Spring appeared to have sprung last Thursday as eight very excited teams of year 3 and 4 footballers, boys and girls alike, descended upon the John Hanson Community School for the annual Simply Health sponsored Lions in the Community Cluster Primary Football Festival. Teams from St John the Baptist, Balksbury Junior, Abbotts Ann, Shipton Bellinger, Clatford Amport and Hatherden primary schools all took part in the tournament which was superbly organised by John Hanson’s Helen Vant.
Lions in the Commmunity coaches Cathy Devereux and Ryan Facey were on hand to oversee the officiation of the matches, which were superbly refereed by several of the John Hanson year 10 Sports Leaders, whilst a very efficient and well organised team of year 7 Sports Leaders took responsibility for setting up the pitches, managing the teams and leading the pre match warm ups!
After the initial round of pool matches and a much needed break for lunch, the teams took to the field for the play off matches and resultant placing games.
The tournament was very closely contested with some excellent football skills on display with the final being an extremely hard fought battle between Balksbury Juniors 1 and Amport Primary. .

Lisa Hammerton, from sponsors Simplyhealth, was on hand for the awards ceremony and after a great match which showcased some superb skills as well as plenty of determination from each and every player,Amport clinched a hard fought 1-0 victory to be crowned tournament winners.
Hatherden Primary School were awarded the Fair Play trophy , in recognition of the effort, enthusiasm, teamwork and sportsmanship they had shown in every game throughout the day.
Tournament organisers Helen Vant and Cathy Devereux were delighted with the success of the tournament which seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by all taking part. They would like to express their thanks to Simplyhealth for their ongoing support of the tournament , together with all the staff, parents and sports leaders whose help and support as ever was invaluable.

Cathy Devereux