Commonwealth gold medallist and Olympic ambassador, Julian Golding, will be presenting awards to Islington’s budding young athletes this month at the third annual ‘Aquaterra Sportshall Championships’. The event, organised by the School Sport Co-ordinator programme (SSCO) at CEA@Islington, will take place at the Sobell Leisure Centre on Wednesday 2 March 2005.Over 260 pupils from 27 Islington primary schools will battle it out in various Sportshall athletics events to win the coveted trophy currently held by St Jude’s and St Paul’s School. Not only will the winning team be honoured in Islington, they will also represent the borough at the ‘Mini Games’ in June at Crystal Palace.Sportshall athletics is one of the fastest growing sporting programmes in the world. It is a fast and exciting version of the outdoor track and field, involving running, jumping and throwing events. Training for the event has been made easier through a £3,600 grant from ‘Award for All’, which bought specialist equipment in preparation for the championships, including hurdles, foam javelins, reversaboards and standing long-jumps and high-jumps. All new schools taking part this year have also had specialist coaching sessions with Pat Beazley, one of the School Sport Co-ordinators.Sarah Fretwell, SSCO Partnership Development Manager, CEA@Islington said: ‘It will be so exciting for the children to have an Olympic athlete watching their events and presenting their awards. The Sportshall coaching sessions have been really energetic and challenging for the children. Sportshall is an excellent foundation for all sports and is geared for anyone to join in, making this event inclusive and diverse at the same time. The championships promises to be a highly competitive and fun-packed day.’Councillor James Kempton, executive member for children said: ‘We have some great budding athletes competing this year and we hope that some of them will be representing the nation at the games in 2012’.endsPhoto opportunityDate: Wednesday 2 March 2005Venue: Sobell Leisure Centre, Hornsey Road, Islington N7 7NYTime: 10.00 am – 3.00 pmPhoto opportunity: the awards will be presented by Julian Golding between 2.00-3.30pm.For further information or to arrange photography, please contact:Caroline RoweCommunications OfficerCEA@Islingtont: 020 7527 5545e: caroline.rowe.cea@islington.gov.uk
Page Last Updated: 29 July 2008