LAUNCESTON College and Budehaven Community School have been named as joint hosts for the 2016/17 Cornwall Schools Games finals, the first time the finals have been held in the east of the county since its inception in 2011!

On Friday, June 30, over 3,000 budding young sports stars from across Cornwall will come to the school’s to take part in over 40 events including swimming, dance, cricket, netball, surfing, skate and scoot, bowls plus many more.

The 2016/17 Cornwall School Games is being organised in partnership by Cornwall Sports Partnership, local school games organisers, Cornwall Schools, headteachers and the different national governing bodies of sport through a local organising committee.

Launceston College principal, Bryan Maywood, said: “The Cornwall School Games is a superb opportunity for Launceston College to host excellence in sporting achievement and effort. We are proud to be chosen and look forward to the coming year of preparation. We hope we can make the games the best they can possibly be.”

None of this however would be possible without the 200 young volunteers who will be trained throughout the year to become school games makers.

Recently appointed Budehaven Community School headteacher, Tracey Reynolds, said: “We are very excited to be co-hosts of the Cornwall School Games alongside Launceston College.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for pupils of all ages to demonstrate the importance of ’taking part’ by competing, celebrating their talents and skills, and participating in a multitude of ways in the event. We are looking forward to a great day!”

If you’d like to be involved in the games or find out more, visit the website at www.cornwallsportspartnership.co.uk/cornwallschoolgames.

In other Cornwall School Games news, funding for the Cornwall School Games has been confirmed until 2020 following a review.

First piloted in 2011 in Cornwall where 1,000 students from 32 schools competed in a number of sporting events, the school games now takes place in all counties across the country.

Over 20,000 Cornish primary school and secondary school students from 200 Cornish Schools compete each year in qualifiers from September to June to qualify for the Cornwall School Games Finals.

Set across four levels nationally, the school games framework is fully inclusive and has been designed to increase the amount of competitive sport taking place across the school year from class versus class and school versus school, through to countywide sports festivals and culminating in a national finals event.

Rachel Knott, lead officer for children, young people and education at the Cornwall Sports Partnership, said: “We are delighted that funding will continue, and thousands more children will get the opportunity to take part in a programme that aims to inspire young people to be the very best they can be.”