“I know you want photos showing off what the disadvantaged students are doing, John, but I can’t tell the difference!”
said Paul Sanwell, photographer extraordinaire, unwittingly making my day! Because that is exactly what we the PowerHouseGames are all about – everyone just playing and having fun together!
It was a pleasure to link up with the Cambridge University Hockey Club for the first time. A massive thanks to Ed Tyler and Frankie Harley for making it happen. We welcomed for the first time too, St Bede’s Inter-Church School whose enthusiasm, laughs and cheers, hopefully show they will return for more. And it was great to see The Perse School back after a Covid break, with of course, our friends from Castle Special School. It was a different class to last week, so they too are spreading the benefit around.
In addition to the usual games of boccia, new age kurling, goalball, walking football and now an embedded favourite – sitting netball, we tried out floor lacrosse for the first time. Designed by a father of a disabled boy who wanted to play hockey but lacked the motor skills to control the ball with a stick, it uses baskets to trap the ball on the floor. We adapted the rules to eliminate tackling and reduce the damage to the baskets – even so Patrick, our wonderful volunteer, spent most of his time putting the sticks/baskets back together and handing them back to players! The games were competitive and fun as I hope you can see from the smiles in the excellent photos.
To conclude we slipped in a bonus game of sitting netball with all participating: greens and blues versus the rest. The chaos was multiplied when referee Steve (another stalwart volunteer) threw in a second ball. I reckon this match set a world record as we were 30 a-side!
These games bring to an end our Spring season of University PowerHouseGames with four excellent mornings. You can read about each of the others below. Power2Inspire is definitely now back on the road after Covid and we are planning a big day at Wilberforce Road Sports Ground (the home of the university athletics track and hockey pitches) in the summer, working around exams, so if your school would like to join in the fun do get in touch below.
Inspired? Then Get Involved!
Would your university sports team, or school love to be involved in a PowerHouseGames? Could your company support our mission by volunteering at one of our PowerHouseGames? If so, then we would love to hear from you. We are also always looking out for people willing to fundraise for Power2Inspire through their own inspiring means. Or, you could volunteer individually at one of our events, or you could give to the ongoing work of Power2Inspire. There are SO MANY WAYS we can all help to ensure “no on else is left on the bench!” Click the button here to find out more.
With special thanks to Paul Sanwell at OP Photographic for his incredible photography on the day. All photos used with permission
