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Kent School Games set for thrilling finale
kentnews.co.uk, 21 June 2010
Thousands of schoolchildren across the county are preparing to play their part as the second Kent School Games reaches its climax.
More than 30,000 children from 545 schools have been involved since the games were launched in October, in what is believed to be the largest school sports event in Europe.
After almost nine months of heats, 6,000 will participate in the finals of the 38 sports involved over the next fortnight, battling to become county champions.
Hildenborough’s Dame Kelly Holmes, who has backed the project from the beginning, will attend the opening ceremony in Maidstone on Wednesday.
The double Olympic champion is thrilled with the event’s success and believes it has improved on the inaugural Kent School Games in 2008.
She said: “It gives the young people a really big platform to experience multi-sport events in front of big crowds. It’s uniting so many people from different schools in Kent, it’s a brilliant event.
“It’s an event where mass participation happens, which is brilliant, but it’s also for those that are skilled and can excel in sport. That’s a great mix, it’s not just elitist and it’s not just about taking part, it is about competition and everyone gets a chance to have a go.”
The Kent School Games’ success has not gone unnoticed. Holmes, along with new sports minister and Faversham and Mid Kent MP Hugh Robertson, has long pushed for the Kent model to be taken on and made into a national event. Plans are now under way looking into creating a ‘Schools Olympics’, possibly to coincide with the London Olympics in 2012.
Holmes said: “It would be great if the Schools Olympics does come off, Kent can be proud to say they were the start of a wider event.”