Celebrating sport at Para games festival

13 May 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news

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

The event was held at Blyth Sports Centre with more than 200 pupils with special educational needs and disabilities attending.
The young people aged between 8-16 years competed in seven different sports: boccia, archery, seated volleyball, wheelchair basketball, athletics, fencing and rowing.

Triple Paralympic Champion Stephen Miller MBE attended the event where he gave a speech at the opening ceremony, offered encouragement throughout the day and handed out prizes at the end.

Lee Sprudd, Director of Northumberland Sport said:

“ The festival proved to be an exciting day of school sport. The main ethos of the day was to take part, try your best and have fun, and everyone really entered into this spirit.

“ The event was delivered by sports coaches with a vast range of experience in disability sport, in a fun, friendly and supportive environment.

“ Thank you to everyone involved – the organisers, participants, teachers, spectators and volunteers. A great day was had by all.”

The event was a partnership  between Northumberland Sport, Northumberland County Council and Active Northumberland.

Ronnie Scheu, Disability Inclusion Officer at Northumberland County Council said

“ The festival provides an excellent opportunity for people with different disabilities to try a diverse range of sports. It was a fantastic event and we could tell by the smiles and masses of enthusiasm on display that everyone had a great time.  ”

The Northumberland Para School Games Festival is part of the national school games programme 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.