Devon Winter Ability Games Success

The Devon Winter Ability Games took place at the Plymouth Life Centre on the 24th January and has been hailed as a great success.

Over 400 young people with disabilities from 30 schools across Devon attended the event taking part in a range of events including football, table cricket and tennis. There were also taster sessions in Archery, Boccia and Tri Golf.

The Devon Winter Ability Games is part of a programme of five Countywide Sainsbury’s School Games festivals in Devon and is delivered by Active Devon on behalf of the Devon School Games local organising committee. On the day over 70 young volunteers from local schools and colleges including Stoke Dameral, St Boniface both from Plymouth, St Luke’s Exeter, Ivybridge Community College and Dartmoor Community College provided crucial support on the day by working as Games Maker style volunteers. In addition, there were 30 adult volunteers giving extra support to the young participants.

The day opened with a short opening ceremony with an inspiring speech given by Cassie Patten, Olympic Open Water swimmer and sports coach, to encourage the children and inspire confidence in taking part. Each participant received a medal to reflect their efforts in mini award ceremonies which took place throughout the day.

Cassie shared her enjoyment of the event "I feel honoured to have been asked to be involved with the ability games. Every student and teacher I met thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and everyone gave their best in effort, it was a pleasure to see".

Matt Evans, Local Organising Committee member and Chief Executive of Active Devon, said  ‘it was fantastic to see so many young people enjoying the benefits of taking part in sport and all of us at Active Devon are thrilled to be able to support such an inspiring event. The commitment of the many young volunteers involved is a real sign that the legacy of 2012 is alive in Devon and the future for our local sport is bright’.

More information about the School Games is available on Active Devon’s website and on the Sainsbury’s School games website www.yourschoolgames.com