St Bede's school win SW England Panathlon

Press release issued: 29 March 2005

The 2005 Grand Final of the South West of England Panathlon Challenge sports competition was held at the University of Bristol's Coombe Dingle Sports Complex last week.

The 2005 Grand Final of the South West of England Panathlon Challenge sports competition was held at the University of Bristol's Coombe Dingle Sports Complex last week [23 March].

The final was won in spectacular style by the athletes of St Bede's School, with a total of 104 points. Second was Brislington Enterprise College with 76 points, followed by Stoke Dameral (Plymouth) and City Academy School with 62 points and Whitefield School with 58 points. The St Bede's pupils were outright winners in five of the events - Badminton, Chess, Cycling, Orienteering, Table Tennis and Athletics. They also finished second in Basketball and Football.

It was a great Panathlon result for the whole school, reinforcing their position this year as the top Panathlon school in the South West, a great honour for the school. They will now go forward to represent the area in the National finals in London in July, where they will compete against the top Panathlon schools from other cities.

Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol through the Centre for Sport, Exercise and Health and Widening Participation Office have generously contributed to the funding of the 2005 Bristol event. The event would not have been able to take place without trained Community Sport Volunteers from Filton Academy and the University of Bristol.

Sarah Troke, from the University of Bristol's Sports Development Unit, said: "The University was proud to host and support such a fantastic sporting event, which gives local youngsters the chance to experience such a range of competitive sport that is so strongly underpinned by fair play and sportsmanship."

The winners of the Fair Play trophy, awarded to the pupils of the school who performed in the most sporting manner on the day were Brislington Enterprise College.

Commenting on the result, Vince Curnock, Head of PE at St Bede's, said: "We gave a good account of ourselves and are very pleased to have won. The competition against the other schools was fantastic, I thought all the contestants did well and showed how sport played in a framework of competitiveness and fair play can be fun as well as really challenging. It is a real honour for us to represent the South West in the national finals later this year."