School Children in the West of England feel Inspired by the School Games
Over one thousand children to take part in a competitive school sport festival as part of ‘School Games’ which was launched in the West of England yesterday.
In 2005 Lord Seb Coe, made a promise to the International Olympic Committee that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics would ‘Inspire a new generation to take part in sport and create a long lasting legacy for Sport in Britain’. To deliver this pledge the government has tasked sporting bodies to create ‘Olympic Legacy’ projects.
One of which is called the ‘School Games’ and is designed to deliver competitive sport to school children all across the country.
Thursday 26th January 2012 saw The West of England Sport Trust (Wesport) launch the School Games in the West of England. The event was held at Filton College WISE campus and allowed over 300 pupils from both primary and secondary schools across the area, take part in a range of sports. Theses sports included Fencing, Table Tennis, Lacrosse, Tag Rugby, Wheel Chair Basketball and Rugby. The festival saw both taster sessions and County Finals as well as a grand opening ceremony.
England Netball Player and Commonwealth Games Bronze Medallist Pamela Cookey who attended the launch event said:
“It is great to see children being given the opportunity to take part and compete in such a wide variety of sports. Schools are normally the first time children get to take part in sport and having an event like this means that they will be inspired to do more. London 2012 will inspire the nation to take part in sport and projects like the ‘School Games’ will allow the next generation to act on that inspiration.”
One of the highlights on the first day of the School Games festival was the Year 9 County Rugby final between Backwell and St Gregory’s. This was a fiercely fought final with a great mix of running rugby and physical battles. Backwell took a lead of 15 – 3 but St Gregory’s dominated the final 10 minutes to bring the score to 15 – 10. In the end, it was a great defensive effort that helped Backwell keep St Gregory’s out and sealed the win for Backwell School.
Over the next four days, there will be over 13 different competitive sporting events, involving over 1,300 pupils from schools across the whole area.
Lisa Wood, Youth Sport Manager at Wesport said:
“I am really happy with how our first School Games festival is going but this is only the beginning as our focus moves to an even bigger Summer School Games festival on the 20th June 2012 at the University of Bath”
For more details, please visit www.wesport.org.uk/schoolgames or contact Lisa Wood on 0117 328 6250 or email info@wesport.org.uk.
