2010 Kent School Games Launched!

Double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes was joined by hundreds of children to launch the Kent School Games 2010 at Hayesbrook Sports College, on Thursday 1 October.

The bi-annual school Games, organised by Kent County Council, will provide 30,000 young people between ages 5 to 16, with the opportunity to compete, have lots of fun, meet new people andtryavariety of sports!

The 2010 Games promises to be the biggest ever, with 38 different sports available to students, including disability sports.

The Kent School Games, which is supported by P&O Ferries, is already underway with local heats beginning in October 2009 before the grand finals are held July 2010. The games will also run alongside National School Sports Week.

Children at each of the three schools visited on the launch were thrilled to hear from Patron of the Kent Campaign for the 2012 Games, Dame Kelly Holmes. She said: “Children can represent their school, represent their area and it is going to be fantastic, especially when we get to the finals. I was there last year and it was great to see the enthusiasm and hear about all the heats and semi-finals.”

Dame Kelly also added that young people have to go through a lot of hard work before reaching finals and is encouraging as many youngsters as possible to take part. She said: “No-one gets to a final without going through rounds and that was the same for me when I was an athlete. But we don’t have finalists without having participants and that is what these Games are about. I want everyone to be enthusiastic about it and give it a go.”

Kent County Council's head of sport, leisure and Olympics Chris Hespe said the 2010 Games were going to be even bigger than in 2008.He said: “The inaugural Kent Schools Games involved 30,000 young people and 500 schools. It was the biggest schools games in the UK and probably Europe. The 2010 Games is going to be even bigger. It is going to have more children involved in the final, we are going to use more venues and have more sports. There are going to be 38 sporting activities, so there will be something for everybody.”

The Games are being led jointly by KCC Communities Directorate and Children, Families and Education Directorate. They are being developed through a partnership involving School Sport Partnerships, Specialist Sports Colleges and governing bodies of sport; all managed by KCC Sport, Leisure and Olympics Service and Advisory Service Kent.

You can follow all the latest news in the lead up to the finals by visiting Kent Messenger Online.

For more information about Kent 2012’s work in the Schools and Young People sector, follow this link.