Two athletes from Harrogate have been selected to compete for the Yorkshire squad in Netball at the 2018 School Games – a national multi-sport event for the UK’s most talented school-age athletes taking place at Loughborough University from 30 August to 2 September.
Libby Bruce, 15, from Spofforth, attends Gateways School and plays for Leeds Athletic Netball Club. She has plenty of competitive experience, having played in the 2017 Club National Finals and the Yorkshire Regionals.
Freya Sugarman, also 15, goes to Harrogate Grammar School and is a member of Ripon Rockets. She has previously played regional level netball and was successfully selected to play for the Yorkshire Team.
Over 1,400 athletes will compete across 11 sports at the School Games, five of which include disability disciplines. This year the School Games has introduced four new sports (Canoeing & Rowing, Laser Run, Netball and Triathlon). The event will give young people, across a variety of different sports, an experience of high-level competition in a multi-sport environment similar to an Olympic or Paralympic Games.
The duo will be following in the footsteps of some of Britain’s biggest sporting stars who have competed at the event before going on to senior international success. Previous competitors include Paralympic champions Hannah Cockroft, Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock, Olympic champion Adam Peaty, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and sprinter Adam Gemili.
At the event the athletes will experience the excitement of competing at the highest level. They will live in a dedicated Athletes’ Village on the Loughborough University campus, take part in a School Games ceremony and perform in front of huge crowds of spectators.
Ali Oliver, Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Sport Trust, said:
The School Games National Finals provide a great opportunity for talented young athletes like Libby and Freya. Competitors get a real taste of what it’s like to be part of a world-class sporting event at the amazing sporting venues of Loughborough University, and the event is a great way to see our future sporting champions in action today.
The 2018 School Games is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England and Home Country Sports Councils and is delivered by the Youth Sport Trust.
