LOCAL TEAMS TO COMPETE IN SPORTS HALL CHALLENGE
TWO local schools have beaten off the competition to win their place in a national sporting contest.
Teams from Mill O' Forest and Catterline Primary Schools will head to Perth on June 16 to compete for the National Badminton Sports Hall Challenge title.
Over 80 young people from primary schools across the south of Aberdeenshire took part in the regional final on May 6 at Banchory Sports Centre, with the two best teams progressing to the next stages.
The event is part of a national initiative from Badmintonscotland and is being rolled out by Aberdeenshire Council's Badminton Development Officer in collaboration with South Aberdeenshire Active Schools Co-ordinators.
Badminton Development Officer Joan Prieur said: "Aberdeenshire pupils from Aboyne, Banchory, Mearns, Portlethen and Stonehaven have been introduced to the sport of badminton in a fun way taking part in sessions in their local area clusters. Eight teams progressed from the area cluster finals to the regional final, with the winning two teams going forward to represent Aberdeenshire at the National Finals."
The teams consist of Primary 3 – 5 pupils, each comprising five boys and five girls. It is the first time a Catterline team has ever reached this stage of the competition, while Mill o'Forest will be hoping to live up to the high standard set by last year's school team who came third in the 2009 National Finals.
Coaches Susie Kemp and Alison Campbell have been helping the Catterline pupils prepare in the run-up to the competition.
Mrs Kemp said: "We did it last year as well but we didn't get past the initial stages. We're all excited about the nationals and very proud of the pupils. It's just a wee school, so it is great that they've made it so far in the competition."
Mrs Campbell added: "We're just delighted and surprised that we've done so well. I think it is an excellent idea, and since we began the sessions you can see how the children have come along in learning the skills. They thoroughly enjoy it - it is not serious, it is fun-focused but they learn as well. The children are very enthusiastic about it."
June Reynolds and Leslie Bunten have been coaching the Mill o'Forest team.
Mrs Reynolds said: "We had our first outing last year for Sports Halls and we had an awesome team then, so it was a real challenge this year to follow in those footsteps. However, this team is a new team and they have been just as awesome - they've really risen to the challenge, it's fantastic."
She added: "What we did was invite all the P3s, P4s and P5s to do some trials so that we could identify who to pick - we had so many interested children that we had to whittle it down from 80 to the final 10. They knew that they had a big challenge, because they want to retain the trophy from last year. They have worked so hard with enthusiasm, determination and great team work - it has been tremendous so far."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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