MORE THAN 800 young athletes from across the county attended a major Worcestershire sporting event.
Last Friday, April 12, the Worcestershire Spring School Games were held at Bromsgrove School, supported by 115 volunteers from nine schools across the county.
Organised by Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire and local School Games organisers, and made possible with funding from the National Lottery and Sport England, children aged four to 14 competed for the titles of Worcestershire Spring School Games Champion in five different sports and 13 competitions.
The School Games programme enables young people to take part in competitive sport and participation events, with activities on offer such as Sportshall athletics, netball, infant agility, pan-disability football and team-building.
Participants were also encouraged to try a range of activities at the event’s Central School Games Village, where 11 activities were held for pupils to try and learn new skills, from bhangra dancing and circus acts to volleyball and functional fitness.
Premiership netballer Lefebre Rademan, of Severn Stars, attended the event to support the pupils and to talk about premiership sport and the importance of embracing the School Games values.
Volunteers – including aspiring coaches, officials and media students – spent the day developing leadership and other transferable skills.
Stephen Brewster, chief executive officer at Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said: “Events like our School Games festivals are important opportunities to showcase a range of sports and activities, and for children to try new activities, and get a taste of competitive and participatory sporting events.
“We understand the importance of creating positive experiences for our young people to ensure a lifelong habit of physical activity.
“Looking around and seeing so many happy, smiling faces here today, and such great teamworking shows what can be possible when working in partnership with our local, community organisations.”
Since 2012, Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire has organised School Games events across the two counties, inspiring young people to be physically active for life through positive experiences at a young age.
This year, the Worcestershire Spring Games were supported by AJB Sports in Education, the event participant sponsor, and engaged with the pupils and teachers at the event.
AJB Sports in Education is a Worcestershire-based organisation offering school sports, wrap-around care, the physically active school programme Active Minds and school CPD, focusing on primary schools and pre-schools, through the AJB Fundamentals programme.
The organisation also offers sports holiday camps, birthday parties and girls’ football through the Worcestershire FA.
Last year, AJB Sports in Education introduced new values awards, celebrating the six core values of the games – self-belief, passion, determination, teamwork, honesty and respect.
These awards were for primary schools and were awarded to the teams that best exhibited the values. Anong the winners were: Astwoodbank Primary School, St Oswalds CE Primary School, Pitmaston Primary School, St Annes Primary School and Somers Park Primary School.
Visit activehw.co.uk/worcestershire-school-games or email [email protected] for full results and for more on the School Games and how to get involved in the project.
