Record 240 matches played by the incredible 88 Year 3 & 4 players at Cumbria Sainsbury’s School Games event July 4th!
With an increase to 10 small and 12 large school entries the Cumbria Sainsbury's School Games event held at Bitts Park was an absolute classic! The rain was irrelevant because all 88 young players wore smiles across their faces the whole time they were on and off the court.
David Wise was the referee and did an outstanding job once again, with meticulous planning and preparation to ensure the event was a smashing success! With so many schools it was key that David had fellow assistants and volunteers to umpire the matches. Luke who was on the scoring desk did a fabulous job considering he had a total of 12 schools to manage (Jo did the other 10 schools). The young Allerdale volunteer highlighted his skills, experience and focus throughout the day. These attributes that Luke displayed are going to give him a great start in the workplace once he chooses which pathway he is going to take!
So with scorecards coming in at a rate of Formula 1 race cars both Luke and Jo saw a massive 240 matches be inputted. What struck both of them was how smiley all the players were, even when the result hadn't gone their way!
All of the above really highlights the power of sport. Whatever role you take part in from player, referee, organiser, volunteer, spectator or many other things you can reap tremendous rewards.
Following the earlier group stages the schools then played in their respective play off. The results are below,
Small Schools
1st - Greystoke
2nd - Fellview
3rd - Crosby
4th - Rosley
5th - Holme St Cuthberts
6th - Plumpton
7th - Ireleth St Peters
8th - Broughton
9th - Penny Bridge
10th - Gosforth
Large Schools
1st - Maryport
2nd - Seascale
3rd - Pennington
4th - King Moor
5th - Stainton
6th - St James
7th - Yarlside
8th - Hunter Hall
9th - Silloth
10th - Belle View
11th - Windermere B
12th Windermere A
Special mention to Beth from Carlisle City Leisure who was a great help at the event. Beth manages the Kiosk at the Park, which is next door to the tennis courts. Further thanks to Active Cumbria for running the whole event, local School Games Organisers for their work locally at their schools, Carlisle City Council along with sponsors and other supporters. This truly captures the true meaning of teamwork!
There are 46 county festivals taking place across the country over the summer and more than 25,000 primary school pupils are taking part in the schools tennis competitions.
Paul Williams, Schools Tennis Manager at the Tennis Foundation added: “School Games Festivals provide a great opportunity for school pupils to pick up a racket, many for the first time, and supports British tennis’ mission of getting more people playing tennis, more often.
“With more than 16,300 schools supported through the Aegon Schools Tennis programme with free teacher training, resources and equipment and 50,000 primary and secondary school pupils playing in schools tennis competitions every year there’s never been a better time to get involved.”
The School Games was created to encourage young people to play more competitive sport in school as part of plans to leave a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.
Young people taking part in the School Games will have the chance to compete in a range of Olympic and Paralympic sports with competitions progressing from school up to national levels.
For more information on the Tennis Foundation’s support for primary, special and secondary schools please visit www.schoolstennis.org