96 Athletes Compete at the Newtownabbey Sports Hall Event
20 March 2019
On Tuesday 5th February, 96 primary school athletes from across 8 different schools competed in the Newtownabbey Sports Hall athletics competition, held at the Ulster University’s Jordanstown Campus.
The competition organised by Athletics NI through the Sport NI Every Body Active 2020 Initiative. The day saw athletes compete in a 60 sprint, 40m hurdles race, standing long jump, speed bounce and sprint relays - including an opportunity for individual schools to go head to head in the mixed agility relay.
Outstanding performances came from Ryan Young (St. Nicholas Primary School) and Olivia Podlaski (Glengormley Integrated Primary School) who were the overall winners on the day across a range of events.
16 athletes will now progress to the Athletics NI Every Body Active Final on 3rd April in Lisburn Leisureplex. The team will be trained and managed by regional coach Dean Adams and will face the best athletes from 7 other regions as they compete for the crowns of best all round boy and girl in this multi event initiative.
Coach Development Lead and Everybody Active Manager Laura Kerr said “Our primary school sports hall initiatives have grown year on year and Athletics NI are delighted to have hosted 1000 children at 7 regional events this year. This would not be possible without the support of our dedicated regional EBA coaches who have co-ordinated each event and will train and manage their teams to the final.”
“This year we look forward to growing the initiative by offering a similar outdoor multi events competition in June 2019. At this stage of the pathway it’s essential to engage children with a range of fun running, jumping and throwing events and we look forward to adding Finn Flyer Javelin, short approach Long Jump and 8x50m relays to the outdoor programme. An opportunity exists for many of these young athletes to continue athletics in the Rising Stars Regional programmes and we look forward to their progression over coming years.”
For further information on athletics development in the Newtownabbey area, please contact Dean Adams (Athletics Development Officer) on 07754839770 or via email dean@athleticsni.org.