Black Country School Partnership Games return after eighteen months of virtual activity.
The Black Country School Games are back with a live partnership games festival event following eighteen months of virtual School Games activity. Around 450 pupils from 35 schools across the Black Country will come together on 21st October at the University of Wolverhampton, Walsall campus, to showcase the energy and passion young people have for being active, participating in new sports, and counting down to Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Working with the eleven School Games Organisers, the primary, secondary and special school pupils will participate in a range of sports and activities, including – new for 2021 – four Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games sports: Volleyball; Basketball; Boxing and Judo. On the day, pupils will be cheered on by Birmingham 2022’s official mascot, Perry.
In addition to the Birmingham 2022 sports, eleven mini activities will be on offer as part of the Change 4 Life Zone (delivered by local community organisations) including everything from parkour to circus activities to cricket and yoga. Pupils will be supported on the day by the School Games Organisers, their teachers and pupils from across the Black Country as well as students from the University of Wolverhampton.
Luke Philpotts, Black Country Schools Games Organiser, said: “We are delighted to be back to live events and we can’t wait to see everyone come together for our first Black Country School Games of the academic year. Over the last eighteen months we’ve been in awe of schools and pupils across the Black Country as they’ve maintained their levels of activity and continued to participate virtually but it will be wonderful to bring everyone together and to be able to offer pupils a range of new sports that they’ve perhaps not been able to try out before.”
Amanda Tomlinson, Chair of the Active Black Country Board, said: “Over the last eighteen months we’ve been inspired by pupils across the Black Country who, despite the challenging circumstances, have kept active and have continued to engage with the School Games Organisers through the virtual competitions.
“We can’t wait however, to see the schools come back together in the real-world, the Black Country Schools Games is a real opportunity to showcase the energy of young people and their commitment and enthusiasm for all sports and keeping active, especially with the Commonwealth Games just on the horizon.”
The all-day event in Walsall will kick-start the Schools Games Programme for 2021/22, seeing the schools compete in person for the first time in eighteen months. More information about the Black Country School Partnership Games can be found here.