The achievement of a Merseyside Triathlon club  has helped Sport England reach a national landmark.

Mersey Tri has been awarded Clubmark accreditation for being a well run club for children and it has taken the total number of sports clubs to achieve the award to 1000.

The triathlon club now has over 70 adult and 50 8-16 year old members.  In the past year it has run several  events for adult and junior members including a duathlon for adults which took place in March, an aquathlon for children and this weekend, we will be celebrating the ninth annual Wirral Mini Tri which is a triathlon for children aged 8 to 16.  The following Friday the club will be staging its first aquathlon championship to celebrate their 20th anniversary year.  This event will be at Crosby Leisure Centre and will be for all members from age 8 upwards as well as invited children from local schools.  On 2nd July, the Crosby branch of Mersey Tri in association with St Mary’s College, will be staging the 4th Sefton Triathlon which has grown to become the largest children’s event in the UK.

Mersey Tri has been recognised as having reached high national standards of good management, coaching, equal opportunities and safety.

The Sport England’s Clubmark scheme has now achieved 1000 fully accredited clubs in 20 different sports. It means that the scheme is rapidly becoming the established quality standard for all sports clubs in the country.

Sport England’s Chief Executive Roger Draper said: “Congratulations to Mersey Tri on their Clubmark. award. It is not easy to reach the standards demanded by scheme so Mersey Tri should be very proud of all they have achieved.  

“The Clubmark scheme is really gaining momentum. It is good that we have 1000 accredited clubs but perhaps even more encouraging is that over a thousand more clubs have applied to join.”

Mersey Tri received their award from Sharon Burns, Sport England’s North West representative, at the Oval Sports Centre as part of a series of events across the country to mark the 1000 club landmark.



Alan Kirkham, Mersey Tri’s development officer said: “This is a great achievement for our club which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary.  Because of the popularity of Clubmark among triathlon clubs, British Triathlon has developed its own equivalent standard for seniors, which Mersey Tri is on the verge of achieving. With these two accreditations, Mersey tri will be maintaining its position as one of the top clubs in the country.

And one of the sports leading athletes Tim Don said “At a young age it is important to have the right guidance and advice which the Clubmark scheme can offer. It puts the emphasis on enjoyment, not just winning . It is cool to see it going from strength to strength!"

"That Mersey Tri has achieved the Clubmark Award signifies that they have put in place practices and codes of conduct to ensure that Mersey Tri will continue to grow from strength to strength and will provide a fun and safe environment in which children can participate in sport. The Award is a testament to the hard work and effort put in by members of the club who were presented with their Award by Sharon Burns from Sport England and James Brown, Regional Development Officer for British Triathlon."