Devon Youth Games - Plymouth 2008
27 gold medals for North Devon at the Devon Youth Games
Young people from North Devon achieved huge success at this year’s Devon Youth Games, with a haul of 27 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals.
It was an early morning start for 130 young people from around North Devon, as teams from 13 different sports made their way to Plymouth for the county wide competition.
The 130 competitors, joined by 25 volunteer coaches, around 50 supporters and a film crew from the Devon Youth Service, departed at 6.30am to reach Plymouth’s Brickfields site in time for the 9.00 am opening ceremony.
The day was more than just a competition, it was an rare opportunity for young people of all ages to take part in a large scale carnival of sport.
In the overall competition, North Devon finished fifth out of the 10 competing districts, but there were sporting achievements made by every single competitor.
Richard Slaney, the North Devon team co-ordinator said:
'I’ve taken a great deal of pleasure from watching so many North Devon teams compete and achieve a mass amount of personal achievements. In total North Devon won 27 gold medals, eight silvers and five bronze, but for me I took the most pleasure from the spirit and attitude of all the teams competing.
'I spent quite a long time watching the lads from Forches competing in the futsal competition (a fairly new style of football to North Devon) and their never say die attitude was amazing. The tag rugby girls from Barnstaple Rugby Club played their matches a fair distance from the main stadium, but they could be heard singing throughout the Brickfields site. Woolacombe Primary School stepped in as last minute replacements in the mini-soccer, they had never played in a competition together but they managed to beat Exeter! And Orchard Vale Primary School were attracting huge support. They were only denied a place in the final of the mixed tag rugby, when event co-ordinators controversially overruled a referee’s decision. It was these achievements and many many more that meant that North Devon were awarded second place for the fair play award.'
North Devon Council Leisure & Health Development Officer Mark Kentell added:
'I was very proud of our team at the weekend. Most of them had been up since before 5.00 am, but still had big smiles on their faces when they returned to North Devon at 8.00 pm.'
Mark went on to thank the sporting community of North Devon saying “we had terrific support from local clubs, volunteers, leisure centre and schools. This was truly a team effort and we could not have achieved such a high level of success without the help of our team managers. Everybody who took part can be very proud of themselves and proud to represent North Devon.'
Highlights of the day included:
Aquathlon
Hannah Gaunt, Lucy Campbell and Freddie Hedger all finished first in their individual competitions. The year 9/10 team of Freddie, Jamie Boxshall, Emily Hutchens and Megan Clark won the team gold.
Athletics
The biggest North Devon medal haul of the day came from the athletics team. Mark Redrup led his 14 competitor strong team to overall gold. The winning team was Mark Angrave, Katie Beagley, Charlie Bennett, Bradley Campbell, Megan Dickerson, George Elston, Jonathan Engelking, Anaya Evans, Lucy Gill, Jessica Lobb, Sam Roberts, Jessica Roome, Ben Stone and Hannah Talmage.
Gymnastics
Anaya Moses, Liam Poyser and Bailey Tonkins performed to a very high standard, but were severely hampered by a last minute withdrawal, which meant they were one short of a four-person team.
Street sports
North Devon dominated the skateboarding and BMX events! In the year 7 to 8 team, Lucas Gomersall, Jack Hudson, Jake Rush and Jack Webber won the overall team gold. Individually Jake Rush won the gold medal for skateboarding best trick and Lucas won the bronze in the same competition. Jack Hudson got gold for the BMX best trick and Jack Webber got silver.
In the year 9 to 10 team, Chris Elliot, Robbie Hudson, Cory Lawson and Oakley Liddell won the overall team bronze. Individually, Oakley got double gold for best trick and open competition on his skateboard. Cory Lawson got silver for the skateboarding best trick. Robbie Hudson got gold for the best trick on a BMX.
Table Tennis
The North Devon table tennis team of Daniel Cassidy, Lewis Everiss, Christopher Holman, Maria Laffey and Sean Parker got the overall team silver.
Cllr Dave Butt, Lead Member for Youth and Diversity said:
'The Devon Youth Games is a fantastic event for all the young people involved. It was a great achievement for North Devon to finish overall fifth, especially considering that they were competing against major cities such as Plymouth who came first and Exeter who finished third. There was a fantastic team spirit evident on the day and a lot of passion shown by all players in their sports.
'The Games are a great example of a sports partnership in action and on behalf of North Devon Council. I would like to say a big thank you to all coaches, volunteers and parents who helped make it possible for North Devon to compete at the 2008 Devon Youth Games.'
Teams and managers:
Aquathlon
Team manager: John Mortimer
Athletics
Team managers: Mark Redrup and Christian Engelking.
Badminton
Team managers: Alan Waistell and Tanya Chick.
Futsal
Team managers: Will Martin and Danny Rolfe.
Gymnastics
Team manager: Mike Beagley.
Hockey
Team managers: Rhona Gibson, Andrew Arthur and Claire Thomas.
Mini-soccer
Team managers: Andy Ball and Rob Porter.
Netball
Team managers: Claire Turner, Alison Keenor and Lorraine Beel.
Street sports
Team manager: Ben Liddell.
Table tennis
Team manager: Wayne Clews.
Girls tag rubgy
Team managers: Verity White-Quinn and Alison Joice.
Mixed tag rugby
27 gold medals for North Devon at the Devon Youth Games
Young people from North Devon achieved huge success at this year’s Devon Youth Games, with a haul of 27 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals.
It was an early morning start for 130 young people from around North Devon, as teams from 13 different sports made their way to Plymouth for the county wide competition.
The 130 competitors, joined by 25 volunteer coaches, around 50 supporters and a film crew from the Devon Youth Service, departed at 6.30am to reach Plymouth’s Brickfields site in time for the 9.00 am opening ceremony.
The day was more than just a competition, it was an rare opportunity for young people of all ages to take part in a large scale carnival of sport.
In the overall competition, North Devon finished fifth out of the 10 competing districts, but there were sporting achievements made by every single competitor.
Richard Slaney, the North Devon team co-ordinator said:
'I’ve taken a great deal of pleasure from watching so many North Devon teams compete and achieve a mass amount of personal achievements. In total North Devon won 27 gold medals, eight silvers and five bronze, but for me I took the most pleasure from the spirit and attitude of all the teams competing.
'I spent quite a long time watching the lads from Forches competing in the futsal competition (a fairly new style of football to North Devon) and their never say die attitude was amazing. The tag rugby girls from Barnstaple Rugby Club played their matches a fair distance from the main stadium, but they could be heard singing throughout the Brickfields site. Woolacombe Primary School stepped in as last minute replacements in the mini-soccer, they had never played in a competition together but they managed to beat Exeter! And Orchard Vale Primary School were attracting huge support. They were only denied a place in the final of the mixed tag rugby, when event co-ordinators controversially overruled a referee’s decision. It was these achievements and many many more that meant that North Devon were awarded second place for the fair play award.'
North Devon Council Leisure & Health Development Officer Mark Kentell added:
'I was very proud of our team at the weekend. Most of them had been up since before 5.00 am, but still had big smiles on their faces when they returned to North Devon at 8.00 pm.'
Mark went on to thank the sporting community of North Devon saying “we had terrific support from local clubs, volunteers, leisure centre and schools. This was truly a team effort and we could not have achieved such a high level of success without the help of our team managers. Everybody who took part can be very proud of themselves and proud to represent North Devon.'
Highlights of the day included:
Aquathlon
Hannah Gaunt, Lucy Campbell and Freddie Hedger all finished first in their individual competitions. The year 9/10 team of Freddie, Jamie Boxshall, Emily Hutchens and Megan Clark won the team gold.
Athletics
The biggest North Devon medal haul of the day came from the athletics team. Mark Redrup led his 14 competitor strong team to overall gold. The winning team was Mark Angrave, Katie Beagley, Charlie Bennett, Bradley Campbell, Megan Dickerson, George Elston, Jonathan Engelking, Anaya Evans, Lucy Gill, Jessica Lobb, Sam Roberts, Jessica Roome, Ben Stone and Hannah Talmage.
Gymnastics
Anaya Moses, Liam Poyser and Bailey Tonkins performed to a very high standard, but were severely hampered by a last minute withdrawal, which meant they were one short of a four-person team.
Street sports
North Devon dominated the skateboarding and BMX events! In the year 7 to 8 team, Lucas Gomersall, Jack Hudson, Jake Rush and Jack Webber won the overall team gold. Individually Jake Rush won the gold medal for skateboarding best trick and Lucas won the bronze in the same competition. Jack Hudson got gold for the BMX best trick and Jack Webber got silver.
In the year 9 to 10 team, Chris Elliot, Robbie Hudson, Cory Lawson and Oakley Liddell won the overall team bronze. Individually, Oakley got double gold for best trick and open competition on his skateboard. Cory Lawson got silver for the skateboarding best trick. Robbie Hudson got gold for the best trick on a BMX.
Table Tennis
The North Devon table tennis team of Daniel Cassidy, Lewis Everiss, Christopher Holman, Maria Laffey and Sean Parker got the overall team silver.
Cllr Dave Butt, Lead Member for Youth and Diversity said:
'The Devon Youth Games is a fantastic event for all the young people involved. It was a great achievement for North Devon to finish overall fifth, especially considering that they were competing against major cities such as Plymouth who came first and Exeter who finished third. There was a fantastic team spirit evident on the day and a lot of passion shown by all players in their sports.
'The Games are a great example of a sports partnership in action and on behalf of North Devon Council. I would like to say a big thank you to all coaches, volunteers and parents who helped make it possible for North Devon to compete at the 2008 Devon Youth Games.'
Teams and managers:
Aquathlon
Team manager: John Mortimer
Athletics
Team managers: Mark Redrup and Christian Engelking.
Badminton
Team managers: Alan Waistell and Tanya Chick.
Futsal
Team managers: Will Martin and Danny Rolfe.
Gymnastics
Team manager: Mike Beagley.
Hockey
Team managers: Rhona Gibson, Andrew Arthur and Claire Thomas.
Mini-soccer
Team managers: Andy Ball and Rob Porter.
Netball
Team managers: Claire Turner, Alison Keenor and Lorraine Beel.
Street sports
Team manager: Ben Liddell.
Table tennis
Team manager: Wayne Clews.
Girls tag rubgy
Team managers: Verity White-Quinn and Alison Joice.
Mixed tag rugby
Team manager: Dave Langford.
Tennis
Team manager: Hannah Miller.
Volleyball
Team managers: Ruth Lovell and Tom Shacklock.
For further information contact Richard Slaney on 01271 388216 or email richard.slaney@northdevon.gov.uk
