Schools Case Studies
Birmingham Schools IRC
Date Added: Thu, 24 Jul 2008
Related tags: Competition, Birmingham
Tuesday 1st July saw one on of the most popular and competitive school events of the year in the form of the annual Birmingham Schools Indoor Rowing Championships which this year was led by the new Competition Management team. Nearly 40 schools descended on Nechells Community Sports Centre during National School Sports Week bringing with them over 650 pupils from all corners of the city to compete both as a team and individually. This was the third time that the Birmingham Schools have set up a mass indoor rowing event for their students, and the events continues to develop every year.
Teams of four competed over 2000m in a relay style with the aim of covering the distance in the shortest possible time. Individuals raced according the to Amateur Rowing Associations (ARA) guidelines as appropriate to their age. Highlights of the day include the new British record set by James Davies in the year 8 category and the dominance of the Colmers School who finished in the top 3 of every eligible event bar one.
Not only were pupils able to compete against their peers but also gain valuable tips from the ARA coaches who were in attendance to run coaching clinics for pupils throughout the day. This all contributed to a fantastic spectacle of indoor rowing and reinforces the huge role that rowing now plays in school sport within Birmingham.
Indoor rowing has been introduced into over 100 primary schools and almost every secondary in the Birmingham area, with each secondary having at least 5 machines. Funding for these machines has come from projects with Heart of Birmingham teaching PCT, Steve Redgrave Trust, Sport England and School Sports Partnerships with the support of Birmingham City Council.
The success of the event and the scale of the projects reflect the commitment of the Birmingham area to benefit their pupils through the participation, healthy living and competition that indoor rowing provides.
Thank you to all of the partners that made the day such a success:
- Concept2
- Birmingham Competition Managers
- Amateur Rowing Association
- Birmingham Schools Rowing Association
- Nechells Community Sports Centre