School Sport: Once in a lifetime chance for youth

The chance of a lifetime is being offered to York's young sporting hopefuls by organisers of the Millennium Youth Games.

The Lottery-funded festival of sport, to be held in Southampton in August, will be one of the biggest sporting events ever held in the UK.

And York-area children, including sporting novices, can be part of it.

The Games will be preceded by regional events across the country including the North Yorkshire Millennium Youth Games which will take place in York and Harrogate in May.

Those selected to represent York at the county Games could then go on to earn a place in the county team for the national event.

Youngsters wishing to take part are being invited to attend Millennium coaching programmes which are being held in York over the next couple of months.

Sports on offer are mixed athletics for Year 8 pupils, girls and boys basketball (Year 8), girls football (Years 9 and 10), girls and boys hockey (Years 9 and 10), netball (Years 9 and 10, girls only), girls tag rugby (Years 8 and 9), tennis (Year 8, mixed) and swimming (Years 8 and 9) which is also opened to children with disabilities.

The venues include Burnholme Community College, College of Ripon and York St John, Huntington Secondary School, Fulford Imphal Barracks, Queen Anne's School, Lowfield School, Archbishop Holgate School and the Barbican.

The events and age groupings represent those selected by MYG organisers with the aim of encouraging fun rather than competition.

Children who have reached county level or equivalent are not eligible to enter which will give a rare chance for beginners and up-and-coming youngsters to earn representative honours.

At the end of each course the team coaches will select the squads that will represent the City of York at the North Yorkshire MYG.

City of York Council have sent details and application forms into schools during he last week and anybody wishing to take part should return their completed forms by Thursday, January 27.

Battling York fall to Bradford

Bradford proved too strong for a battling York Under 11s side at All Saints School.

The game - which counted for both West Yorkshire League and Cup - saw Bradford come back from being a goal down at half-time to win.

Clifton Without's Michael Warriner put York ahead from a rebound after a run and shot by James Ellerby produced a good save by the Bradford goalkeeper.

Lakeside's Andy Fowler had made some good saves to keep Bradford at bay, but after the West Yorkshire side equalised, they finished the stronger side.

Dale Lumley (Hob Moor) had an excellent debut in centre midfield and centre back Adam Holt (Dringhouses) also did well.

The City Boys' U12's and U13's teams are scheduled to entertain Huddersfield on Saturday.

U12's: J Siswick (Joseph Rowntree), M Quarton (Archbishop), M Marlay, I Williamson, J Marley (Fulford), L Gargan (Burnholme), B Ledgeway, N Ferguson, I Gavin (All Saints), A Evans, B Bellah (Lowfield), M Featherstone (Tadcaster), C Hopkins (Brayton), M Bell (Millthorpe).

U13's: T Heslop, C Smith, J Kew (All Saints'), A Reid (Manor), D Porter, C Dean (Selby HS), P Dodd, C Chandler, A Flint (Huntington), D Hartas, G Newton, L Losson (Canon Lee), A Wood, D Huntington (Barlby), A Monger, O Hutchinson, (Fulford), N Kamara, L Bootland (Millthorpe), G Hird (Archbishop's), S Pinder (Brayton).

The first batch of primary league football fixtures of the new Millennium are due to be completed by Saturday, February 5. Matches are:

Primary League A: Dringhouses v Clifton, Haxby Road v Westfield, Robert Wilkinson v Riverside.

Primary League B: Hob Moor v Huntington, Acomb v Scarcroft, English Martyrs v Poppleton Road.

Primary League C: Appleton Roebuck v Oaken Grove, St Barnabas v Osbaldwick, Park Grove v St Lawrence.

Primary League D: Woodthorpe v Kingsway, Carr v Hempland.

Primary League E: Wigginton v Fulford, Copmanthorpe v Tang Hall, Lakeside v Ralph Butterfield.

Primary League F: St Aelred's v Derwent, Skelton v Knavesmire.

The secondary league fixtures start a fortnight later and are due to be completed by Saturday, February 19. The matches are:

U12 League: All Saints' v Millthorpe, Archbishop's v Huntington, Burnholme v Canon Lee, Tadcaster v Fulford, Manor v Joseph Rowntree, Lowfield v Oaklands.

U13 League: All Saints' v Millthorpe, Archbishop v Huntington, Burnholme v Canon Lee, Tadcaster v Fulford, Manor v J Rowntree, Lowfield v Oaklands.

U14 League: Millthorpe v All Saints, Huntington v Archbishop, Canon Lee v Burnholme, Fulford v Tadcaster, Joseph Rowntree v Manor.

U15 League: All Saints' v Millthorpe, Huntington v Archbishop, Fulford v Tadcaster, Joseph Rowntree v Manor, Oaklands v Lowfield, Fulford v Tadcaster.

U16 League: Huntington v Archbishop, Burnholme v Canon Lee, Tadcaster v Fulford, Oaklands v Lowfield, Manor v Joseph Rowntree.

North Yorkshire Schools' netball teams play Cumbria at home on Saturday.

Under 14's: Anneri Lamprecht (Stokesely), Charlotte Boothroyd, Laura Smith, Sarah Copley (Rossett School), Lorraine Waudby, Daniella Colquhoun, Nicola Bailey, Natalie Wadsworth (Joseph Rowntree), Jo Jenkins, (Harrogate GS), Emma Gill (Oaklands), Amy Bristow, Emma Watson (All Saints').

Under U16's: Liz Davies, Gemma Shaw, Debra Slater, Helen Cordell (Joseph Rowntree), Ellie Hoyle (All Saints') Sally Howes, (Manor), Kirsty Saint (Stokesley), Phillippa Tindall, Victoria Gill, (St John Fisher), Charlotte Evans, Janine Lumley (King James), Rachel Hill (Granby HS).

Under U19's: Frankie Hayes, Lizzy Pickup, Angela Hetherton, (Huntington), Chloe Graham, Faye Pahby, Amy Cunnington, Gemma Grant, Amy Snow, (Joseph Rowntree), Clare Farrow, Charlotte Moore, Sally Dodgson, Fiona Kemp, Claire Marcroft, (King James), Emily Maguire (St John Fisher), Melissa Moran (St Peter's).

RUGBY UNION

Howsham Hall School's rugby union side, near Malton, is enjoying another great season.

They have won 12 of their 13 games this season, scoring 521 points and conceding only 74.

The only match they lost was 27-22 to St Mary's Hall, the junior school of Stonyhurst College.

Having had a successful season in the North, the team, whose members are all under the age of 13, is off on tour next week.

They have games lined up against Port Regis School in Dorset, Loughborough Grammar in Leicestershire and Mount St Mary's, Sheffield.

After further matches in North Yorkshire, the sevens season starts and Howsham will host a competition on February 23 and take part in other events at Terrington Hall, Durham, Mowden Hall, Northumberland; Oratory School, Berkshire; Hurworth House, Stockton and at the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens in London, where Howsham reached the semi-final two years ago.

Girl power takes centre stage at City

Girl footballers will take centre stage at Bootham Crescent on Saturday when York City entertain Torquay United.

They will be representing Longman's Hill, Selby, in City's Five-a-Side Schools Cup against York's St George's RC School as part of the pre-match entertainment.

The last game in the competition, played before City's game against Mansfield was packed with incident.

Scott Milling put Poppleton Road ahead, but Woodthorpe had an equaliser ruled out on the stroke of half time by referee Wayne Hall, the York City full-back, as he had blown his whistle just before the ball entered the net.

l The first six primary to book their place in the York City Football in the Community six-a-side Predator Cup finals night are Dunnington, Copmanthorpe, Woodthorpe, Westfield Langton and Hempland schools

Some 40 schools throughout the York and district area have entered the competition with just two more places available for the final, to be staged at the University of York on Tuesday, January 25.

The final eight teams will be divided into two groups on the night with the winners of each group meeting to decide the overall winner, who then go forward to a regional final.

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