Winter School Games
Tamesin Quinn
/ Categories: News
On Tuesday 24th March, ten young leaders from Salford City Academy acted as the officials at the Greater Manchester Winter School Games Swimming Gala.
The competition, held at Manchester Aquatics Centre, was the culmination of the Level 2 inter-school swimming competitions across Greater Manchester and saw all 10 boroughs competing.
The event was part of the Greater Manchester School Games which saw 13 different sporting events happening across Manchester, including swimming and athletics.
The day began with the Games’ Opening Ceremony at SportCity’s Athletics Arena. The ceremony was hosted by Key103, and the 2000 spectators enjoyed performances from X Factor’s Jack Walton, with Olympic 400m runner Kelly Massey opening the Games.
Mersedeh said: “It was absolutely great. I really enjoyed the Opening Ceremony and seeing young people perform in front of a big crowd.”
Alex Clarke, Year 9, had the opportunity to meet Kelly and take a baton for Salford as part of the Greater Manchester School Games baton relay.
Following the Opening Ceremony, the leaders were taken to the Aquatics Centre for the start of the swimming competition. Our young officials then spent the day accurately timing races for mainstream and disabled athletes from both primary and secondary schools. Each student received a certificate of thanks from the organisers for their hard work.
Miss Vickers, the Academy’s School Games Organiser, said:
“The students were an absolute credit to the Academy throughout the day, showing excellent sports leadership skills. The staff at the event were extremely grateful for their help and very impressed by how professional they were.”
The students were: Mo Abu Dakka, Yvan Gisingizo, Emily Richards, Mersedeh Bashiri (all Year 10) and Charlie Rushworth, Caitlin Thompson, Connie Boardman, Alethea Biesty, Ben Robinson, Alex Clarke (all Year 9).
Mo added: “I enjoyed the trip, and it was nice to get a sense that we were helping other people.”