Cover your eardrums !!!  It’s a louder than ever report for a louder than ever Sportshall Event.

20 something Leighton Buzzard Under 11 and Under 13 Athletes turned out at Biggleswade on Sunday with the mission of relieving Bedford of the Sportshall Challenge Trophy and bringing it back to Leighton Buzzard for the first time in 15 years (ever):

Mission Accomplished!

What a team!

We got off to an excellent start with a win in the obstacle relay by our Under 13 girls Tianne Gaye-Clark, Dana Carter, McKenna Keefe and Amy Killick and followed that with another Under 11 win from Georgia Lorraine, Niquole Carter, Sophie Hawes and Inkie Parkinson. Confidence grew as our Under 11 Boys went on to win several relay events with a dynamite debut performance from Evan Hirst-Mitchell. Scott Towell and Ewan Bell ensured a win for our Boys in the Under 13 and Under 11 Age Group respectively in Javelin; Daniel Boulder and Joshua-Walker Croft had no idea that their Tuesday night standing long jump practice would lead to a team trophy but it did.

The most gruelling race had to be the 4 lap individual and Under 11 Thomas Hirst-Mitchell demonstrated the art of running extremely fast towards a wall and repeatedly minimising time lost on the turn by perfect use of the turning board on his left foot. Daniel Boulder in the Under 13’s did the same I believe, and maintained speed well in the hall over a distance that would have been at least one lap of a 400 metre track.

The 6 lap paarlauf is a ‘special’ race where the children themselves decide who runs what. Provided they both run at least one lap they can choose how they like to play it. This gives them a chance to work out for themselves what’s faster: fresh legs or a slick baton change. We like to keep coach involvement to a minimum in this one and let them do the thinking … Ollie Miller showed the makings of an 800 metre athlete here!

Millie Hawes stepped up an age group to complete our Under 13 Girls quota and together with Amy showed what team work was all about in the 2 x 2 lap relay. Tianne ran like the wind in her individual 2 lap to convincingly beat both Biggleswade and Bedford.

Annie Rose and Dana put in a strong performance in Shot and Niquole, Tianne, Ollie and Evan gave us valuable points in High Jump. Katie Killick stepped up to the start mat for a non-scoring 4-lap race and showed us what next year’s Under 11’s have coming … she also ran well in the 2 x 2 lap relay. And Sadie Towell and Max Rose speed bounced the Under 13’s into a leading position going into the final Grand Prix.

The Grand Prix is an obstacle race around the hall with 2 to 3 teams usually competing at once. It’s very competitive, a contact sport (the young leaders are leap-frogged) and extremely noisy. The children love it and so do the parents (as it usually means it’s almost all over and they can go home and take their ear plugs out very soon). There were two particularly breath-taking over-taking moments from Ollie and Tianne that erupted round the hall and the relative silence that ensued for the announcement of the results was a welcome one; that subsequently exploded in a bunch of flying screaming purple shirts when in reverse order the 2^nd team were announced. I don’t think anyone actually heard David announce who the winners actually were.

Overall the children competed in Standing Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Shot, Javelin and Target Throw and Speed Bounce on the field and a variety of track events designed for both speed and stamina. A fun day was had by all. Well done all. Role on the Regionals March 22^nd.