Over 150 young Sutton athletes aged between 9-17yrs took part in numerous different sports at the finals weekend of the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games, held at Crystal Palace National Sports last weekend.
The Sutton athletes joined thousands of other young athletes from all the London Boroughs in the annual min-Olympics style sports festival.
Highlights for Sutton were the Boys Table Tennis who pulled off an amazing victory over rivals Barnet in what turned out to be a very tense and tight 5 game match. Also victorious were the Sutton Girls Squash team who for the third year in a row, reigned supreme and outclassed their finalist opponents, also from Barnet, to once again take home the squash trophy for Sutton.
Other notable successes for Sutton were the mixed Badminton team who narrowly missed out on the gold to win the silver team medal, as well as the girls Football team who just missed getting through to the finals on penalties, before claiming a valiant bronze team medal. Not to be outdone by Wimbledon Tennis, Sutton’s tennis players showed their skill and nerve by claiming a hard thought 4th team place in the mixed tennis competition.
Other teams in action included: Boys Squash, Netball, Boys Swimming, Aquathlon, Girls Hockey and Archery; who all gained a top 10 position in their competitions, as well as the Girls Swimming, Cycling, Diving, Athletics and Boys Football.
Individual medals were also won by Sutton competitors in the Athletics, Aquathlon and Diving competitions. Other sports teams competed earlier in the season as part of the same competition, including the Sutton Judo team, where the girls won the silver team medal; and also the boys Handball team who took the bronze team medal. Not forgetting the boys and girls Paragames Swimming Teams who won silver for their team back in June.
The annual London Youth Games competition kicked off in November with the Cross Country event, all the way through to Sunday evening, 6 July – with Sutton finishing in 15th place in the overall championship, out of all 33 London Boroughs. Throughout the year there were weeks and months of open sports trials and training sessions at various venues in Sutton, leading up to the Games’ finals. All sports teams are managed and trained by an army of volunteer sports coaches from across Sutton’s local sports clubs.
Councillor Cllr Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council said:
“The sporting achievements of the borough’s youngsters have been quite brilliant; they have made the entire borough proud. The London Youth Games are a tremendous occasion and it was fantastic to see Sutton do so well. It has been an honour to watch all our athletes compete.”
Councillor Jill Whitehead said:
“I’d like to congratulate everyone who took part in the London’s Youth Games 2014. Yet again our youth have given some fabulous individual and team performances. A big thank you should also go to the coaches and parents who nurture this sporting talent.”
Cllr. Jill Whitehead
Sutton will soon start to prepare for the 2015 Games. To be eligible for the Sutton team, athletes must either live within the London Borough of Sutton or attend a Sutton School. All training and competition is free. To find out how you can take part next year contact the Sutton Community Sport & Activity Team on: 020 8770 4667 or e-mail getactivestayactive@sutton.gov.uk or check out Sutton Council website;- https://www.sutton.gov.uk/londonyouthgames