UK School Games

The Sainsbury’s UK School Games were held in Gateshead, Newcastle and Sunderland and they included ten sports – athletics, badminton, fencing, gymnastics, hockey, judo, swimming, table tennis, volleyball and road cycling.

I travelled over for the start of the games on Thursday to support the Northern Ireland team and also to see the sports facilities in the area.  During the opening proceedings at the Gateshead International Stadium I met Jeremy Hunt MP, the UK Minister for Culture, Media and Sport.  I also met Justin King, the chief executive of Sainsbury plc, who sponsored the games. It was interesting to hear from him about the process by which Sainsbury came to the decision that this was the right sponsorship for the company.

The Northern Ireland participants were certainly giving of their best and they were most enthusiastic in supporting their team mates. Some of them had obviously borrowed songs and chants from the Northern Ireland football supporters.