Sport

Baseball comes to Exeter with the arrival of the Spitfires

Exeter has a surprisingly strong link with the sport of Baseball due to a former resident named Henry Chadwick, and now the city has its own team.

The Exeter Spitfires will begin play this season when they join the established South West Baseball League to take on the Torbay Barons, Bristol Bats and reigning champions the Plymouth Mariners.

The Spitfires will play each of their opponents four times, twice each home and away, with a game being played every two weeks on a Sunday.

The season itself will run from 14 April, when the Spitfires start their season at the...

British & Irish Lions Preview Dinner 2013

Event Date: 
13/06/2013 - 7:00pm
Venue: 
Sandy Park Stadium, Exeter

With the upcoming Lions Tour set for June 2013, we are lucky enough to bring you some of Rugby’s biggest legends who will tell tales of their past, their predictions for the tour and their own take on this year’s top flight.

It will be a completely unique rugby night out based on an Old Style International Rugby Court Session - and also raise funds for the Exeter Foundation.

The guests of honour will be the judge and jury of the court in the good ol’ fashion tradition of our very own rugby supporter’s court session.

Join former Lion Jason Leonard and friends for an...

Devon raises the bar (and finish line) for Tour of Britain's 10th edition

Devon will make history as the first stage of The Tour of Britain to host a summit finish when Britain’s premier cycle race returns to the county in September to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

The organisers of The Tour and Devon County Council have this evening announced that Devon will host Stage Six from Sidmouth to Haytor in Dartmoor National Park on Friday 20 September. It will be the first time a stage has finished with a SKODA King of the Mountains climb in the modern era of the race.

It will be the seventh consecutive year that The Tour will have visited Devon. In...

1,500 Children gather for Sainsbury's School Games in Exeter

Against the backdrop of last week’s announcement that school sport is set to be transformed thanks to a £150m-a-year boost that will improve coaching for the youngest pupils and inspire the Olympic and Paralympic stars of the future, over 1,000 Devon school children aged between 9 and 18 years and over 200 young volunteers are preparing to take part in the Devon Winter School Games at Exeter University on Wednesday 27 March.

The national Sainsbury’s School Games programme is coordinated by a Local Organising Committee in Devon which is chaired by Hugh Bellamy (Principal of South...

Portable Athletics Track to launch at Princesshay in Exeter

South West Athletics Academy is pleased to announce the launch of its new portable athletics track surface. To celebrate the launch, a sprint challenge is being held at Exeter’s Princesshay on Saturday 30 March from 10am – 5pm, with all welcome to come and try out the new surface.

Sonya Ellis, Head Coach of the Award Winning Academy said, “ This is an exciting new project and we’re the first in the South West to have this type of portable track. We’re really excited to be able to take the track out into the community and raise awareness of athletics. We’ll also be attending sports...

Six Nations joy for young Chiefs

Departing England Under-20s Head Coach Rob Hunter paid tribute to his team after they were crowed Six Nations champions for an unprecedented third time in a row after an impressive 28-15 win away in Wales at Eirias Park.

Hunter, who is set to join the Exeter Chiefs coaching staff next month on a full-time basis, could not hide his delight as his young guns produced an impressive display in Colwyn Bay.

He said: “It’s a massive achievement and the guys deserve all the credit – they’re a hard working group and this trophy is their reward for the work that they have put in....

Grecians on a high as Exeter thrash Bradford City 4-1

Exeter City completed a double for the season over Capital One Cup finalists Bradford City with a superb 4-1 victory at St James Park.

City’s first goal had a touch of fortune about it when Bantams goalkeeper Matt Duke bundled into his own net, and a debut goal from loanee Lawson D’Ath put the hosts two up at the break.

Kyel Reid cut City’s lead to a single goal late in the second half, but strikes by Scot Bennett and John O’Flynn put the sheen on a great victory and an important three points in the race for promotion.

Amongst the starting XI for the Grecians was D’...

Exeter's Liam Tancock bags Silver at Leeds

Exeter and Loughborough University’s Liam Tancock collected his second medal of the British Gas International Swimming Meet in the 50m Backstroke tonight, taking silver in a time of 25.50.

Tancock holds the world record for the event with a time of 24.04 seconds but explained he was in a period of heavy training.

"It's all part of the plan looking ahead to the summer," Tancock said. "I am pretty pleased with that, it's going well."

The inaugural four-day event at the John Charles Centre for Sport has been the first long-course international competition since the...

Councils report big rise in sports participation post Olympics

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Fri, 03/08/2013 - 10:03am

The enthusiasm for sport generated by the Olympics and Paralympics is still going strong months after the closing ceremony, according to new research published today (Friday, 8 March).

A survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) found three-quarters of councils have seen an increase in people accessing their sports facilities or activities, with one-third reporting a rise in people with a disability getting involved. These latest figures are even higher than during the Olympics themselves, when a similar survey found 44 per cent of councils had an increase.

No...

Chiefs are on the rise, says Welch

Damian Welch believes the Exeter Chiefs are making significant steps in the right direction after recording back-to-back Aviva Premiership victories.

The imposing lock, who was signed last summer from the Scarlets, claimed his maiden score for the club in the recent 47-16 home win over London Welsh - and then followed suit last Saturday as he claimed Exeter's opening try in their 27-16 win away to reigning champions Harlequins.

Now, Welch is hoping the Devon club can maintain their improvement in form when they welcome third-placed Leicester Tigers to Sandy Park later this...

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