When a talk is just a talk

In academia, before you have a full time position you are often given the cautionary advice, "every talk is a job talk". This is often true, though not always in the short term.

Once you have a position, you are also told this, and "every talk is a funding pitch", i.e., to program officers, potential grant reviewers, etc.

There are other types of talks too. There are the "I might want to come to your university and am testing you out" talks, and also there are the, "We may want you to come to our university so are testing you out" talks. There are "tenure tour" talks, which is when TT professors travel to other universities to show off their steak knives and court letter writers. Sometimes this works in reverse, where junior faculty invite potential letter writers to their university to give talks.

Sometimes people give talks due to geographic convenience, or because they want to start a collaboration/friendship/etc with someone at that university.

I suppose sometimes a talk is just a talk, but I suspect that's the exception to the rule.

Does insulin block leptin in the brain?

I'm asking my great audience for help answering this.  Does anyone know of any evidence that high circulating insulin blocks leptin action in the brain (hypothalamus)?

Another Legal Settlement for Tenet, Another $10 Million Plus for its CEO

Yet another large health care organization has added to its collection of legal settlements. 

Reuters briefly noted Tenet Healthcare's latest scuffle with the law:

Tenet Healthcare Corp has agreed to pay almost $43 million to settle allegations that it overbilled the federal Medicare healthcare program for treating patients at certain rehabilitation facilities, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The company was accused of improperly billing Medicare between May 2005 and December 2007 for treating people at inpatient rehabilitation facilities when they did not qualify for such an admission, the Justice Department said.

Tenet agreed to $42.75 million to resolve the allegations, which were made under the U.S. False Claims Act. Medicare is the federal healthcare program for the elderly.

While this story appeared briefly and without context in a few business news outlet, it really is part of a much bigger picture.

National Medical Enterprises

Published in 2006, Maggie Mahar's Money Driven Medicine was one of the important early works on health care dysfunction (see post here, the web-site of the documentary film based on it here).  One of the striking cases it discussed was that of Nartional Medical Enterprises.  NME was charged not only with run of the mill offenses like over-billing, but more exotic ones like kidnapping patients. NME eventually settled with federal authorities in 1994 for $379 million, and pleaded guilty to a variety of charges. The results were similar to many more recent cases. No one went to jail, and the CEO walked away with a golden parachute.  Despite the seriousness of the offenses, NME did not go out of business.  It simply changed its name - to Tenet Healthcare.

Legal Problems in the 21st Century

The "new" Tenet continued to have legal issues.  These included a $395 million settlement of the Redding Medical Center unnecessary heart surgery scandal in 2004 (look here), and a $21 million settlement of US government charges of kickbacks (look here), a $7 million settlement with the government of Florida of charges of fraudulent billing (look here), and a $900 million settlement of federal over-billing complaints (look here, and see our post here), all in 2006.  There was an apparent lull, and then in 2011 the company settled a class action suit brought after the deaths of 34 patients in a Tenet facility in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (see Bloomberg story here.)

Again, while this substantial string of settlements suggest a pattern of repeated misbehavior, as in many other legal resolutions in health care (look here), the cost of financial penalties was diffused across the organization.  No individuals seemed to suffer any negative consequences from any of these episodes.

No Consequences for Hired Managers

Instead, despite this evidence of repeated misbehavior, now extending over nearly 20 years and across two centuries, the top hired leaders of Tenet continued to flourish.  Earlier this month Becker's Hospital Review announced the compensation received by Tenet's CEO in 2011:

Total compensation for Trevor Fetter, president and CEO of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, dropped 12 percent from 2010 to $10.74 million in 2011, according to documents from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Fetter's base salary in fiscal year 2011 was $1.08 million, the same as the previous two years. He received $4.88 million in stock awards, $2.67 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $1.93 million of accumulated benefits under his supplemental executive retirement plan. Mr. Fetter also received more than $142,000 for personal use of Tenet's aircraft.

Despite the small dip last year, Mr Fetter's total compensation has generally increased  over the years, from $6.12 million in 2003 (via the LA Times), to $9.7 million in 2008 (AP via Fox News).

Summary

One would think that Tenet's record of legal trouble would have turned it into a pariah, or led to its corporate demise.  However, like many other large health care organizations, the organization has been able to shrug off evidence of a deeply flawed culture, and within such a culture, its leaders have continued to enrich themselves with seeming impunity. 

Such cases should raise many questions - Why are repeated offenses by the same well known health care organizations barely considered news?   Why do repeat offenses not generate at least increasing financial penalties?  Why do the organizations' stake-holders, particularly as represented by their boards, not show more concern?  Why has the regulation of health care organizations devolved into Kabuki theater?

So, I once again insist, to really deter bad behavior, those who authorized, directed or implemented bad behavior must be held accountable. As long as they are not, expect the bad behavior to continue. Real health care reform needs to make health care leaders accountable, and especially accountable for the bad behavior that helped make them rich.

Tutorial Hack Widget whos.amung.us

Unik Informatika - Banyak sekali Tips & Trik yang ada dalam sebuah seni teknologi itu, mungkin sobat tau banyak kita akan share-share ilmu itu bisa dimana saja, kali ini saya akan membahas tentang cara hack widget whos.amung.us? anda pernah memakainya di blog atau site sobat? pasti sudah tidak jarang anda mendengar kata itu,baiklah widget who.amung.us itu biasa digunakan untuk mengetahui berapa banyak pengunjung yang sedang online dalam sebuah blog, Unik Informatika juga tidak mau ketinggalan, bisa dilihat disebelah kiri blog yang berbentuk tombol berwarna merah yang berisi angka tak banyak, sekitar 1-8 mungkin...hehehe maklum blog yang belum terkenal.

Hasil Hack Widget :

Oke, langsung saja kita ke tutorial cara hack widget whos.amung.us, tujuan hack ini hanya untuk semata-mata untuk belajar dan iseng-iseng saja serta membuat angka pengunjung online menjadi lebih banyak ! 

Perhatikan langkah-langkah nya, cekidooooot :

1. Buat widget whos.amung.us disini !

2. Otak-atik sesuai kemauan anda...dan jika sudah anda copy kode HTML nya ke tata letak blog anda.

3. Tahap selanjutnya, lihat kembali dalam kode HTML tersebut, lihat bagian  baris kedua yang berisi kode '8vm5aciw03at' itu di blog saya, di kode anda pasti beda lagi, kode nya seperti dibawah ini !

4. Ganti kode tersebut dengan kode dibawah ini :

e3ku0gzti42i

5. Simpan widget, lihat blog anda dan anda akan tersenyum manis melihat angka dalam widget tersebut.

Terima kasih ata kunjungan nya !

Semoga anda tidak bosan-bosan berkunjung di blog sederhana ini, saya akan berusaha sebaik mungkin untuk memberikan yang terbaik untuk sahabat UniKa ... :D smile bro, go ahead ...

10 Ciri-ciri Calon Istri yang Baik

Unik Informatika - Apakah sobat sudah kepikiran untuk menikah? sudah siap menghadapi liku-liku kehidupan yang sepertinya akan bertambah rumit? saya punya saran buat calon mampelai yang cowok, ane punya nih sob 10 ciri-ciri wanita yang baik yang siap dijadikan istri.

Maaf ne sob, bukan lancang sih saya cuma share ilmu yang saya dapatkan di forum, semua itu terserah anda soalnya semua keputusan itu menjadi hak sobat, jadi istri itu kan insyaallah yang akan mendampingi kita sampai meninggal, kalau bicara pacar sih itu bisa ganti.

Tapi kalau istri saya sarankan cukup satu bro...hehehe biar kita ga dikatain mata keranjang, hehehe (semua terserah sobat, saya hanya sharing) dan ingat saya share untuk yang muslim lho, oke langsung saja ya, tanpa basa-basi lagi, ini dia cekidooottt :

1. Taat beragama

Agama adalah salah satu pegangan hidup untuk kita manusia. Taat kepada agama juga menunjukan kalau si Cewek akan taat terhadap kamu. Bukan berarti kamu bisa semena-mena terhadap dia dan menyuruh si Cewek untuk menuruti apapun yang kamu mau, tapi taat beragama menunjukan bahwa si Cewek juga mempunyai prinsip hidup yang baik dan yang dia tekuni. Dan usahakan cari istri yang berkerudung.

2. Lemah-lembut

Coba perhatikan cara Cewek berbicara kepada teman-temannya. Apakah dia selalu suka bernada keras, teriak-teriak, atau malah sopan dan selalu lembut dalam berkata-kata? Ciri-ciri inilah yang mencerminkan di mana cara si Cewek akan berbicara kepada kamu dan keluargamu nantinya.

3. Perhatian

“Kok dia bisa ingat dengan ulang tahun orang tuaku?” ujar kamu. Itu adalah pertanda bagus. Dia benar-benar perhatian akan hal-hal kecil seperti itu. Padahal, kalian belum menikah. Sehabis kamu pulang kerja, makananpun sudah tersedia. Saat kamu sedang sakit, dia memasakan bubur untuk kamu. Hal-hal kecil seperti itulah yang akan membantu dan memperkuat hubungan kamu. Bukankah Cowok juga memang suka diberi perhatian lebih dari si Cewek?

4. Penyabar

Kamu telat untuk kencan dengan si Cewek tapi si Cewek tidak marah sama sekali saat kamu datang dan dia sudah menunggu 25 menit kelaparan. Kenapa sabar itu ciri-ciri yang baik? Coba pikirkan kalau anda sedang dalam situasi apa saja yang berbau negatif; kesabaran itu akan membantu suasana itu tidak menjadi lebih buruk. Coba bayangkan kamu sedang kencan dengan Cewek yang tidak sabar. Sedikit-sedikit dia marah karena kamu tidak tepat waktu, berbuat sedikit kesalahan. Kencan yang seharusnya senang-senang malahan menjadi pengalaman buruk.

5. Sederhana

Perhatikan apakah si Cewek kamu suka berlebihan di depan teman-temannya. Apakah dia suka memamerkan tas baru yang baru dia beli hari itu juga? Orang yang suka pamer dan tidak sederhana menunjukan kalau si Cewek itu tidak percaya diri; ada kekurangan yang dia punya dan ingin menutupinya dengan memamerkan sesuatu yang lebih dari dia. Ini sifat yang tidak bagus untuk para Cowok.

6. Jaga kecantikan

Tidak berarti Cewek itu harus tampil cantik, tapi menjaga kecantikan itu juga berarti itu Cewek tahu bagaimana caranya menjaga dan merawat dirinya sendiri. Jikalah anda sedang berkencan dengan dia, perhatikanlah “make-up” yang dia pakai. Apakah terlalu berlebihan sehingga menarik perhatian orang-orang lain di sekitar anda? Apakah dia memakai rok mini yang berlebihan? Jaga kecantikan itu berarti menjaga penampilan secukupnya dan sewajarnya di saat dan tempat yang benar.

7. Dewasa dan bijaksana

Cowok suka dengan Cewek yang bijaksana dan bersikap dewasa. Di saat kesusahan, Cowok akan membutuh bantuan dari seorang Cewek yang dewasa dan bijaksana dalam mengambil keputusan.

8. Hemat

Cowok mana yang mau punya Cewek bermaterialistis? Nanti kalau kamu sudah berkeluarga dengan Cewek tersebut, dia akan menghabiskan uang untuk belanja baju-baju yang tidak perlu. Coba perhatikan dari cara dia menghabiskan uangnya sekarang. Apakah dia termasuk orang yang hemat, pelit, atau hura-hura?

9. Keibuan

Cewek kalau senang bermain dengan anak kecil, bisa menggendong bayi, menunggu mereka tidur, dan sebagainya. Inilah tanda-tanda dari Cewek yang bisa kamu bayangkan saat mereka menjadi istri kamu. Dia akan menjadi seorang ibu yang pandai di dalam rumah tangga.

10. Tabah menderita dan mau bekerja keras

Inilah salah satu ciri-ciri dari Cewek yang agak susah dicari. Mengapa? Cewek sudah terbiasa dengan tradisi di mana Cowok yang mencari uang. Di masa-masa sulit, Cewek biasanya tidak terbiasa untuk bekerja keras untuk keluarga. Jikalau kamu sudah menemukan Cewek yang tabah menderita dan mau bekerja keras, hargailah dia.

ingat bro, jangan salah-salah memilih istri ya bro !

go ahead...

makasi buat agan wachidR ..

Carnie Wilson: Undergoing second WLS

With all the recent discussion on losing weight, exercise, bariatric surgery etc. here at the Asylum, I was reminded of this short post I intended to make on Carnie Wilson.  I had seen her on Fox & Friends with Wilson Philips promoting their new album.  Her's is a cautionary tale but also goes to show there's more to this obesity thing than many folks seem to want to acknowledge or talk about.  

Read more »

Allscripts shares plunge on weak outlook, board changes, unhappy customers - but mostly unhappy customers, I surmise

Glen Tullman is CEO of the health IT seller Allscripts-Misys Healthcare.  He was an advisor to the Obama campaign on health information technology issues.

My organization had to sue his company for non-working products a few years ago (link to PDF of civil complaint) .

Apparently other customers were unhappy as well.  This from Reuters:

Allscripts shares plunge on weak outlook, board changes

Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:24am EDT

(Reuters) - Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc's shares plunged 42 percent in premarket trade on Friday, after the company forecast weak full-year earnings, hurt by software development costs and weaker bookings.

On Thursday, the healthcare information technology provider reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and also announced the resignation of its CFO, three directors and board Chairman Phil Pead.

Citigroup analyst George Hill said the results were strongly disappointing and downgraded the company's stock to "neutral" from "buy."

Hill said he was most troubled by the loss of long tenured CFO Bill Davis, who had been the public face of Allscripts to investors for many years.

"We suspect CEO Glen Tullman won a power struggle at the 11th hour leading to the board departures," Hill said.

"Too few customers are buying its products, due to lack of confidence or satisfaction," Barclays Capital analyst Lawrence Marsh wrote in a note.

Allscripts shares were trading at $9.27 in premarket trade. They had closed at $16.02 Thursday on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Shailesh Kuber in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

The statement 'too few customers are buying its products, due to lack of confidence or satisfaction', speaks volumes about the state of health IT in general in 2012.

That state includes eventual regulation after an IOM report on dubious safety, mission hostile user interfaces as identified by NIST and others that will require expensive remediation (due to the industry arrogantly ignoring this crucial issue for decades), 'glitches' due to poor or non-existent validation and quality control that will increasingly result in expensive litigation when patients are harmed, likely government investigations and clawbacks due to EHR-promoted upcoding, and an increasing awareness that many of the so-called miracle 'revolutionary' gains (as opposed to facilitation of medical practice) are largely illusory industry-promoted memes not based on robust, scientifically-generated evidence.

I'd pull out of this market - if I had any money invested in it.  I have none, and never have, because I have great lack of confidence in the industry that began when I was first exposed to it and its leaders - that being in 1992.

I note that the HITECH component of ARRA, containing incentives and penalties related to health care information technology designed to accelerate the adoption of EHR systems, was advanced largely via advice to the President on the wonders of health IT.  (I thought HITECH was a reckless, premature move destined to waste billions of dollars as did the erstwhile NPfIT in the NHS, and I still stand by that prediction.)

-- SS

4/27/12 Addendum:

EHR glitches like this and this never seem to affect patients...

-- SS

i hope y'all have a peaceful weekend......

*images courtesy of note to sarah, cote de texas, houzz, my favorite and my best

#communitysport blog: Matt Page

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Matthew Page, a professional endurance cyclist for the Wiggle team. The Carmarthenshire athlete was 2011 UK and European 24 hour solo champion, 2010 UK 24 hour solo national champion and 2009 mountain mayhem 24 hour solo champion.

Here, he gives his thoughts on growing up with sport and the opportunities he had to take part.

Matthew Page: Wiggle Edurance cyclist 

As a child I was always very active and took part in a long list of sports.

I was always willing to get stuck into whatever was being played at school or on the local parks. Cricket, squash, football, rugby, tennis, cross-country running, hockey, gymnastics and obviously cycling - although it was more of a hobby and way of getting around than a sport while I was young.

I have a problem in that I can't sit down for more than a few minutes and really struggle if I'm asked to relax or do nothing. Sport was my outlet and I think my parents could see the benefits, so I was encouraged to participate in as many activities as possible.

School and sports clubs were an important part of life for me. Sport was what I most looked forward to, both in and out of school. Every playtime we would be out playing football or something similar.

In school I played for the cricket and rugby teams and represented the county at cross-country running. Outside school I played football for Llandovery until about 11 and also in the local squash league. It was usually a case of being OK at everything but not exceptional at anything in particular.

Now, to be able to call myself a professional cyclist and be lucky enough to travel around the world is something I never dreamt of doing. It has been hard work, but also taught me many things and given me far more confidence in life than I had before.

If I had one criticism of sport in Wales it is that as a nation we are very fixated upon Rugby and as a result no other sports get a look in. Rugby will probably always be the main sport, which is fine but it would be great for more sports to be recognised which would give young people access to them and give them more choice. I was very lucky that I had the opportunity to try and wide range of sports as a child, but not everyone has the same opportunities.

There are a few places that I've been to over the last few years that can teach us a few lessons.

In Australia, sport is a culture, everyone is mad for it. Either you compete at sport or you follow it. They have TV channels dedicated to it but they are far from a single sport country and they will show a huge variety of sports from around the world.

In Spain it is less of a culture, but they still have a great outdoor scene and use sport and activities as a way to socialise. In the UK many people go to the pub but in Spain everyone goes out for a walk, run or ride.

And in Pakistan I was able to see what is achievable even when money and facilities are almost non-existent. Children there use sport as an outlet to relax and have fun and improvise with whatever is at hand to play.

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattpage24 or check out his blog.

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Ray Williams

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Ray Williams. The 53-year-old former Royal Welch Guard Fusilier won gold at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games and now proudly holds the title of Welsh Weightlifting Federation Head Coach.

Ray is a pillar of the Holyhead community and his Mill Bank club, that produced London 2012 hopeful Gareth Evans, has enjoyed a considerable ‘beefing up’ in Olympic year. He received some serious ‘spotting’ thanks to considerable partnership investment worth more than £300,000, to give his community club a major extension. 

Ray Williams with Olympic hopeful Gareth Evans and
Commonwealth bronze medallist Bob Wrench

It’s been about four years since we started to seek funds for what is now the Holyhead and Anglesey Weightlifting and Fitness Centre.

It’s an immense improvement and we’re hugely excited. It opens another chapter in the club’s history which is 40 years long and produced champions. This environment is going to be conducive for producing more for years and years and decades after I’ve gone.

It’s been a collaboration between families, friends, different amateur groups over a long period of time and every one of them we thank. Like any small town Holyhead has its negative aspects but this centre is a huge positive that will help the youngsters but also people in their 50s, 60s, 70s to do something that I’m passionate about; and that’s keep fit.

If we're going to create a nation of champions here in Wales we need excellent facilities. We've had fantastic weightlifting success on the world stage over the decades. But weightlifting is still a minority sport that we need to grow at the grassroots level to increase our talent pool and keep our winning ways going.

We’re always trying to nurture the next tranche of champions and I’m now working with all five secondary schools on Anglesey.

Now we’ve got more training space we’re going to be able to make it available to more people to use and with that increased reach it’s inevitable that we’re going to produce more champions. I look forward to that and I’d also like to say a big good luck to Gareth Evans, one of our greatest weightlifters of a generation from the club, as he closes in on a place at London 2012.

I think it was 1948 the last time we held the Olympic Games and I think there’s going to be a huge excitement and it’s going to build in these months as we get closer to London. I’d like to think that there’ll be an increase in the popularity of our sport but I think it comes down to people like me to make people aware that we’re here and then to sell the sport.

I’d say to anyone, from any sport, to do Olympic weightlifting as a by-product of what you do and it’s a phenomenal explosive sport to be involved in. So join a local club or come and see me.  

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales

#communitysport blog: Tamsin Jones

Our latest blog in our Community Sport series comes from Tamsin Jones. Tamsin was awarded Welsh Gymnastics’ Participation Coach of the Year in 2011, and her Ruthin and Denbigh Gymnastics was nominated for Club of the Year. The 37-year-old, from Ruthin, somersaulted into gymnastics coaching eight years ago whilst studying a sport degree at Glyndwr University.

With an enormous waiting list of keen potential gymnasts, meaning that she was having to turn children away, Tamsin needed an expansion and so opened a new club in Llangollen last year.  She soon realised however that to keep her clubs sustainable, and meeting the needs of budding young gymnasts in Denbighshire, she needed help. Support from Sport Wales helped springboard Tamsin’s idea of developing young gymnasts into coaches through a structured mentoring programme.

Ruthin and Denbigh Gymnastics Club engages 500 youngsters

Basically we’ve always had volunteers that have come up through being a gymnast and want to continue their commitment to the sport by coaching. But it was a bit fragmented because I myself am teaching 30 gymnasts in a session and trying to train the coaches and the volunteers in-house. Whilst you’re trying to teach yourself and also talk to parents I felt that I wasn’t giving them what they needed. They’ve given up their time, they’re very capable, and potentially have very good qualities in them to become coaches.

So as we’ve expanded over the last eight years I just felt the need to develop a programme for them. One of my coaches qualified as a Level 2 and to support her development I offered her a class as a head coach in Llangollen. That allowed me to back off a little, and not have to teach, and become more of a mentor.

Having that time gave me the opportunity to offer that mentorship to up and coming leaders. After going to a British Gymnastics conference, and seeing something similar that I could model, it evolved from there. Very quickly within a few months of becoming a Leadership Academy I approached Welsh Gymnastics and they were fully supportive of it as a pilot and saw it as a model that go out across Wales if it was successful.

The first year has been fantastic, in many different ways, for the development of the club. The feedback from our leaders themselves has been very good and we’ve been monitoring it through self-assessment all the way through.

It’s currently being rolled out at Deeside Gym Club and it’ll be an ongoing roll-out programme learning from the pilot. Currently in Llangollen we’ve got 15 academy leaders. Some of them have been volunteering with me for three years already. Although they were able to access gymnastics courses I wanted them to be involved in actually the management of the club and events, and judging, and not just going on a course to coach gymnasts but more like an overall coach development programme.

So they can actually support the club as well. They enjoy that because it’s linked to their club and they’re not going off site early on in their career to have a three day course and then trying to come back and apply it. I feel like this has given them pathways to develop areas they want to concentrate on.

Within a very short space of time I now have 15 competent leaders who are confident and of use to me. A lot of the feedback was that they didn’t realise that there was that much to coaching. Rather than just turn up to an event they now realise that it takes six weeks to arrange an event. They get involved in all the admin that has to go out to all the parents and the promotion of it and standing on the desk on the day collecting entries. Basically involved in everything and they’re more appreciative of everything because of it.

One of them, who is very quiet but fully committed, has found that the academy has completely given her the confidence to know that she’s making the right decisions. So much so that she’s now mentoring other leaders in the academy and that’s within a six month turnaround. All in all it’s been a pleasant experience for myself to see the development of these youngsters. Some of them are thinking about a career in teaching now.

The Sport Wales funding basically enabled us to do it, we couldn’t have done it without it simple as that.

We have really proactively developed a programme to keep them involved. They only train two hours a week, which in the world of gymnastics is nothing. If you want to compete at the highest level you do 20 hours in the gym. So these are children that we give a wider programme of competitions and badge work.

Early on when I came to the club I changed things with the support of everyone. I myself had come from a display team and knew the enjoyment that I’d had as a child being able to go to your school event and show off what you can do. It’s great for the community because they see the gym club and then new children want to join. We do displays in communities that don’t know gymnastics goes on in the area but it’s also word of mouth because trying to get children to start something new can be quite scary for some.

Our after school clubs give children the confidence that if they know the coaches are coaching the club sessions they can overcome their fears of starting something new.

We’ve been going for ten years now in the area and each year we’re growing. We have about 300 members in Ruthin and Denbigh and 50 in Llangollen after only opening in September. Then I reach another 200 in schools through after school clubs and PE. I did a 5x60 after school session at the high school for a year and trampolining. We have a 5x60 Officer, Bethan Griffiths, who’s actually one of our coaches and she delivers sessions in Llangollen.

I couldn’t have expanded or done any of this without the commitment of what previously had been five coaches and now upwards of 20. It’s a team effort. I’d like to see local after school clubs have young leaders delivering those clubs and perhaps that’s another 100 kids that join our club.

I’m very lucky because I’m in a job that never stops evolving and I make the most of it. I love my job and I love teaching and watching the kids’ development.

I did it as a child and got great enjoyment from it. It was something I was able to achieve in and I just have great memories, so I know therefore what the children are getting from it. It’s an avenue of enjoyment and achievement. I was part of a display team and we literally do part of the same warm up now! So that display that I did as a nine-year-old child my daughter is doing now! I was inspired as a child and I’ve just recreated that for others.

This blog was written in conjunction with the launch of a strategy for Community Sport in Wales.  If you’d like your say, get involved in the debate on twitter – using the hashtag #communitysport and you can mention us @sport_wales