'Spirit of true sportsmanship' as 300 pupils compete in County Durham sports day
Pupils from schools that make up the Advance Learning Partnership (ALP) gathered at Shildon Running and Athletics Club to face off in a series of track and field events.
Guy Gray, Head of PE at Parkside Academy, in Willington, spearheaded organisation of the day. He said: 'Events like this are so important because they give young people a chance to compete, to try their hands at different events, and to represent their school with pride.
'For many of the pupils, this will be their first time taking part in any competition outside their own school. Just getting the opportunity to compete against others can have a profound impact on wellbeing and self-confidence.
'I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has taken part – they've taken it seriously and conducted themselves as true ambassadors for their schools and their sports.'
The event was sponsored by the education trust's community outreach arm, ALP Active, whose staff also acted as timekeepers and event marshals.
Stephen Cheeseman, ALP Active's Head of Community Partnerships, said: 'It's been great to see all the pupils competing and really giving it everything they've got in the spirit of true sportsmanship.
'ALP Active's focus is to provide opportunities for people to improve their health and wellbeing – both within and outside of our primary and secondary schools – so supporting an event like this falls nicely into our remit.'
Most read
300-year-old North East pub sold after its owners decide to retire
The historic County Durham village with "timeless charm" and community spirit
County Durham takeaway accused of employing illegal workers faces review
More than 300 pupils from across the ALP Secondary schools in the trust competed in flat races, relays, javelin, discus, long jump, and more.
James Keating, executive headteacher of Greenfield Academy, in Newton Aycliffe, said: 'It's a pleasure to see so many schools and so many children come together to enjoy sport and to compete in a wonderful event.
'I want to say huge thanks to ALP Active and everybody involved for organising the day, and to Shildon Running and Athletics Club for hosting us. It's been brilliant.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Luke Littler requires stirring comeback to beat Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Littler dug himself out of a massive hole to stay alive in the World Matchplay with a tense 13-11 win over Jermaine Wattimena. Littler fell 4-0 and 7-2 behind but charged back into an 8-7 lead, the match then going to a tiebreaker before the teenager made it into the quarter-finals. Littler looked in ominous form with his crushing 10-2 win over Ryan Searle on Sunday but the tables were turned early on here. Wattimena meant business and stormed into a 4-0 lead that left heads spinning in the Winter Gardens. Littler took the next two but it was only a temporary reprieve as Wattimena rediscovered his rhythm, making it 7-2 with back-to-back 180s part of an 11-darter. When Littler pulled back the next leg he gestured to the crowd, pointing to the world champion's star on his shirt as he indicated he was not ready to go home yet. And he then set about showing it as he won six legs on the spin, the pressure clearly getting to Wattimena as his earlier poise vanished. The Dutchman recovered to level at 8-8, then punished a Littler miss for 9-9 as the contest went the distance. As it went to extra legs both players were missing their throws before Littler got the D10 he needed to end the fight. 'When I pointed to the star on my shirt, I'm a world champion for a reason, I find these gears when I need it,' Littler said on Sky Sports. 'I've not felt pressure like that since the first round of the world championship. I was a bit nervous and it's on to my third game here, I've won two of them. 'I want to get back on stage and right now I can't wait to be in the quarter-final.' Earlier Gerwyn Price stormed through with an 11-3 rout of Chris Dobey. Price left Dobey with little chance, averaging 108.73 and hitting eight 180s in a performance highlighted by a 146 finish that put him 3-0 up. 'It was fantastic,' the Welshman said. 'The middle part of the game I felt like I couldn't miss. I put Chris under a lot of pressure. I think he still played decent in patches. 'I think early on we were both flying and I was just pipping him on a couple of legs, probably disheartened him a little bit. It's a good game for me.' Former UK champion Andrew Gilding made it through to the last eight with an 11-5 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Two-Minute Drill for July 24: Dolphins, Jaguars, Buccaneers report for training camp
Teams have reported for NFL training camp, with preseason games for Florida's teams starting Aug. 9. Also, high school football practices begin Monday.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Darren Till, Luke Rockhold erupt over PEDs, 'weird' negotiations, more in fiery Misfits Boxing face-to-face
Tensions are already rising between former UFC middleweights Darren Till and Luke Rockhold. Timing never aligned for Till and Rockhold to collide while still under the UFC banner. Instead, they're now set to compete in a six-round, 193-pound boxing match at Misfits Boxing 22 on Aug. 30 in Manchester, England. Till and the former UFC middleweight champion met face-to-face for the first time on Wednesday at a pre-fight press conference in London. Afterward, their verbal jabs continued to fly on a heated virtual faceoff on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show," which led to Till accusing Rockhold of taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Till: "I'm gonna f***ing beat you up just for being a little juice head c***." Rockhold: "You're not 'Tilly,' you're 'T****es' now. You're f***ing 'T****es.'" Till: "I'm just like 'DC' (Daniel Cormier). 'DC' was a big fat jack of potato, but he could still fight like f***. I'm the white 'DC.'" Rockhold: "Ask 'DC' how our boxing matches went. I made t****es fly. ... You better get in shape and shut up." Till first lobbed the PED accusations at Rockhold during Wednesday's pre-fight press conference, while Rockhold countered with similar accusations of his own toward Till. Throughout their professional combat sports careers, neither man has tested positive for any banned substances. "You can get the VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) involved," Rockhold said to Till. "I had local guys telling me everybody from your team has popped. And it's always the person accusing people the most who are on s***." From a purely fighting perspective, both have been known for their strong striking abilities, albeit in different respects. Rockhold will be Till's third pro boxing match (fourth overall), while Rockhold's lone boxing appearance was in a ill-fated bare-knuckle match with Mike Perry in April 2023. Although Till and Rockhold have both been knocked out in their MMA careers, they've each managed to avoid that fate in competition since leaving the UFC. Despite Till having the advantage in recent boxing experience, Rockhold remains confident that his chin will hold up better in their matchup. Till, of course, disagreed. "I can take every shot," Till stated. "Look at the shots I took from all the guys I fought at middleweight. No one knocked me out. Nobody knocked me out at middleweight, and I fought all the best guys. [Robert] Whittaker, Dricus [du Plessis], all them guys, [Kelvin] Gastelum. I laughed at everyone and I've got a f***ing chin. You got battered by Mike Perry, and let me just tell ya, I'm not even looking for the Mike Perry fight now. He's that much of a bum. He's the biggest bum out there. He's a bum." Historically, Rockhold has been the physically bigger fighter, competing as high as 205 pounds in the UFC light heavyweight division, while Till started out as a 170-pound welterweight. They'll meet in somewhat of a middle ground at 193 pounds for Misfits Boxing 22. Rockhold last competed at 195 pounds for his Karate Combat victory over Joe Schilling last year. That being said, Rockhold claims it wasn't easy landing on the match's weight. "This kid's been b****ing about everything," Rockhold said. "He wanted it 185. His last fight was 198, I believe. Then he said he wouldn't go above 188, which is just f***ing weird and dumb. It just shows weakness. Then, somehow, we b**** about that for a couple weeks and settle on 193. I don't know what these f***ing weights are he keeps coming up with. But let's pick a real weight. Have a pair of balls and let's just do this right. What are we b****ing about? We're all in the same thing. His last fights were much above weight, and he's just obviously scared and trying to take weight away to make things harder [for me]. Make himself up, try to say I'm slower, try to say I'm chinny. "I guarantee you I'm faster than you. I hit harder than you, I move better than you and I've got a bigger set of balls." Before Rockhold signed to make his Misfits Boxing debut, his first bout of 2025 appeared to be an MMA return for a would-be rematch against old rival Chris Weidman. That fight was set to be within the upstart Global Fight League (GFL), which never got off the ground due to ambitious financial promises. In hindsight, Rockhold admits he never knew whether he'd actually get a chance to fight for the promotion, but was happy to accept the money GFL offered him. He also isn't closing the door on the sport he made his name in, he just wants to focus on the sweet science for the time being. "I was there for the GFL to get paid," Rockhold said. "Everybody else thought it was going to happen. I was getting paychecks, I made money. I was getting paid, dog. They were dishing out seven-figure paychecks on the schedule that were made for non-UFC champions. You gotta think like, that's not going to be feasible. How are you going to keep that business up and running when those guys are getting paid that much? There's not enough revenue to counteract that. So, I was taking the paychecks and moving on. "Boxing is what I want to do, and I never close the door on MMA, but it's nice to take a break and I want to box for a little bit."
