Success at Arches Partnership Games!

This week saw another successful Arches Partnership Games as the sun blazed down on the park at Concord Sports Centre for around 700 Year 6 children from schools across Sheffield.

The annual event took place on Thursday 23 June and was run by The Arches School Sport Partnership alongside us for Year 6 pupils from 23 schools across Sheffield. It is the first games since 2019 as it had to be cancelled for the last two years due to the pandemic.

The games is the biggest school sports event in Sheffield bringing children together to have a fun filled day of sports and enabling them to experience sports they haven’t played before and take part in competitions. This year’s event took place on National School Sport Week and the theme was The Commonwealth Games and featured 13 different sports for the children to try out and compete in.

Adam Fuller, Sports Development Manager and School Games Organiser for the Arches School Sport Partnership said: “Children have been negatively impacted by the past couple of years and these events give young people the chance to not only move more once again but to develop key physical and social skills.

“It has been amazing to see so many different activities on offer for the pupils and to see lots of smiles on faces as we showcase how children can be active in lots of different ways. We want schools across the city to prioritise the benefits of being active for their pupils which will result in healthy, happy learners.”

A host of sporting organisations turned out on the day with their activities including The Sheffield Eagles, Yorkshire Cricket, British Cycling and Sheffield Hockey Club giving the pupils a chance to try out these sports plus a few unusual ones like speed stacking, weighlifting and spike ball!

David Bly, our Sports Programme and Engagement Manager said: “It’s great to have the games back again and its been another fantastic day here at Concord Sports Centre with so many activities happening.

“There really is something for everyone and we hope to get as many children as possible to continue the activities they’ve tried today so we will be making sure they are aware of all the clubs and activities available out there in the community.”

The Sheffield Eagles were in attendance and had over 180 children playing tag rugby throughout the day. Andrea Dobson, Rugby Development Officer at The Sheffield Eagles who was running the tag rugby sessions said: "It was great to see so many children giving rugby league a go and hopefully some are inspired to try it at their local club and come and watch the Sheffield Eagles at the Olympic Legacy Park.”

The Arches School Sport Partnership would like to thank staff, partners, schools and pupils for all their hard work and are already looking forward to next year’s event!