jodie Maile concludes, “The day promises to be a great way of developing the sharing of resources and expertise within the Network and we’re very grateful to Littleton Manor, Lucy Thompson, and the UKPA for their generosity along with Sound Riding who is to provide the PA system for the day.”

BEF Legacy supports London Business

On 28th March 2011, the day David Cameron launched his Start Up Britain campaign to encourage entrepreneurs, the British Equestrian Federation’s London Olympic Legacy project, HOOF, was supporting a ‘Business Essentials Day’ for members of the London Horse Network.


Delivered by Mike Lynch of GBSport, the day, that was generously hosted by Maggie Cox at the fantastic facilities at Newham Riding School, gave delegates and insight into their responsibilities as seen through the eyes of the taxman.

Warning that ignorance is not bliss and that the costs for unintentional errors are immense – bankrupting a business or an individual, Mike impressed where responsibilities lie, what provisions should be in place and the importance of having a good accountant and tax inspection insurance.

Mike said, “Unfortunately sports are nicknamed ‘Del-Boy trades’ by tax inspectors and they are therefore an easy target to finding lost revenue.”

After an interactive test demonstrated how guidelines can be easily misinterpreted, leaving delegates having a slightly reduced appetite at lunch, Mike progressed to offering tools to build ones confidence and improve business practices.

One such element was to use the HMRC’s ‘Employment Status Indicator’, answering questions from the client’s point of view to give a good indication as to whether you, or your staff member truly is self-employed – with any queries then being directed to your accountant.

Repeating the test, delegates showed improved understanding though the competition winners included a former tax inspector turned riding instructor.

Sharon Edwards, a self-employed freelance instructor and employer of staff said, “The course was really useful and clarified that I wasn’t up to date on the guidelines but I now know how to handle staff if they request to become self-employed”, adding, “I’d have travelled a lot further to attend a course like this!”

Other delegates confirmed they would now be spending many days in the office getting things in order and with a free CD containing the course content to remind them of the various pitfalls and a specially produced sport-specific employment contract, they have some help in doing so.

Mike said, “A frequent problem we find in sport is that coaches are trained to coach but have very little business support and so it is great to see equestrianism embracing the challenge. We have information on the GBSport website and also recommend people look to resources like Business Link, the Sports Partnership network and to other sports web sites such as the excellent Rugby Union NGB and Sport Scotland Help for Clubs online resources.”

Jodie Maile, chair of the London Horse Network, concluded, “The London Horse Network is really determined to drive up standards and professionalism, not just within coaching but for the business element too and we are very grateful to HOOF to helping to fund this excellent day”, adding, “We also hope to have GBSport return for a marketing essentials day later in the year.”

If you are interested to find out more, visit http://www.hoof-in-town.com/ or contact Jodie Maile at Jodievm@aol.com