Bold youngsters from across the region sparkle and dazzle during the Golden Fortnight of Sport.

THE all-girls team of Eskdale School cleaned up in the volleyball competition as the North Yorkshire School Games moved indoors to York St John University.

Teams of four spiked and smashed their way through the competition until Eskdale, representing Ryedale and Whitby, emerged victorious. St John Fisher’s School of Harrogate were second with Ermysteds Grammar, from Craven, in third.

A swift turnaround saw the start of the badminton, which saw a number of county players competing against each other in a tournament of a very high standard.

Many matches went to the wire but it was Ermysteds who won the boys’ section, followed by Harrogate’s Rossett High School and Boroughbridge School in third.

Rossett went one better in the girls’ competition, keeping Skipton Girls School in second and York’s All Saints School in third.

Jo Bonsels, school sports co-ordinator for Rossett School, said: “The North Yorkshire School Games’ badminton event was a fantastic experience for our students.

“It provided them with an opportunity to compete at a level that they normally wouldn’t get chance to. There were some very good teams playing, in what was a well-balanced and organised event.”

Elsewhere in the games, showcased as the county’s Golden Fortnight of Sport, the York Ebor team won the Year 5 and 6 Kwik Cricket title at York Cricket Club’s Clifton Park ground, while the secondary schools’ disability cricket trophy went to Mowbray School, representing Hambleton.

The finals, held tomorrow at Queen Margaret’s School in Escrick from 9am, sees young athletes compete in a whole host of sports including pentathlon, hockey and rugby union.