Pupils from across Norfolk will be competing from 27th February – 6th March at the Norfolk Winter School Games event.
2,500 young people will compete in 16 sports including skiing, table tennis, basketball, tag rugby and sportshall athletics in a range of venues across the County.
The Norfolk School Games is the largest school sport event to ever be held in Norfolk and it enters its fourth year with the largest calendar of competition to date. Throughout the year 18,000 young people from primary and secondary schools will take part in School Games activities.
Chrissie Wellington, British Triathlete and four-time World Ironman Champion, will be at the flagship ceremony on Fri 6th March to kick off the final day of the competition with her inspiring story to motivate the young competitors. Norfolk’s Commonwealth Games star Sophie McKinna will also be on hand to view all the activities and cheer students on.
Much of the competition events will be held at UEA Sportspark in Norwich. Gresham’s School in Holt will host the Cross Country course, there will be individual and team slalom skiing races at Norfolk Snowsports Club, and the Tag Rugby tournament will be held at Diss Rugby Club.
The inclusive section of the School Games increases in popularity year on year. This year the Special School Games will help to launch the Winter event on Fri 27th February and participants from across Norfolk will take part in rowing, new age kurling, badminton and golf. The festival day will be the following Tuesday 3rd March and is an opportunity for children with a Special Education Need or Disability (SEND) from mainstream schools to try a variety of sports including tennis, cricket and boccia. This year for the very first time there will also be two SEND sports competitions – sportshall athletics and table tennis. All of this will ensure the most inclusive School Games so far.
The Games are part of the national Sainsbury’s School Games initiative which aims to offer competitive sporting opportunities to all young people, at their level. They not only inspire the next generation of elite athletes, but also encourage all young people to take up sport as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Ben Jones, Director of Active Norfolk said, “The Norfolk Winter School Games is a celebration of 6 months of fantastic competitive sporting opportunities. The inspiration that such a spectacular event can create for a young person cannot be underestimated; positive and high quality early experiences of sport and physical activity are a great platform for lifelong participation and a healthy and active lifestyle.”
The Norfolk School Games is delivered by Active Norfolk and the county’s eight Norfolk School Sport Partnerships (SSPs), and is sponsored locally by Sportspark.
Results and photos from each event will be posted on the Norfolk School Games website at the end of each day. You can also follow all of the action live on Twitter by following @NorfolkSchGames or on Facebook by searching for “Norfolk School Games”.