Talented pupils at Small Heath Leadership Academy secured a place in the Birmingham School Games Athletics Finals after triumphing in an inter-school indoor athletics competition, held at Starbank School on Tuesday 28th November.
Year 7 students Uzair Ashtiaq, Tahmid Choudhury and Raess Shabir all won gold in their respective races, delivering assured performances that saw them sprint ahead of stiff competition from 7 other schools in the area. The boys won an impressive 6 out of the 9 races they competed in.
Year 8 students Saqib Islam, Yusuf Siddique and Itizaz Hassan continued Small Heath’s run of success, picking up 5 gold medals in their track events.
Both boys’ teams won their relay races with speedy and seamless changeovers, demonstrating exemplary teamwork skills and proving that Small Heath’s sports teams are a force to be reckoned with.
The School Games, which is funded by Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, is designed to encourage young people to participate in competitive sports and strive to reach their potential, whilst improving their physical and mental health. Pupils take place in a number of qualifying events before progressing to the next stage of the competition, which takes place at a local and national level.
The pupils selected to represent Small Heath have already triumphed in intra-school competitions and local inter-school competitions, and the Birmingham School Games Athletics Finals represent the next step on the road to the National Finals, a four-day multi-sport event that is reminiscent of a mini-Olympics for young people. With over 20,000 registered schools competing in School Games’ competitions around the country, our pupils have done incredibly well to come this far, and we wish them all the best for the Birmingham School Games Final (Level 3) in March 2018.