16 schools from across Leeds came together in December for a cross cluster football tournament organised by Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Active School Coordinators, providing two weeks of inter-school competition for over 160 primary school pupils
Taking place at Crawshaw Academy, the finals event saw schools pitted against each other in three pools based on ability, giving everyone a chance to win some silverware on the day.
St Bartholomew’s, Castleton Primary and Raynville all took home the spoils on the day representing different clusters across the city, where they receive regular coaching and PE delivery from the Leeds Rhinos Foundation.
The cross-cluster tournament was the first of it’s kind delivered by Leeds Rhinos Foundation, giving schools the chance to compete in competition outside of school and against schools from different areas of the city.
Active Schools Locality Coordinator Gavyn Lightowler said:
“Working with our own clusters and providing extra-curricular competition is now an important part of our roles, to give pupils the chance to take what they are learning in school to an outside setting where they can compete with other local schools.
“With our tournament at Crawshaw we could extend this further bringing together schools from different parts of the city through myself, Tom and Andy which increases the healthy competition and school collaboration in Leeds.”
Graham Jones of Castleton Primary from the Armley Cluster who were one of the winners on the night commented on the appeal of cross cluster events:
“Castleton Primary School took part in the first cross-cluster tournament at the end of last term. Despite the horrendous weather conditions on both nights the children had a great time. They really enjoyed challenging themselves against schools from across West Leeds.
“It was great to see so many school involved and the standard of football was superb. The tournament was really well organised by the staff from The Leeds Rhinos Foundation and I hope this is the start of many events in the future that we can be involved in.”
With as many as 16 schools involved in the competition over two weeks the competition organisation from Leeds Rhinos Foundation staff has been praised by schools who took part.
Mike Arnold from Horsforth St Margret's said:
"I was really happy with how it was organised, it ran on time and we were given all the information on arrival. Bibs would have made it easier to tell teams apart but I know all the children thoroughly loved it and keep asking for more!"
Ian Larkin from Primrose Hill said:
"It was a fantastic tournament, with lots of competitive football played across two weeks. Our children had a great time and loved the extra opportunity provided by Leeds Rhinos Foundation to play."
James Ince, who is PE Lead at Blenheim Primary added:
"The tournament was a great opportunity for our pupils to challenge themselves and compete at a far higher level than they've previously experienced."