Southampton hosts biggest ever Active Na …

Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre was the venue of Active Nation’s best-attended Kids TRYathlon to date, with a whopping 525 children aged 8-11 from seven local schools taking part in another fabulous day of sporting activity.

The pupils of Oakwood School, Hollybrook Junior School, Springhill Primary School, Bassett Green Primary School, Ludlow Junior School, Heathfield Junior School and St John’s Primary School, as well as local home-schooled children, were all invited to take part in an action-packed day featuring 17 sport and activity taster sessions delivered by local sports clubs and coaches.

This TRYathlon, Active Nation’s unique initiative to get youngsters to try their hand at sporting activities that they had perhaps not come across before, is just one of six that are happening this summer across the country, with the charity working with over 3,000 pupils from over 50 schools in the process.

And this one was particularly special, with every single child enjoying a 30-minute, non-competitive taster session of each of the 17 sports on offer. Popular sports such as football, cricket and tennis were combined with the frenetic pace of dodgeball, the controlled art form that is karate, and even the plain fun tobogganing out on the ski slope. It was, of course, ensured that time remained for the staple event of all TRYathlons: the triathlon, involving an assault course kindly provided by British Military Fitness, a 1km cycle and a 400m run around our athletics track. And as a reward at the end of a no doubt exhausting but exhilarating day (or at least better than being stuck in a classroom!), each child was presented with a medal and an Active Nation goodie bag, including details about the local sports clubs represented, a health bar from our friends at Decathlon, and a very fetching Active Nation buff from our Active Essentials range.

The day was also made special by the donation of enough bottles of water by drinks company Britvic to keep our young stars hydrated with a good bulk bottled water for them, the presence of the Mayor of Southampton (who was very impressed), and the generosity of 25 students of the British Military Preparatory School, who acted as chaperones for each group of pupils, guiding them between activities with typical military precision. Our thanks go to all of them!

The final word, however, must go to all of the teachers, governors and pupils who sent us so many kind messages to our team for their “excellent work and organisation,” for “letting us try out many different activities we wouldn’t usually get to experience” and that they “look forward to hearing from you re: next year’s event.” Well, you know what? We can’t wait either!

• Posted on: Monday, August 19th, 2013 by Bita Rezaei