Over 1,000 Children Attend Sports Hall Athletics Week

The Sports Hall events have been taking place in 7 regions across Northern Ireland, including Newry, Downpatrick, Belfast, Antrim and Newtownabbey, as well as the council areas of Lisburn & Castlereagh and Ards & North Down attracting over 1,000 primary school children from 95 schools.

The team have been delighted to be able to facilitate the Lisburn & Castlereagh and the North Down & Ards Council areas to deliver events as part of the ongoing relationship with the councils and to sustain the legacy of the Active Communities project.

The activities provided have included speed bounce, standing long jump, 60m sprints, mixed agility relays and endurance events, which have all been led by the five Athletics NI Everybody Active Coaches and supported by members of the Development Team, Allister Woods (Running Participation Officer) and Dean Adams (University Athletics Development Officer).

The competition structure will see the 200 highest performers competing at the final on 3^rd April 2019 at Lagan Valley Leisureplex.

We hope to continue to expand at this stage of the development pathway, which helps to develop another generation of athletes, by sign posting children towards other Athletics NI Initiatives, such as the Rising Stars programme; EBA Event Group Squads; upcoming Summer and Easter training camps as well as the popular Firmus & North Down Track & Field Leagues.

We would like to thank everyone who attended, or will attend, the Sports Hall competitions this week, with a special mention to the students from the various organisations who have been helping out, including the South-Eastern Regional College; Northern Regional College; Southern Regional College and Belfast Metropolitan College. The students are currently studying towards their BTEC in Events Management and have been developing their skills in an athletics environment through these competitions.