Last Wednesday saw eight very excited teams of year 3 and 4 footballers, boys and girls alike, descend 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, Grateley, Clatford and Hatherden primary schools all took part in the tournament which was superbly organised by John Hanson School Sports Coordinator Helen Vant.
Lions in the Commmunity coaches Dean Stow, Tom Bird and Jamie Dockree were on hand to referee the matches alongside several of the John Hanson year 10 Sports Leaders, whilst a very efficient and well organised team of year 8 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 and Hatherden Primary School. In the end Balksbury came through to be crowned tournament winners and were presented their trophy by Mark Day, Customer Services Director of Simply Health who had come along to enjoy the action in the final rounds!
Shipton Bellinger School were awarded the Fair Play trophy for their excellent conduct both on and off the pitch throughout the day, an award voted for by the referees.
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 all the staff, parents and sports leaders whose help and support as ever was invaluable.