Team Elmbridge wins ‘Spirit of The Games Awards’ at the 2022 Specsavers Surrey Youth Games
Congratulations to Team Elmbridge!
Congratulations to Team Elmbridge who gave a fantastic performance at the 2022 Specsavers Surrey Youth Games at the Surrey Sports Park, Guildford GU2 7AD on 18 June and went on to win the ‘Spirit of The Games Awards’ for their teamwork and sporting behaviour.
This year, the Games’ approach was slightly different. Organisers Active Surrey, wanted to target participants from areas of deprivation and encourage them to try a sport by removing barriers such as paying for weekly club sessions or travelling to take part in physical activity. The focus was on participation and respect for opponents.
As part of their recruitment process, The Elmbridge Sports Development Team reached out to local schools and community groups to engage with youngsters who would not normally have had access to sport. Their efforts paid off with a total of 108 children signing for basketball, dance, tennis, swimming and judo training sessions. Youngsters who had no previous skills in their chosen sport immersed themselves in their 6 to 8-week free training sessions with professional coaches. When it came to the Sports Festival Day, Team Elmbridge clearly demonstrated its motivation with the biggest number of participants across sports than other boroughs.
Looking at all the young recruits, the levels of engagement speak for themselves: 38% of ‘Team Elmbridge’ members had previously done less than 3.5hours of activities per week and most of them still completed all the training sessions. An impressive 43 signed up for judo and 12 young swimmers managed to build their confidence in the water as part of the training. The real success story comes down to the levels of club retention: 48% overall. 67% of the judo team decided to stay on with the club, 43% for basketball, 37.5% for tennis and 33% of participants signed up to carry on dancing.
This is a credit to the brilliant coaches who got involved in Team Elmbridge’s training for this year’s games. Our grateful thanks go to them and local clubs who supported this year’s games:
Children clearly enjoyed their time training, learning new skills and making friends, as shown in their parents’ testimonials:
Parent of ED/YD (Swimming) - ‘Thank you for the great opportunity, we enjoyed the trainings as well as the games.’
Parent of TR (Basketball) - ‘Just wanted to say thank you. TR has enjoyed the training sessions and had a brilliant day at the games. I really enjoyed watching. I thought it was extremely well organised and a fantastic day for all involved. Thanks to you and the wider team involved.’
Parent of ER/AR (Judo) - Thank you so much for everything that you have done for all children and want to thank you for leading this team and for all your hard work and effort that you have put in managing Elmbridge team you definitely deserve that award.
Parent of SM/SM (Dance) - ‘It was really such a great day to see all kids doing so well. You and heather did a great job. Thank you ‘
Councillor Janet Turner, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Environment, said, “It was great to see Surrey Youth Games back after a 3-year absence due to Covid. It is more important than ever for children and young people to get involved in sport and remain active for the mental and physical benefits they can draw from being part of a team or just learning life-long skills. The levels of club retention are impressive and I hope children and young people who in took part in the 2022 Surrey Youth Games will go on playing sports for many years to come”.
For more information on the Specsavers Surrey Youth Games, please visit our website.
Date published: