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Club Of The Month: Dorset Pentathletes

May 16, 2024

Dorset Penthathletes is Sportsister’s Club of the month for May. This friendly Weymouth based club attracts members from across the county and since forming in 2007, has produced some of the nations top young athletes who have gone on to represent Britain on the World’s stage.

Forming only two years ago, the club already has over 100 members, and although it is a mixed club the majority of its members are women and girls. This higher percentage of women makes Dorset Pentathletes a great club for those starting out or maybe lacking the confidence to join in and get involved in the sport.

The Dorset Pentathletes pride themselves on their accessibility and even don’t charge a club membership fee in an attempt to make the sport as available as possible to anyone who might be interested in taking part.

They are keen to maintain their fun, friendly and inclusive character and have been very proactive in trying to get both young children and adults involved in multi-sport events by organising free ‘Come and Try It’ days. With an open door and no pressure attitude these events have been highly successful and have encouraged lots of girls and older women to have a go.

Success

The Dorset Pentathletes, which continues to be run by its founder GB biathle coach Mick Flaherty, is the most successful club at biathlon and biathle in Britain despite poor facilities and no funding. 21 members of the club represented Great Britain at the World Biathle Championships in November last year.

World Biathle Champions:
Melissa Courtney (aged 15)
Grace Howie (aged 13)
Ian Hughes (Masters 50+)

The club also bought home a considerable amount of medals from the World Biathle Tour 2008, with Zoe Gowers, Hugh Ireland, Laura Chitty and Tom Crew all getting gold.

Inspiration

The club was formed from three swimming clubs in South Dorset with few members, poor facilities and no funding. Two years on and the club is growing rapidly and welcoming lots of new members, promoting children, locals and families to join in, with several of each year going on to represent Great Britain.

The club welcomes girls and women, giving them great confidence, high aspirations and all with an absolute sense of fun! Their all-encompassing attitude towards age and ability means that nobody is excluded, and results in a real sense of family involvement. Nowhere is this more evident that when father and son duo, Nick and Hugh Ireland (masters 40+ and Youth boys E 10 years, respectively) bought home the bronze at the World Biathle Championships last year.

Junior focus

Zoe Gowers is worth a special mention - the exceptional nine year old clinched a Gold medal place at the World Tour in a year younger age band.
Hugh Ireland is proving to be an exceptional runner, winning the recent Dorset Biathlon in age band D (11-12) while still in a lower age band.
Melissa Courtney, Grace Howie and Africa Mason are world-class athletes, consistently winning in biathle and biathlon events for team GB

Aspirations and perseverance

Ten- year old Marguerite Chitty finds running hard but persevered to compete in four biathle events last year and was selected to represent Great Britain in the World Championships and achieved a silver medal in the World Biathle Tour.

Victoria Halford showed great courage after suffering a fall in the selection race in Salford. She continued running and achieved a selection place in girls under 12 group .

Fact file:

Members: Approx 100
Proportion of women to men: 2:1
Training: General fitness in multi-discipline events - weekly running training sessions or run/swim training
Social: The club is very much a family affair, with many parents and volunteers helping by officiating at the competitions and undertaking general training duties
Events: The Dorset Penathletes organises the Weymouh International Biathle, Dorest Biathlon, Dorset’s Schools Biathlon and a number of ‘Come and Try It’ events throughout the spring.
Club aims:
- To get as many children and adults involved in multi-sport events as possible., no matter their age, ability or aspirations.
- To get athletes to reach their full potential and achieve the level of competition they are comfortable with, in a fun, friendly and inclusive environment
- For the more competitive – to achieve their goals in competition with good coaching, knowledge and ability to progress

Contact: Website: www.dorsetpentathletes.co.uk

Hannah Galloway, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

Club Of The Month is kindly supported by Lucozade. As recognition of your achievement your club will win a visit from a Lucozade Sports Scientist, who will offer sports science and nutrition advice as well as explaining and letting you sample the Lucozade Sport nutritional range. We think that this is a great prize, and something that you can make into a great club occasion or event. Click here for more details on how to submit your club details

Click below to read previous Club of The Month features:

Team East Durham

Tickhill Running & Athletics Club

Washlands Women’s Runners

Kings Cormorants Swimming Club

Sawtry Colts Football Club

Essex Roads Cycling Club

Click here to read the Terms and Conditions for Sportsister’s Club of The Month

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