On Tuesday 3 March 2009 seven Special Schools from the South East took part in the TWSSP Special Schools Sportshall Athletics Competition organised by the Tunbridge Wells School Sports Partnership. Students from Bradfields, Sunnydown, Broomhill Bank, Orchard, Ifield, Bower Grove and Oakley competed both individually and as a team in five events at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre. The four categories that the students competed in were Under 14 Girls, Under 14 Boys, Under 16 Boys and Under 16 Girls.

This was the fourth year that the competition had been run and with over 90 competitors taking part, the event was the biggest the partnership had seen. There were some outstanding performances during the day and all teams showed great sportsmanship throughout. Students competed to a very high standard and TWSSP staff were extremely impressed with their effort and ability.

Students started the day with a surprise – Tyrone Swaray, a GB International 100m sprinter came to the festival and gave a hugely inspirational speech. Participants appeared to use this as motivation during the events that followed, pushing themselves to reach their full potential and perform at the very highest standard possible. Tyrone stayed for the whole event, interacting with the students and even taking part in the events and show case pieces.

At the end of the festival, Tyrone awarded medals and trophies to the winners from each school.

First Place Second Place Third Place     U14 Boys Speed Bounce E Jackson J Campbell T Edwards     U14 Boys Vertical Jump I Singh E Speed D Walker     U14 Boys Long Jump E Speed E Jackson I Singh     U14 Boys Shot Putt E Speed I Singh G Hill     U14 Girls Speed Bounce C Towner S Taylor C Cox     U14 Girls Vertical Jump C Towner S Taylor R Ballard     U14 Girls Long Jump C Towner C Taylor S Pierce     U14 Girls Shot Putt C Towner R Pryor K Turner     U16 Boys Speed Bounce J Arnold M Francis J Berryman     U16 Boys Vertical Jump T Colgan A Hill M Francis     U16 Boys Long Jump J Arnold T Colgan K Williams     U16 Boys Shot Putt C Ashman A Hill S Lashley     U16 Girls Speed Bounce R Linsdell N Chantler S Pace     U16 Girls Vertical Jump S Wilson G Knowles S Thomas     U16 Girls Long Jump R Linsdell N Chantler S Thomas     U16E Girls Shot Putt S Wilson N Chantler G Knowles

Team Results

Under 14 Boys Winners: Sunnydown Team 1

Under 14 Girls Winners: Broomhill Bank

Under 16 Boys Winners: Sunnydown Team 1

Under 16 Girls Winners: Broomhill Bank

A huge thank you to the following:

• Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre for allowing us to use their facility
• Miriam Dorrity from Broomhill Bank for her help in organising the event
• Tyrone Swaray, Sporting Champions representative
• Mike Bishop, Kent Sports Development Manager for Disabled People
• TWSSP for organising and running the festival