GALLERY: Celebrating sporting success at Northumberland School Games Festival

Schools from around the county came together in Cramlington for a day of sport, activity, and fun at the Northumberland School Games Festival.

Organised by Northumberland Sport, the event, now in its 8th year, was held at Cramlington Learning Village and the venue came alive with the sound of cheering and camaraderie as the schools battled it out to become county champions.

The event officially got underway with a stunning opening ceremony filled with music from Metro Radio and a dance warm up with over 1,000 young participants from across the county.  Competitors aged between 6 – 15 years of age competed in twelve different sports including athletics, tennis, gymnastics, rounders and golf.

Olympic gymnast Craig Heap, who captained England to team gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and Manchester in 2002, was on hand to welcome the participants to the games and inspire them to try their best in the individual competitions.  Craig said:“I am always delighted to attend the Northumberland School Games Festival, giving me the opportunity to share my experiences with the next generation of young athletes and support them with their performances on the day”.

In Northumberland teams from the six county areas (Ashington and Coquet; Blyth and Bedlington; Cramlington and Seaton Valley; Morpeth and Ponteland; North Northumberland and Tynedale) had already competed to become their area champion and arrived at Cramlington to compete to become county champions in their chosen sport.

Northumberland County Councillor, Cath Homer, Cabinet member with responsibility for leisure said: “The Northumberland School Games Festival is one of the most anticipated events on the youth sporting calendar.  “The festival proved to be an exciting day of school sport with some very closely contested competitions, which was really enjoyable to watch.  The main ethos of the day was to take part, try your best and have fun, and everyone really entered into this spirit. Thank you to everyone involved – the organisers, participants, teachers, spectators, and volunteers. We are also very grateful to Cramlington Learning Village for allowing us to use their fantastic facilities.”

The festival also saw the launch of the Daily Mile campaign in Northumberland, supported by Northumberland County Council through Northumberland Sport.  The Daily Mile is a national campaign aimed at improving the physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of school children regardless of age, ability or personal circumstances.

Councillor Wayne Daley, cabinet member for children’s services at Northumberland County Council said:   “This has been a fantastic day, and I have been so impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of the young people from schools across Northumberland.

“It was great that we were able to incorporate the Daily Mile into the event for the young people and their teachers.  In Northumberland we are encouraging a flexible, whole school approach so that the responsibility for physical activity doesn’t just lie with the PE department, or limit activity to the sports hall or playing field. We want to encourage children to walk to school and we want to encourage all  teachers to incorporate some form of physical activity into their lessons and their daily classroom routine.

“Raising physical activity and fitness in our young children will undoubtedly help to build stronger and more successful students while instilling in them good  habits that they will take into adult life.”

Lee Sprudd, Director for Northumberland Sport said: “School Games is designed to provide meaningful inclusive opportunities for all school children to take part in competitive sport, so it was great to see so many children, of all ages and abilities taking part in our festival this year and really enjoying themselves.”

The School Games Festival is a celebration of sport which is designed to motivate and inspire young people to take part in competitive sport.  It is a government led programme, funded by The National Lottery and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust.