Witnessing an Olympic event is a once in a life time experience for most people. I was lucky enough to have the chance to see the women's 3m springboard diving semi-finals at the London Summer Olympics on 4th of August 2012. This day was to be remembered as 'Super Saturday' - the day when the British team won most medals.
The event spanned from the 29th of July to the 11th of August at the Aquatic Centre within the Olympic Park and featured 136 athletes representing 25 countries.
Diving was one of the four aquatic sports at the Games (along with swimming, synchronised swimming and polo) and hosted competitions in eight events (men and women events of): 3m springboard, synchronised 3m springboard, 10m platform, and synchronised 10m platform.
As far as the qualifiers were concerned, a nation could have no more than 16 divers qualify (up to eight males and eight females) and could enter up to two divers in individual events and one pair in synchronised events.
On the day, I vividly remember the excitement that gripped the crowd every time an athlete was drawing in breath, preparing to take the plunge. One after the other, 18 divers performed, with only the best 12 advancing to the finals. A flip, twist and a splash - each dive seemed to be over in the blink of an eye.
Not surprisingly, the first two places were claimed by the Chinese (at this event they won 10 medals - 6 of them gold), followed by the representatives of Mexico and Italy.
I cannot say that I became a diving fan (the scoring is too technical for my liking), but that day it felt wonderful to be part of such a special sporting event, a memory that I will treasure forever!
This post was written by Antony Bailey of 7S as part of the Sports Journalists Club! If you would like to get your work published, simply visit the PE Office and enquire within!
Friday 24 February 2017
Wednesday 22 February 2017
Introducing Chingford PE Blog's Newest Initiative - The Sports Journalists Club!
It was mentioned in an earlier post that the Chingford PE Blog would be open to any student wishing to showcase their flair for writing and passion for sports - this led to the creation of the Sports Journalists Club (SJC).
Hype began to build around this opportunity, with students across all year groups encouraged to sign up via a stylistically designed 'Wanted' letter. Although it didn't quite have the buzz around it that a Triwizard Tournament would possess, students were still eager to show their interest, with over 40 names signing up. Thank you to everyone who took the time to put their names down!
Hype began to build around this opportunity, with students across all year groups encouraged to sign up via a stylistically designed 'Wanted' letter. Although it didn't quite have the buzz around it that a Triwizard Tournament would possess, students were still eager to show their interest, with over 40 names signing up. Thank you to everyone who took the time to put their names down!
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| The sign-up sheet, offering pupils a chance to join our ranks! |
The first meeting featured a decent number of students, each one eager to see what the SJC had in store for them. The first task would be centred around creative writing, requiring the students to describe a sporting event they either witnessed or took part in themselves. It was a task to gage the level of interest in writing for the blog, as well as suitability in terms of the individual's writing ability.
The potential for the SJC is enormous, although it will depend on the levels of commitment shown by Chingford students. As long as students are willing to learn, there will be opportunities to visit school games and report as a real journalist would do. Being able to imitate journalistic style is a skill you would usually expect from an A Level student, but with talent as young as Year 7 available at the blog's dispense, we can expect to see many articles appearing in the near future.
Chingford PE Department would also like to offer congratulations to all new members of the SJC, and we look forward to hearing from each and every one of you as the year develops.
The first meeting featured a decent number of students, each one eager to see what the SJC had in store for them. The first task would be centred around creative writing, requiring the students to describe a sporting event they either witnessed or took part in themselves. It was a task to gage the level of interest in writing for the blog, as well as suitability in terms of the individual's writing ability.
The potential for the SJC is enormous, although it will depend on the levels of commitment shown by Chingford students. As long as students are willing to learn, there will be opportunities to visit school games and report as a real journalist would do. Being able to imitate journalistic style is a skill you would usually expect from an A Level student, but with talent as young as Year 7 available at the blog's dispense, we can expect to see many articles appearing in the near future.
Chingford PE Department would also like to offer congratulations to all new members of the SJC, and we look forward to hearing from each and every one of you as the year develops.
Friday 10 February 2017
Year 7 Girls - Basketball Champions!
Chingford PE Department would like to offer a massive congratulations to all girls involved in Chingford's emphatic win over Lammas in the Year 7 basketball final. A hard-fought contest ended in a 16-7 victory, a score line representative of our side's dominance not only on the day, but throughout the tournament as a whole. Jayda-Lea Lewis was voted by an independent panel as the final's MVP, a prestigious award that will stay with her throughout her time at Chingford. Many congratulations to Jayda-Lea!
Ms. Burridge, who led the side to glory in the absence of Ms. Culverhouse, was thrilled with the girls' collective performance.
'The team spirit amongst the girls was the winning factor in this match; they showed grit, determination and willingness to fight for their medals. They should be very proud of themselves.', Ms. Burridge stated. 'Let's hope they can carry this rich vein of form into next year's tournament!'.
These strong words of praise offered by Ms. Burridge came as a result of the team's resilience throughout the year - after going unbeaten for the entire season, the year 7 side finished strongly with some excellent performances in the knock-out stages. In keeping with the Chingford Foundation School ethos of hard work and determination, this fledgling young side will continue to work just as hard next year in the hopes of retaining their fully deserved title of champions!
The PE Department would also like to offer its congratulations to the year 10 girls team, who finished runners up in their tournament after a narrow defeat to basketball rivals Lammas. The game was lost in more than controversial circumstances, with Chingford scoring to tie the game in the dying seconds, only for the referee to rule out the basket for travel. Despite this, the girls can be extremely proud of their efforts throughout the season.
Ms. Burridge, who led the side to glory in the absence of Ms. Culverhouse, was thrilled with the girls' collective performance.
'The team spirit amongst the girls was the winning factor in this match; they showed grit, determination and willingness to fight for their medals. They should be very proud of themselves.', Ms. Burridge stated. 'Let's hope they can carry this rich vein of form into next year's tournament!'.
These strong words of praise offered by Ms. Burridge came as a result of the team's resilience throughout the year - after going unbeaten for the entire season, the year 7 side finished strongly with some excellent performances in the knock-out stages. In keeping with the Chingford Foundation School ethos of hard work and determination, this fledgling young side will continue to work just as hard next year in the hopes of retaining their fully deserved title of champions!
The PE Department would also like to offer its congratulations to the year 10 girls team, who finished runners up in their tournament after a narrow defeat to basketball rivals Lammas. The game was lost in more than controversial circumstances, with Chingford scoring to tie the game in the dying seconds, only for the referee to rule out the basket for travel. Despite this, the girls can be extremely proud of their efforts throughout the season.
Friday 3 February 2017
Futsal Fridays
Former PE Technician and aspiring teacher Mr. Povey- known for the creation of 'Futsal Fridays' - returned to the school this half term, bringing with him the excitement of the beautiful, South-American born footballing variant.
Continuing with many of the same pupils as last year, Mr. Povey invited his year 8s to take part in the weekly indoor tournaments, culminating in a semi final and final each week. Teams are split into eight per side, taking it in turns to play one another in three minute matches. The turnout last week reached over forty students, a new record for the internal competition. This trend in popularity could see as many as fifty students turn out for this week's matches, as word-of-mouth spreads throughout the year group.
One of the most important facets of Futsal Friday is the fact that anyone in the year group can attend. This had created a diverse skill level, with members of the school football team competing against those who play on a purely casual level at school. It's exciting to officiate, as Mr. Povey alludes to, with mixed ability teams creating tense, highly-contested games.
'It's great to see so many students competing', beamed a proud Mr. Povey. 'It's certainly a lot more technical than regular football, and we try to demonstrate that to the kids.'.
Mr. Povey's biggest innovation is the use of an actual futsal ball rather than an indoor football. Since they are weighted heavier, the focus is on ground-based gameplay, emphasising the need for skilfulness and craft to unlock opposition defences. In fairness, it would come as a welcome change if this was implemented nationwide - there is far too much pressure on kids launching the ball as far as they can kick it.
Chingford PE Department would like to remind all year 8 students that as long as their behaviour is good, this club will run every Friday in the Clive Moore Sports Hall from now until the end of the year - so come down after school and get involved!
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