Youngsters delight in South Cambs Mini Olympics

There was plenty of sporting talent and Olympic spirit displayed as youngsters demonstrated their athletic prowess at the Cambridge University sports ground on Wilberforce Road, Cambridge.
More than 1,300 children aged seven to eight years old were taking part in the South Cambs School Sports Partnership’s Year 4 Mini Olympics, an event that featured 43 primary schools from across the area.

During the day the athletes had the chance to try out a range of different sports, all with an Olympic and Paralympic theme. Among the fourteen different activities on offer were shot putt, long jump, hurdles, hockey, tennis, tri-golf and boccia.

In keeping with the Olympic theme, there were colourful opening and closing ceremonies, complete with flags, mascots and banners made by the children. These all tied in with the theme of this year’s event which was the Rugby World Cup 2015 with schools asked to represent one of the twenty nations competing in the event being hosted in England later this year. During the day children also learnt a ‘Haka’ themed dance routine at one of the activity stations, this was then performed on mass by all 1350 children during the closing ceremony.

The event was supported by Total Promotions Ltd who provided all of the children with brightly coloured t-shirts in the colours of the Olympic rings.

Partnership manager Claire McDonnell was delighted with how successful the Mini Olympics had been.

She said: “Yet again, it was a fantastic day. The children really enjoyed themselves and loved having a go at all the different sports on offer. There were no prizes for winners on the day but it was all about the children having a go and giving it their personal best and we hope we have inspired some of them to give sport a go and get more involved.

We couldn’t do it without the support of the local secondary schools so I must thank the staff and leaders from Impington, Cottenham, Swavesey, Comberton, Melbourn and Linton Village Colleges as well as Cambridge Regional College. They did an amazing job on the day organising all of the activities and leading the children; offering them encouragement and support as they gave it their best.”