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Football stars shine at Games
Thriller final at Crystal Palace a fitting climax to a great London Youth Games
THE flair of Camden’s footballers dazzled at the London Youth Games on Saturday as the under-14 team finished second of 32 London boroughs.
Camden made it all the way to the final at Crystal Palace where they narrowly missed out to winners, Brent, in a tight match that ended 1-0.
The young footballers, who all learned their trade in the Camden and Islington Youth League, achieved the highest position of any of the borough’s sporting teams.
Their silver medal-winning display came at the final weekend of action in the London Youth Games, which has been running across the capital for the last three weeks.
Camden entered 34 teams in 27 sports and finished 21st of 33 boroughs, with 12 teams making it into the top nine placings.
Many of those young athletes are products of school sides, sports clubs set up in the borough in recent years and Camden Council sports development team sessions.
Camden Gymnastics Club; Camden Basketball Club and Camden Fencing Club – both supported by Camden Sports Council – plus sports development sessions in indoor rowing, aquathlon, triathlon and cycling all played a part in the borough’s successes, as did Swiss Cottage and Acland Burghley schools.
“It shows that you can get increased participation and get standards up and hopefully it’s something that will continue,” said Camden Council’s sports manager John Mann.
Among the 12 top-nine finishers were the artistic boys gymnasts (third), floor and vault boys and girls gymnasts (sixth and seventh), girl basketballers (fifth), mixed fencers (sixth) and indoor rowers (eighth).
The triathlon and aquathlon athletes and cyclists, coached by sports development’s Mike Jackson, were seventh and ninth respectively, achievements made all the more remarkable given that some do not own bikes and they train in Hillingdon because there is no safe cycle circuit in Camden.
The disability girls football team (fifth) and boccia team (ninth) attend Swiss Cottage School and the tag rugby team who powered to eighth are from Acland Burghley.
The borough’s primary school pupils were also in action as competitors from Camden School Sports Association competitions represented the borough at Crystal Palace in the Mini Games.
The netball team, from New End School, and hockey squad, who train at a weekly sports development session at Talacre, proved that practice can pay off.
Camden recorded its best ever finishes in those sports of fifth and 10th respectively – a massive leap on 25th and 21st placings recorded last year.
The athletics team achieved an eighth placed finish and the gymnasts were also eighth, with the football team taking 12th. |
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