Fantastic matchplay at the Tees Valley Sainsbury's School Games Final 2013!
It certainly was a rally feast at Laurence Jackson School, Guisborough where 56 young players enjoyed the competitive challenge, which helped the players continue their school tennis into Year 4!
The event was opened with music, dancing and inspiring introductions by Craig Heap (former British Olympic Gymnast) and Ruff Diamond (Street Hip Hop Group). Following this the tennis got underway with 7 schools from across Tees Valley battling it out for the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
What was really inspiring was the way the matches unfolded with lengthy rallies and touch shots displayed by the players. The volunteers who were from the local School Sports Partnerships along with Tees Valley Sport were brilliant because the schedule meant they had 21 matches per court, which meant an incredible 168 matches were played over the 4 hour event.
Following the titantic event the final standings were the closest that organisers Diane Harker, Anne Clayton and Jo Cunliffe have witnessed for a very long time! After a nailbiting triple check of the scores Diane announced the final positions as highlighted below,
1st - Yarm
2nd - Ingleby Mill
3rd - Galley Hill
4th - West Park
5th - Lingfield
6th - St Benedict's
7th - Cockerton
Tees Valley was one of 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.
Tennis Development Manager Jo Cunliffe said,
'I was particularly impressed by the rallies and pure enjoyment. It's great to have continuation following the annual Tony Blair Sports Foundation Year 3 Competition and we hope that the event has inspired even more young players to continue tennis in local programmes across Tees Valley."
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