Parish School make it six Sportshall titles in a row

The annual Sportshall Athletics competition for the Gainsborough area has been won by Parish Church Primary School for the sixth year in a row.
The successful Sportshall Athletics squad from Parish Church Primary School.The successful Sportshall Athletics squad from Parish Church Primary School.
The successful Sportshall Athletics squad from Parish Church Primary School.

Parish struck gold at the Gainsborough Academy where they competed against teams from two other schools, Charles Baines Community Primary and Saxilby Primary, to test their running, jumping and throwing skills.

They are now keeping their fingers crossed that they will be invited to the finals of the Lincolnshire County Sportshall Athletics Championships.

Team manager and teacher John Anderson said he was delighted by the performances of all the children involved.

“Every year brings a new set of children to train and we wonder how we will do against other schools,” said Mr Anderson.

“Saxilby’s runners were superb, but we managed to claw the points back in the field events with some very determined performances.

“It is a very different competition, with so many events, and it is the hardest team to pick for in school sport. But everybody at Parish is very proud of our

talented children and we hope we can get to the county finals.”

One of Parish pupil’s, Jamie Bunyan, was elated that his school had won the competition. He said: “I really enjoy Sportshall Athletics. You can’t be good at just one event. You have to be good at a number of different events.

“I really like the longer running races and the standing triple jump. Mr Anderson has been helping us a lot in training, and we are getting better and better!”

Each team comprised nine boys and nine girls, while all the equipment used was specially designed for indoor sports.

The competition was split into two parts, with running races at various distances, including over obstacles and hurdles, and then field events, which included the standing long jump, standing triple jump, ball push, vertical jump, speed bounce and soft javelin.

When all the results were added up, Parish had won by four points, with Saxilby second and Charles Baines third. All three teams were presented with certificates by a representative of the Pembroke School Sports Partnership.