Forget the Olympics, Isle pupils take part in games of their own

With the Olympics well and truly upon us, children from the Isle took part in sporting games all of their own recently.

It wasn’t exactly Rio, but pupils from St Martin’s Primary School in Owston Ferry headed to Hymers College in Hull to compete in the Humber School Games high five netball finals.

Competitor Jack Foreman explained that St Martin’s was one of only two schools from the region to win a place in this prestigious event.

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He said: “We went by mini bus to the final, we had to leave school at 8am. When we arrived, all the other schools were there – there were eight schools altogether who were playing netball.

“There were other sports being played too – tag rugby, tennis and rounders. There were a lot of people there and it was very noisy.”

The St Martin’s team consisted of Jack along with Oliver Phillips, Ewan Barker, Melissa Matthews, Ffion Francis, Hannah Barker, Jackson Swales and April Frogley.

Two pupils from each sport were selected to go on to a stage to do a dance to mark the start of the event, reminiscent of the opening Olympic Games ceremony.

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Melissa Matthews, 11, was chosen from St Martin’s and said: “I felt scared because there were a lot of people watching.”

Jack continued: “I felt really happy that we had got to the finals and very excited for our team. We were all proud that we had made it this far. Every school played seven games on different courts. Each game lasted for 12 minutes, six minutes each way. St Martin’s did especially well in the morning games. During lunch, we enjoyed ourselves on an adventure trail, as well as eating our packed lunches. We couldn’t wait to start playing again.”

At this stage all the Isle children were fired up and 11-year-old Ewan Barker said: “We have to win now.”

Jack added: “At the end of the games, although we had not won all the games we played in, we were happy about how we had performed. Some of the schools we were up against have played netball competitively for much longer than us. I think we did brilliantly.”

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Oliver Phillips, also 11, said: “It was a great game and we played well.”

Jack concluded: “Everyone was very sporting and supported each other. I think we played well and am very proud that we made it to such a big sporting event.”