THERE was plenty to celebrate when the borough’s young sports stars competed in the Greater Manchester Summer School Games.

Sporting youngsters were among some 2,500 schoolchildren from across the region taking part in the tournament, which consisted of 21 competitions in 13 sports and activities.

Eight venues hosting the competition, with the games opening with a special ceremony at The Regional Athletics Arena.

The opening ceremony featured performances and opportunities for the children to get moving, with The Daily MileTM as well as enjoying the RPM Bike Display; stilt walkers and jugglers from Circus House and Drumz Aloud which combines music, numeracy and physical activity to enhance learning in primary schools.

Medallists from Bury were: Prestwich Arts for coming second in the Year Seven/Eight Quadkids; Greenhill Primary School coming top in Under 10s girls mini-soccer, Lowercroft Primary School for coming second in the same tournament; Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School which came first in Year Five/Six rounders and Bury Church of England High School which came second in the Year Seven/Eight dodgeball competition in the boys match.

Sara Tomkins, CEO at GreaterSport, organisers of the Greater Manchester School Games, said:”The event showcased the strong values that our young people hold.

“They demonstrated not only their sporting capabilities but also the Spirit of the Games by giving it a go and showing their passion, honesty, respect, teamwork, determination and self-belief which all shone through in their performances.

“Congratulations to every young person that took part, you have done yourselves and your schools proud!”

This year, competitions have been introduced to provide opportunities for all children, regardless of their ability or confidence, to be able to participate in a mass sporting event. This included some competitions, such as ultimate frisbee and handball, being scored by their peers using Spirit Score Cards which are based on the School Games values; passion, honesty, respect, teamwork, determination and self-belief.

An array of sporting competitions took place with children taking part in dodgeball, football, goalball, golf, netball, new age kurling, rounders, softball, tennis and quadkids athletics.

The games also welcomed current and former athletes to inspire the children, with Olympian Andy Turner and Special Olympian Kiera Byland who met participants across many of the different competitions, with Kiera handing out medals.

Visit The Bury Times website for more pictures.