Thursday 25^th June 2026 – What an incredible morning! Today we hosted the ‘Spirit of the Games Rowing’ challenge, supporting the Strength of Spirit Games on Plymouth Hoe. With the temperature set to reach incredible highs today, we moved the rowing machines into the shade of the marquee with some industrial style fans so we were all sorted. Each year the British Armed Forces, supported by Plymouth City Council and the Royal Marines Charity, host a rehabilitation triathlon for veterans of the armed forces. The Plymouth School Sports Partnership organise and host an accompanying event for children from military families. 6 children from each school were invited along to take part in 3 different challenges: a 100m sprint/a 2 minute row and a 6 minute team relay challenge. With school closures due to temperatures we had 13 schools attend today but it did nothing to dull any noise and excitement – the marquee was absolutely buzzing with excitement.

Once again we were supported by an amazing group of Sports Leaders from Devonport High School for Girls: they greeted the teams on arrival, checked names and led on all of the races. Before we knew it we were underway and the results were coming in thick and fast.  Once all of the races were completed and the numbers were being crunched, our sports leaders gave every child who participated their very own medal, certificate and a goodie bag (courtesy of Samworth Brothers). Making the most of the shade, we stayed in the marquee to announce the winners (insert drum roll please)…Congratulations to Emily and Harry (both from Elburton  Primary) for rowing 100m in the fastest time and Emily being fastest overall. Harry also took the top prize for rowing the greatest distance in 2mins for the boys and congratulations to Betsy (St. Andrew’s) for winning this round in the Girls category.

To calculate the overall winning team, we combined all of their teams’ individual distances over 2 minutes with their team relay distance. A huge congratulations to the team from Elburton who were the overall winners on the day and the recipients of the coveted shield. Well done to everyone who took part today, it was incredible to see wo many smiling faces from children enjoying  being physically active and competing. Once we had all enjoyed some snacks from the Samworth team, schools were invited to stick around to take part in some of the other activities laid on by the Council: from simulators to field gun, entertainment and music on the main stage. What a fantastic morning! I would like to say a huge thank you to some very special people who helped significantly to make this event such a success: firstly to the sports leaders from DHSG and their teachers – you were amazing and the children had the best time; to my colleagues Jan and Anna for all their help and support throughout the day; to Steven and Sara from Plymouth City Council for everything you do to make this event happen; to the Samworth Brothers for providing the icing on the cake with a goody bag of treats for the children and last but not least to Tom and the team from the Royal Marines. Thank you all so much! I can’t wait to do it all again next year and I hope to see you all there.

Mrs Claire Cormack - Plymouth School Sports Partnership