Regional sporting champions

East of England champion

Cllr Stephen Castle is the Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education and the 2012 Games. He is:

• Chair of Nations and Regions East (East of England Development Agency)
• Conservative Lead on the LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board
• Deputy Chairman of the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership
• Board Member of The Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership representing the East of England Regional Assembly
• Member of the Regional Economic Forum
• Board Member of the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority.

Stephen was also a former President and Board Member of the national Conservative Party and Chair of the East Regional Board of Sport England.

A lifelong resident of South Essex, he is Director of Castle Opticians, the largest independent chair of optometrists in Essex, and a qualified ski instructor.

East Midlands champion

Cllr Manjula Sood has been an elected Labour Councillor for fourteen years. She became the first Asian female Lord Mayor in the UK in May 2008 and was the first Asian female High Bailiff in the UK in 2007.

She is currently a Trustee and an Executive Director of the Leicester Council of Faiths, which promotes better understanding amongst faith communities and has previously served as a Non Executive Director for the NHS.

She is a Community Patron for the Special Olympics in Leicester and Governor of Leicester College.

She was the Leicestershire and Rutland Woman of the Year in 2006. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Leicester University in 2008 and she was awarded an MBE in 2009.

London champion

Shaun Dawson joined the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority as Chief Executive in 1997.

Shaun leads the authority’s remit as a central legacy owner/operator organisation for a number of Olympic venues and parkland. Shaun has spent his career in the leisure industry both in the public and private sector. Before moving to the Authority he was Assistant Director of Education and Leisure at the London Borough of Hackney.

Shaun’s particular areas of experience cover, sports venues design, facilities management and parks management/activation. Shaun graduated from the University of East Anglia with a BSc in Ecology and went on to Loughborough University where he gained an MSc in Recreation Management.

North East champion

Peter Rowley retired as a director and the chief executive of Darlington Building Society in April 2009 after 17 years in post following a long career in retail finance in banking and building societies at senior levels.

Peter has developed strong associations with grassroots sports through his role at Darlington Building Society, including longstanding sponsorships of a broad range of sporting leagues, organisations and initiatives.

Now an adviser to the third sector and social enterprises, he is Head of Business Support at The Social Investment Business, the UK’s largest social investor and holds a portfolio of non-executive appointments in community, public and private organisations.

An enthusiastic, sportsman, he is a passionate runner, competing weekly, domestically and overseas at club level at all distances from 5k up to, and including marathons.

North West Champion

South East champion

John Cove is Chief Executive of the Milton Keynes Dons Sport and Education Trust.

He was previously a Group Director (Sure Start and Community Learning) at Milton Keynes Council.

John is also Vice Chair of the national charity 4Children, and a non executive director of MK Dons Football Club. He was previously a member of the South East Regional Board of Sport England.

South West champion

From 1981 until retirement in 2004, Tim Coventry was Chief Executive and Chairman of Performance Sailcraft, the Laser Builder.

He is currently a free lance consultant to the International Marine Industry specialising in event management in South East Asia.

One of his current roles involves project managing the ISAF Connect to Sailing project, focussed on key strategies and delivery of country specific projects to bring Industry and sport together to reverse the decline in participation in sailing on a worldwide basis. He is a Member of the Royal Yachting Association Sport Development Committee.

Tim is a life time competitive sailor in dinghy, catamaran and sport boat classes.

West Midlands champion

Dave Long works for CV One, Coventry’s Destination Marketing and City Centre Management Company and has a particular responsibility for Image, City Perception and Partnership Working.

Dave has been a Trustee of Coventry Sports Trust for nine years and is involved in numerous sports projects in the West Midlands. He competed for Great Britain in the Marathon at both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games in Seoul and Barcelona respectively.

Yorkshire and Humber champion

Born in Bradford, Yuri Matischen is presently Managing Director of MLS Ltd based in Sheffield, one of the UK’s leading sports and events consultants. MLS are also the owners and operators of the Sheffield Sharks professional basketball franchise, of which Yuri is founder and the present Chairman.

He is also a long serving Director of the British Basketball League. Yuri became the youngest ever General Secretary of the British Universities Sports Federation in 1986, and was Assistant Director of Sport for the 1991 World Student Games in Sheffield.

He is currently Regional Chairman of the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure and a member of its national board, whilst in Sheffield he is Senior Vice President of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Yuri is a keen supporter of disability sport, professionally involved with the Inclusive Fitness Initiative for disabled people, and a Trustee of Autism Plus.