Sportshall News

Entry forms for Open Sportshall Champs now published

7 January 2012

The fourth CoNAC Sportshall Championships - incorporating the Norwich and District Sportshall Championships - will take place at Taverham High School on Saturday 3 March 2012.  Door open at 11am, registration closes at 11.30am, first event starts at 12 noon.

Please click here for entry forms and details of how you can volunteer to help. All entrants & volunteers get a free t-shirt - please remember to tell us your t-shirt size when entering or volunteering. 

Norfolk Sportshall League is off with a bang

16 October 2011

The first Sportshall meeting of the new season attracted almost 150 young Norfolk athletes. Sportshall, where many young athletes get their first taste of competitive activity, is back for the new autumn/winter season.

The first event took place on Saturday at the Sportspark and saw almost 150 young people aged from 9 to 15 years old competing. They came from all over Norfolk including Diss, Thetford, King's Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth.

The events, which are all held indoors, include obstacle relays, jumping and throwing tests, sprints, longer races and hurdles.  The children compete in age categories with U11's competing in teams of four to six athletes; U13's competing in teams of six and U15's competing as individuals. Teams can be made up from members of sports clubs or school students.

One mum watching was Jenny Moore from Norwich.  "My 10-year-old son Jaquan is taking part today and it's just a great introduction to athletics. All abilities are here and they are all having great fun."

Keith Yellop, president of the Norfolk Sportshall League, added "We've been doing this for 20 years now and many of the children go on to compete regionally and nationally. And the older ones love to come back and help out thie ryounger colleagues - it is a great atmosphere."

Many youngsters posted good results, with Sam Green from CoNAC placing either first or second in every event he entered in his U15 category.

Volunteers are always required to help run Sportshall events. If you think you might be able to help in any way - big or small - or want to know more about entering a team, please click here to let us know. The next Sportshall dates are Saturday 5 November at Lynnsport, King's Lynn, and Saturday 26 November at the Sportspark in Norwich.

First Sportshall league match this Saturday 15 October

12 October 2011

This coming Saturday sees the opening fixture in the Norfolk Sportshall League. The competition should be better than ever with more teams and athletes taking part. If you are U11, U13 or U15 and you would like to take part please contact Julie Brand as soon as possible.

There are a few team places remaining unfilled. If you miss out on a team spot you can still take part as a non-scorer.  Registration starts just after midday with events commencing around 1pm.

As always there are plenty of jobs to do on the day, if you are able to volunteer that would be great. This event has lots of 'cheering' and noise and is real 'fun' athletics. We hope to see you there.

Registration and booking forms for new season now available

12 August 2011

The new Sportshall season gets underway at the end of September so now's the time to get your registration and booking forms completed.

We've got a great programme of Sportshall events lined up for you so please click here for all the details.

Tom Lake leads the way

4 April 2011

On Sunday three teams from Norfolk made the trip to Birmingham's LG Arena for the National Final of Sportshall 2011.

The U13 Boys finished in a very credible 6th place. Leading the way for the team was their captain Tom Lake who picked up three medals; silver in the speedbounce and bronze in both the 6-lap and 8-lap Paarlauf. Tom's team-mate in the 8-lap Ashley Cooper also collected a bronze medal. Newcomer Jack Deardon completing in his first 'big' competition collected silver in the standing triple jump and Ben Matsuka Williams won a bronze in the vertical jump. The whole team produced some marvellous performances of which they can be very proud as they finished the highest placed minor county.

The U13 Girls found the competition really tough but they battled all afternoon to finish in 10th place. Jessica Doncaster, Katie Francis, Lucy Brice and Sienna Sexton all recorded top 6 finishes and were supported by a good all-round team performance.

The U15 Girls produced a good display in finishing 6th overall. Katie Vickery was inside the top 10 all-rounders and collected the individual bronze in the vertical jump.

In the U15 Boys Sam Green made the Finals as an individual and did not disappoint when collecting the bronze in the speedbounce.

All the athletes ran, jumped and threw with everything they had - you can all be extremely proud of your performances!

Sportshall Decathlon - here are the results

26 March 2011

At the end of a very busy season certificates and badges were presented to 45 young athletes for their performances against the Sportshall Decathlon ladder. Please click here for the boys results and here for the girls results.

We have had a great winter at Taverham High School this year with 65+ athletes regularly attending the two Saturday morning sessions. Many thanks go to Helen, Julie and Mary for organizing the season and to the coaches led by Keith Yellop for their effort and enthusiasm.

Sportshall will be back in September - please watch this space for more details!

Norwich and District Sportshall Championships

5 March 2011

What fantastic Sportshall talent Norfolk has.  This event was hosted by City of Norwich AC in conjunction with West Norwich and Dereham School Sports Partnership.  Over 110 athletes from all over the county came together at Taverham High School to take part in a run, jump and throw with the points from each event accumulating to give a final score.  The club’s own sportshall championships ran alongside the Open competition.  Each athlete received a commerative T-Shirt, fruit and water.  A full and thrilling afternoon resulted in the grand finale which was the relays with an interesting additional team thrown in, consisting of coaches and helpers which certainly made for an entertaining finish.  It had to be seen to be believed!

Medals and trophies were presented by Adam Burgess, Development Officer for the East & East Midlands who paid us a visit from UK Sportshall.

Winners in the Open Championships were:

U11 Boys -  Kallum Martin,     U11 Girls – Daisy Spurway               

U13 Boys -  Joe Brown,           U13 Girls – Katie Pursehouse

U15 Boys -  Mark Phillipson , U15 Girls – Emily Pursehouse

Winners of CoNAC’s own championships were:

U11 Boys -  Billy Ollie-Hindle, U11 Girls -  Madison Stubbs              

U13 Boys – Jack Dearden,     U13 Girls – Grace Ashworth

U15 Girls – Katie Vickery

Well done to all the athletes who competed in the true spirit of Sportshall.  The organisers are especially indebted to the officials, helpers, school sports leaders and spectators and sponsors, with their support and encouragement made the day possible.  Special thanks to Smith & Pinching and Broadland District Council who supported the event.

Three Norfolk teams progress from Eastern Region Final

29 January 2011

Yet another fine performance, this time from the U13 and U15 sportshall teams at the Eastern Region UK Sportshall Final which resulted with three of Norfolk’s team gaining a well deserved place in the UK Final in Birmingham on 3 April.

The U13 boys 1st place (725pts) with a fantastic triple jump of 7.28m from CoNAC’s Jack Dearden, U13 Girls (707 pts) with a great high jump of 1.45m from Sienna Sexton.  The U15 Boys narrowly missed out on 1^st place with a score of 630 pts only 4 pts behind the leaders Hertfordshire.  The U15 Girls also gained a spot at the UK finals with 682 pts ahead of our biggest rival Hertfordshire. Congratulations also go to Diss’s Emily Pursehouse who came joint 1^st to go through to Birmingham competing in her own right.  

Eastern Region Fun in Athletics Festival

29 January 2011

The U11 Norfolk Sportshall team (including 6 girls and 9 boys from CoNAC), descended on De Havilland Campus in Hatfield for the Eastern Region Fun in Athletics Festival.  A well organised and exciting afternoon ensued with the final results as follows:

U11 Boys: Herts Phoenix, (1^st) 483 pts, Essex Juniors (2^nd) 452 pts, Norfolk (3^rd) 429 pts, Herts Pegasus (4^th) 416 points,  Cambridgeshire (5^th) 408 pts

U11 Girls: Herts Phoenix (1^st) 500 pts, Norfolk (2^nd) 447 pts, Essex Juniors (3^rd) 444 pts, Herts Pegasus (4^th) 438 pts, Cambridgeshire (5^th) 381 pts

All athletes produced some fantastic performances with an outstanding performance from CoNAC’s Billy Ollie-Hindle who achieved an exhausting 56 speedbounces in 20 seconds and 55 in the vertical jump to come first in both these events.  The athletes drive and determination surpassed expectations and they were a credit to Norfolk.  Thanks must also go to the invaluable support from family and friends.  The fun in athletics was certainly there on this day.

2011 Norfolk Sportshall Champs

15 January 2011

120 athletes from all over the county including many CoNAC-ers gathered at the Sportspark today for the Norfolk County Sportshall Championships.  The afternoon started with presentations going to the winning teams and individuals from this winter's league meetings.

CoNAC athletes dominated the County Champs with U11 girls and boys events winning all but three events over the course of the afternoon.  In addition, Ashley Cooper and Tom Lake both won three of their individual events, as did U15 girl Katie Vickery.

CoNAC dominates 2010 Norfolk Sportshall League

22 December 2010

CoNAC’s U11, U13 and U15 teams have produced some fantastic performances to dominate this season’s Norfolk Sportshall League.  Final results after the three meetings:

U11 Boys - O team – 259 pts (1^st ), Z team – 241 pts (2^nd), F team – 111 pts (4^th)

U11 Girls - O team – 260 pts (1^st ), Z team – 179 pts (4^th ), F team – 26 pts (8^th )

U13 Boys - O team – 302 pts (1^st ), Z team – 184 pts (4^th )

U13 Girls - O team – 314 pts (1^st ), Z team – 242 pts (3^rd), F team – 168 pts (5^th)

The U15’s compete on an individual basis and congratulations must go to Katie Vickery who won the U15 All Rounder Trophy with a fantastic overall score of 229 points.

2010 Norfolk Sportshall League kicks off at Sportspark

24 October 2010

The first of the three matches in this year's Norfolk Sportshall League took place at the Sportspark on 16 October - please click here to view the full results.

Regional Sportshall Championships

30 January 2010

City of Norwich AC provided a significant number of athletes for the Norfolk teams competing in the East Region Sportshall Championships at the Sportspark today. The teams of U13 and U15 girls and boys took on Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Bedfordshire. Here are the highlights, team by team:

U13 Girls: won their match and now go on to the National Finals on 18 April at the NEC in Birmingham. Individually, Ellie Blunt set a new National Record in the speedbounce with an incredible 99 bounces in 30 seconds and also took gold in the 4 laps. Other medallists were Laura Johnson - gold 2 in the laps and bronze in the shot; Hannah Maher - gold vertical jump; Lucy Cadley - silver high jump; Grace Ashworth - bronze standing long jump; and other CoNAC-ers in the team were Jessica McNaughton, Lucy Bernard, Megan Wilson, Harriet Blunt (reserve), Anna Death (reserve).

U13 Boys: Tom Lake - silver in both the 6 laps and the speed bounce; Sam Green - bronze in the shot; other team members from CoNAC were Ross Gilbert, Marvin Iseghehi, James Steel, Adam Davison, Daniel Griffin, Braydan Harrison.

U15 Girls: also won their match to join the U13 Girls at the National Finals with Katie Vickery winning the All Rounder title and progressing to the National Finals in her own right. She won gold in the vertical jump and silver in the 4 laps. Stephanie Griffin won silver in the shot and Sarah Kett was reserve.

U15 Boys: Alex Lubbock took gold in both the 4 Laps and the speedbounce and Michael Painter won gold in the shot.

Well done to all our athletes and good luck at the National Finals - it's a great experience!

CoNAC youngsters on top form in Norfolk Sportshall League

12 December 2009

CoNAC's U11, U13 and U15 athletes have produced some wonderful individual and team performances to dominate this winter's Norfolk Sportshall League. In the U11s and U13s the CoNAC ‘O’ teams collected all the team winners' trophies, with the ‘Z’ team also achieving three third places. Final standings after three matches:

U11 Boys - 1 CoNAC "O" 252 pts; 2 Ryston Runners & West Norfolk AC 251 pts; 3 CoNAC "Z" 196 pts; 4 Dereham Runners AC 123 pts; 5 Diss & District AC 53 pts.

U11 Girls - 1 CoNAC "O" 256 pts; 2 Ryston Runners & West Norfolk AC 252pts; 3 CoNAC "Z" 123 pts; 4 Dereham Runners AC 70 pts; 5 CoNAC "F" 24 pts; 6 Diss & District AC 22 pts.

U13 Boys - 1 CoNAC "O" 326 pts; 2 Ryston Runners & West Norfolk AC 292 pts; 3 Dereham Runners AC 230 pts; 4 Diss & District AC 74 pts; CoNAC "Z" 51 pts.

U13 Girls - 1 CoNAC "O" 318 pts; 2 Ryston Runners & West Norfolk AC 293 pts; 3 CoNAC "Z" 182 pts; 4 Dereham Runners AC 101 pts; 5 Diss & District AC 81 pts.

On an individual basis, Alex Lubbock and Katie Vickery collected the respective U15’s All Rounder trophies. We now look forward to the Norfolk Championships on 9 January when all CoNAC's young athletes have a chance to qualify for the Norfolk teams to take part in the Regional Championships on 30 January.

Norwich and District Sportshall championships

6 December 2008

Nearly 200 young athletes from all round the region took part in the first Norwich and District Sportshall championships held at Taverham High School. The event was hosted by City of Norwich AC in conjunction with the West Norwich and Dereham Schools Sports Partnership and was based around a combined events competition where the combined score of a run, jump and throw was used to decide the overall winners. Every athlete who competed received a special commemorative t-shirt from Samuels of Norfolk as well as free water and fruit provided by Tesco and distributed by their staff. With around 80 volunteer helpers, including a large number of junior sports leaders from Taverham High assisting in the running of the competition, there was plenty of help on hand to cope with no fewer than 76 separate track and field events throughout the day.

City of Norwich AC also used the opportunity to run its own club championship alongside the open competition, with around 70 of the club’s own athletes taking part. Possibly the most exciting event came at the very end of the day with the Broadland relay championship which was supported by a grant from the Broadland community fund and Broadland District Council. Six school teams as well as athletic and sports clubs from all over Norfolk competed in a thrilling series of races in this highly charged finale.

Medals and trophies for the CoNAC club championships and the open combined events championship were presented by Rob McCombe, PDM from the West Norwich and Dereham Schools Sports Partnership and representing 47 schools in the region who have a club link with CoNAC. Councillor Claudette Bannock, Broadland District Councillor for the South Taverham ward presented the medals for the Broadland relay championships and Matthew Lake from Samuels of Norfolk presented the trophies.

The organisers are deeply indebted for the fantastic support for the event from a large number of local and national businesses; in particular Kier, Tesco, Pilch, Broadland Council, Road Runner Express Couriers, Active Norfolk and Parker Merchanting Ltd.

Results:

Open combined events championship

U11 Girls: Gold Augustine Hammond, Joint Silver Catherine Longe & Emily Collison, Bronze Lucy Edwards
U11 Boys Gold Jamie Hurne, Joint Silver James Greenhalgh & Joe Collison, Bronze Campbell Young

U13 Girls: Gold Hannah Maher, Silver Lucy Hardingham, Bronze Natalie Flintham
U13 Boys: Gold Mark Philipson, Silver James Harding, Bronze Jake Shea

U15 Girls: Joint Gold Emma Tilbrook & Sophie McKinna, Silver Emily Evans, Bronze Rebecca Russell
U15 Boys: Gold Sam Blake, Silver Craig Palmer, Bronze Daniel Vesty

CoNAC combined events championship

U11 Girls: Gold Grace Ashworth, Silver Katie Francis, Bronze Lauren Stansbury
U11 Boys: Joint Gold Daniel Griffin & Toby Price, Silver Jonathan Tomes, Bronze Daniel Bainbridge

U13 Boys: Joint Gold Marvin Iseghehi & Scott Greeves, Silver Bradley Aldous, Bronze Will Gibbs
U13 Girls: Gold Naomi Tomes, Silver Jessica Hamilton, Bronze Ellie Blunt

U15 Boys: Gold Danny Clayton, Silver Jack Harrison, Bronze Callum Brown
U15 Girls: Gold Clieo Stevenson. Silver Laura McDonald, Bronze Imogen Gibbs

Broadland open relay championships

U11 Girls: Gold Beeston Hall School, Silver Team Tri-a-sport, Bronze open #1
U11 Boys: Gold Beeston Hall School, Silver Open #1, Bronze Garboldisham Primary School

U13 Girls: Gold Open #1, Silver Team Tri-a –sport
U13 Boys: Gold Team RR, Silver Open #1, Bronze Team Tri-a-sport

U15 Girls: Gold Taverham High #1
U15 Boys: Gold Taverham High #1, Silver Taverham High #2

Broadland club relay championships

U11 Girls: Gold CoNAC #1, Silver WNAC #1, Bronze CoNAC #2
U11 Boys: Gold CoNAC #1, Silver WNAC#1, Bronze CoNAC #2

U13 Girls: Gold CoNAC FTTUF, Silver CoNAC, Bronze CoNAC Runner beans
U13 Boys: Gold CoNAC #1

U15 Girls: Gold CoNAC, Silver WNAC
U15 Boys: Gold CoNAC Speed, Silver CoNAC

2008 National Sportshall final is a shambles!

14 April 2008

Saturday was set to be the climax of the various Sportshall competitions that had taken place throughout the UK since last October. This year’s final was in Birmingham at the NEC, a change in venue from the NIA where it has been previously held.

CoNAC provided a large number of athletes in both the Norfolk U13 Girls team, which not only represented Norfolk but also the East of England, as also in the Norfolk U15 Girls team - this team had qualified as the best regional runners up. In addition, Adam Howard also took part as best regional U15 standing long jumper.

So, with everyone set for a fantastic final, the events kicked off at 12.30 sharp. Laura McDonald and Mimi Barr were first off in the U13 Girls shot, and running in parallel was the U13 Girls obstacle relay. However it wasn’t long before a major problem with the track appeared. Honor De Winton (West Norfolk AC) was running the third leg for Norfolk when - at the end of her stage - she lost her footing and narrowly avoided hitting her head on a concrete crash barrier!! Young Ella Stephenson then took up the baton and on the turn at exactly the same place slipped and landed flat on the floor. It was now obvious that the problem was not unique to the U13’s track as the U15’s were going down as well.

After a further relay race, and following protests from the Norfolk team managers amongst others, all racing on the track was abandoned due to health and safety concerns. Fortunately the field events continued although the high jump was suspended for a while.

CoNAC’s Laura McDonald pulled a rabbit out of the hat to take the individual gold medal in the shot with 10.56m on her last throw, moving 5cm ahead of the leader from Lincolnshire who had thrown the furthest in all the regional competitions.

Laura Green, also from CoNAC, won individual silver in the U15 vertical jump and a joint bronze with Georgina Culling in the U15 speed-bounce. Adam Howard - an extremely talented U15 standing long jumper - also secured the individual gold for that event.

Had the meeting finished there, we would have understandably ended up with some very disappointed athletes, who having traveled a long way, didn’t compete in their track races but at least had gone home in the knowledge that no-one was awarded the overall title of UK Sportshall champions of the year.

However - despite numerous pleas from county team managers, the organisers decided to award all the overall national team positions based on the field events only!

So with Norfolk in second place in the field, we ended up with being runners up to Birmingham, despite being deprived of being able to use what was the fastest relay team in the UK last year and as well as some of the best runners in the country.

Laura Green in her final year of Sportshall - and having only competing in two of her five events - was awarded second position overall. Again, she was not able to compete in any of her strong track events.

It was extremely disappointing that all the hard work put in by our athletes, officials and parents to the many Sportshall competitions and practice sessions since October 2007 should culminate in an event that turned into a complete shambles. We await an official explanation.

CoNAC U13 girls earn National Championship appearance for Norfolk

2 February 2008

The first of the regional indoor Sportshall finals of 2008 took place today at the UEA Sportspark in Norwich, when teams from Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk competed against each other for a place in the National final to be held at the NEC in Birmingham on 12 April.

A large number of the U13 and U15 athletes who made up the Norfolk county teams were from CoNAC.

In the U15 Boys competition, the Norfolk lads just lost out on a place in the final by a small margin, taking second place overall. Callum Brown winning the Gold in the speed bounce, his CoNAC team mate Adam Howard, winning Gold in his favorite event, the Standing long jump. The team also picked up a Bronze in the 8-lap Parrlauf race.

Norfolk's U13 Boys team managed a credible 4th place overall with many of CoNAC's athletes turning in good performances.

The title for the U15 Girls competition was incredibly well fought over; many of the team were members of last year's U13 team that won through to the final in Birmingham. Laura Green picked up three of the Gold medals, winning the speed bounce, vertical jump and sharing the Gold in the 2-lap race. Georgina Culling took the Silver in the standing long jump and Bronze in the speed bounce. The team just missing out on first place by literally a few points, however CoNAC athlete, Laura Green wins a place at the final this year as an individual athlete.

And then there was the Norfolk U13 Girls who were, quite simply, invincible! Managed by CoNAC's Keith Yellop, this squad got through to the finals last year by only two points and they were determined that they would return this year - but by a bigger margin.

Winning two of the first three relay races, this team of young girls then turned their attention to the individual events. CoNAC athletes Ella Stephenson won a joint Gold in the speed bounce. Laura McDonald (team captain) took Gold in 4-lap race and shot putt. Clieo Stephenson won Gold in 2-lap race and standing triple jump while Ellie Blunt took Silver in the 2-lap race. Vicky Mitchell weighed in with Silver in the standing long jump and Bronze in the 4-lap race. Taking a break from cross country, Mimi Barr earned a Bronze in the 6-lap race. Other CoNAC athletes in the squad were Kiera Mooney(6-lap & triple jump) and Jessica Hamilton (vertical jump).

If this wasn't enough, in the 4 x 2 lap relay, Keith Yellop played his trump card. He not only had an unbeaten relay team at his disposal, but in 2007 it was the fastest outdoor U13 relay team in Great Britain. CoNAC's own Ellie Blunt, Clieo Stephenson, Vicky Mitchell and Laura McDonald who true to form, made the event look like a training run! This was probably the race of the event. Super-slick changeovers and an ever-increasing lead, this was a real joy to watch.

So this year – by a margin of 28 points - Norfolk's U13 Girls will return to the National Sportshall Championships representing The East of England, and they aren't just going to Birmingham to make up the numbers - watch this space!