Youngsters to get taste of Olympics

Olympic fever hits Staffordshire next week with two major county-wide sporting events.

Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (SASSOT) has two events planned for Wednesday and Saturday of next week.

A special Schools Sports Festival will be held at the Shobnall Leisure Complex in Burton upon Trent on July 2 followed by a Youth Games at Fenton Manor Sports Complex, Stoke, on the following Saturday.

Two Staffordshire sporting champions will be attending the events offering their support and giving demonstrations of their sports.

Former Great Britain Paralympian Marcus Asbury will provide a hand cycling demonstration at the Special Schools Festival while Great Britain basketball star Jo Sarjant, originally from Stoke-on-Trent, will be supporting the Youth Games. SASSOT's sports manager Jane Kracke said nearly 1,000 athletes would be taking part in the two events and he was delighted with the response.

"We'll have over 260 athletes participating at Shobnall representing 14 of the county's special schools and the Youth Games will have over 700 young athletes from across the county," he said.

"Both events will be a fantastic showcase for the county's young sporting talent."

The Special Schools Sports Festival, which is being sponsored by Staffordshire telecommunications company Qualitel, will feature athletics, cricket, football, zone hockey, tag rugby and canoeing as a "come and try" event. The Youth Games will have competitive elements of girls' cricket, girls' football, tag rugby, table tennis, tennis and triathlon. There will be a demonstration of badminton and taster sessions for those who want to try their hand at basketball, canoeing and squash.

The Youth Games start with an opening ceremony at 9.45am and the sporting events at both games start at 10.30am.

The Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Derek Capey, will be cheering on the athletes at Fenton, whilst the Mayor of East Staffordshire, Councillor Liz Staples, will be supporting the athletes at Shobnall in what will be two great days of sporting activity. The two meetings are among of a number of Olympic style events taking place across the county over the coming weeks. King Edward VI, on West Way, Stafford, is hosting its feeder schools for a sporting day at Rowley Park while students back in the classroom will be taking part in a variety of themed lessons.

The 'games' are set for Wednesday July 2, to coincide with national school sport week and Year 4 pupils from the seven feeder schools, Castlechurch, Church Eaton, Doxey, Haughton St. Giles, St. Lawrence, St Paul's & Woodseaves, have been invited to take part.

For further information on either of the events please contact Naomi Bird at SASSOT on 01785 619585 or via e-mail at nbird@staffordbc.gov.uk