St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, recently hosted the first International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Kids Athletics competition
at its Strawberry Hill campus.
The competition was organised by SIMMSAthletics, St Mary’s community athletics programme, in collaboration with Spelthorne Junior Athletics Club and saw more than 100 athletes under the age of 11 compete in eight different events throughout the day. This included throws, long jump, hurdles, relay and sprint races.
Since the London 2012 Olympic Games, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of children participating in the SIMMSAthleics scheme and this competition was organised as part of a series of events running throughout the year such as the UKA 365 programme, Quad Kids and the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA’s) Indoor Athletics competition.
St Mary’s Sports Development Officer Matt Shurlock commented, “The combination of world class facilities, enthusiastic athletes and knowledgeable coaches, makes hosting athletics at St Mary’s a joy. With London 2012 making people more aware of track and field events, we have seen a huge increase in young athletes attending our sessions.
“It is great to be able to work with young people in the early stages of their training, and encourage them to be inspired by the international standard athletes who train and coach at St Mary’s. If people are looking to participate in sport as part of the Olympic legacy, St Mary’s is the place to look.”
Phil Amos from Spelthorne Junior Athletics Club (SJAC) said, “Thanks to Matt Shurlock and his team of coaches for inviting us to their superb venue, the indoor sports centre at St Mary's was a perfect venue for our competition. The 1st IAAF Kids Athletics competition to be held in England was a great success with many positive comments from the children and parents who attended.
"The coaches at SIMMSAthletics and SJAC created an encouraging and fun environment in which the competing children seemed to flourish, producing many good performances in the throwing, jumping and running events. The team-based format of the competition seemed to generate great enthusiasm with the children working and competing with each other to get the best team score possible. Great sportsmanship was shown throughout the competition which was a credit to all the children and organisers involved."
Due to increased demand, SIMMSAthletics is now holding an additional session on Monday evenings. To find out more about this and the other SIMMSport clubs, please visit the website.
at its Strawberry Hill campus.
The competition was organised by SIMMSAthletics, St Mary’s community athletics programme, in collaboration with Spelthorne Junior Athletics Club and saw more than 100 athletes under the age of 11 compete in eight different events throughout the day. This included throws, long jump, hurdles, relay and sprint races.
Since the London 2012 Olympic Games, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of children participating in the SIMMSAthleics scheme and this competition was organised as part of a series of events running throughout the year such as the UKA 365 programme, Quad Kids and the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA’s) Indoor Athletics competition.
St Mary’s Sports Development Officer Matt Shurlock commented, “The combination of world class facilities, enthusiastic athletes and knowledgeable coaches, makes hosting athletics at St Mary’s a joy. With London 2012 making people more aware of track and field events, we have seen a huge increase in young athletes attending our sessions.
“It is great to be able to work with young people in the early stages of their training, and encourage them to be inspired by the international standard athletes who train and coach at St Mary’s. If people are looking to participate in sport as part of the Olympic legacy, St Mary’s is the place to look.”
Phil Amos from Spelthorne Junior Athletics Club (SJAC) said, “Thanks to Matt Shurlock and his team of coaches for inviting us to their superb venue, the indoor sports centre at St Mary's was a perfect venue for our competition. The 1st IAAF Kids Athletics competition to be held in England was a great success with many positive comments from the children and parents who attended.
"The coaches at SIMMSAthletics and SJAC created an encouraging and fun environment in which the competing children seemed to flourish, producing many good performances in the throwing, jumping and running events. The team-based format of the competition seemed to generate great enthusiasm with the children working and competing with each other to get the best team score possible. Great sportsmanship was shown throughout the competition which was a credit to all the children and organisers involved."
Due to increased demand, SIMMSAthletics is now holding an additional session on Monday evenings. To find out more about this and the other SIMMSport clubs, please visit the website.Media enquiries
Press team
020 8240 8262