Devon School Games extravaganza comes to Torbay
A busy, colourful, noisy day of sporting fun and competition is on offer for over 800 school children from right across “the County” on Thursday 22nd March as the Devon School Games comes to Torbay.
The Devon School Games are a legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games and thousands of young people in Devon from a wide variety of mainstream and special schools compete in these regional competitions every year, after making it through the Intra-School and Local Inter School events to represent their School and area of Devon . Getting 800 enthusiastic young people to take part in a range of exciting taster sports and competitions is a huge feat of organisation which is headed up by Active Devon supported by the 7 local School Games Organising Committees. The real heart of the Games however, lie with the 80 or so young leaders who go through sports specific training to enable them to officiate competitions and assist with other aspects of event facilitation.
Registration & the opening ceremony will take place in Torbay Leisure Centre Sports Hall, but the Games are now so large and cover such a wide range of competitions that they require three separate sites; Torbay Leisure Centre, Paignton Community & Sport Academy and Torbay Velopark.
Every School Games event uses a sporting champion to inspire, encourage and motivate the young people that attend and this time that honour goes to Ellie Cranch, a 20 year old volleyball player who lives in Plymouth. She is currently part of the England senior ladies squad and plays locally for the Beach Academy who are based in North Devon and are in National League Division 1. She will be on hand during the day to sign autographs and circulate among all the competitions.
Lisa Alford, Active Devon’s School Games organiser said “It is exciting to have Ellie Cranch with us because she is testament to the impact that the Games have on young people in Devon. She has grown up taking part in the Devon School Games and now look at her! We certainly can’t take any credit for her wonderful career, but we played a small part in keeping her active and inspired! It’s exciting to think that there may be young people competing here today that will be national sporting stars of tomorrow and it all starts with the exciting, welcoming, inclusive atmosphere right here at the Devon School Games”.
The Games are part of a national School Games programme and feature a range of competitive sports including cross country, netball, table tennis, volleyball and handball. Children also get to try out a number of less mainstream taster sports which this time includes taekwando, BMX, scooting, fencing, revolution skate and bounce.
The day kicks off at 09.15 with schools arriving from across the county ready for the opening ceremony, which features a rib pounding Taiko Drumming display, from Taiko Journey and an energetic dance display from Curledge Street Academy School who are a group of young people that were brought together to create a display for a local school dance competition. They will be taking the assembled crowds of young people on a dance journey of the world including a trip to India’s Bollywood!
More information about the School Games is available on Active Devon's website www.activedevon.org
