All change as Shropshire's School Games facing major shake-up

The School Games, which have been running since 2010, see more than 1,000 youngsters compete at Shrewsbury Sports Village each year for summer and winter finals.

Now, organisers are planning to split the secondary school finals into six new mini-festivals, in an attempt to give each part of Shropshire the chance to share in the action.

For the 2016-17 year, there will be two finals hosted in Telford & Wrekin, with the remainder shared between Shrewsbury, Ellesmere, Church Stretton, and Much Wenlock.

The first will be in Shrewsbury on October 20. The festivals will mark the end of months of competition for pupils who compete against other schools in their part of the county to make it through to the Shropshire finals.

Harry Cade, youth sport manager at Energize, said: "We will continue to deliver the highest provision possible across the county, providing the opportunity for more young people to participate and achieve their best.

"And we will do this whilst taking into account the new School Games mission – keeping competitive sport at the heart of schools, and providing more young people with the opportunity to compete and achieve their personal best. The vision is that, by 2020, the School Games will be continuing to make a clear and meaningful difference to the lives of even more children and young people, and promoting the enjoyment of sport and physical activity."

The structure of the primary School Games, however, remains unchanged in the shake-up – area winners will still meet at Shrewsbury Sports Village twice a year to take part in their finals.

Next year these will be on March 7 and July 4.

School Games in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin is delivered at inter-school level by six school games organisers, with the finals managed by Energize, the county sport partnership based at University Centre Shrewsbury in Frankwell Quay.

Mr Cade added: "The six new mini-festivals will be known as 'Shropshire Homes School Games County Finals' and will provide the grand finales to the School Games programme in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin for all secondary schools.

"By bringing these county finals to different corners of the county, we hope that it will not only raise greater awareness of the competition, but encourage more schools and students to get involved too."

For more information visit www.energizestw.org.uk, contact Energize on (01743) 297192 or email harry.cade@energizestw.org.uk