Panathlon have been busy this week in London with 3 back-to-back competitions at St Paul’s Academy (South East London), Frenford Clubs (East London) then Hendon Leisure Centre (North London).
In all we have seen 263 competitors take part in three first round Multi-Sports competitions. The competitions were supported by 59 leaders from St Paul’s (S.E.) Seven Kings (East) and Whitefields & Westlea (North)
In the South-East London competition, Bromley and Greenwich are through to the regional champions finals. They played Kensington & Chelsea and Bexley, who are through to the plate competition. See results here. The Bromley team are looking strong again this year and won the competition by 6 points to Greenwich, who also had significant success, in Table Cricket & Kurling sharing the gold medals with Bromley amd Bexley, who won Boccia. (Bromley team pictured above in Blue!)
In the East London competition, Barking & Dagenham (B&D) and Redbridge are through to the regional champions finals, with Havering and Waltham Forest through in the plate. (Results here) B&D dominated the competition almost gaining the perfect 60/60 score taking gold in all but the Table Cricket, resulting in a total points score of 58 out of 60. This performance bodes well for B&D, last years London finalist, winning the competition by 10 points over an impressive Redbridge team. (B&D successful team pictured right in green) 
In the North London competition, Enfield and Haringey are through to the regional champions finals, with Harrow and Barnet through to the plate. (Results here) Enfield were strong and dominated the competition, with the 3 other teams being very close, finishing with 40, 38 and 36 points from second to fourth.
Outstanding team performances of the week included,
- Enfield’s Boccia team, winning all their matches and scoring 14 points
- Bromley’s Polybat team, winning all 4 of their matches and only dropping 1 set (11/12 sets played)
- Bexley’s Boccia team, winning all their matches
- B&D’s Polybat team, winning all their matches and sets (9/9)
- Haringey’s Table Cricket team, scoring the only score of 300+ in all matches played this week
Enfield Successful team seen below –
Outstanding individual athletics performances of the week included,
- Tommy & Taylor from Enfield and Reegan from B&D scoring 56 in the Precision Bean Bag
- Martin from Barnet’s wheelchair slalom of 32 seconds
- Bolly from B&D standing long jump of 2.34 metres
- Tom from B&D seated shot putt of 10.38 metres
“The students had a really great time and we were really pleased to see that many of them – especially our Kurling Group – were able to organise themselves (this group had virtually no intervention from staff at any point – apart from encouragement of course!). The Panathlon is all helping towards their gaining independence!” Matthew Brown, The Glebe School, Bromley.
”It’s our third competition with Panathlon this year. We have done the Football, the Swimming and now the Multisport. The children are getting more confident, they socialise more, get to go out of school more, as a result of Panathlon.” Maria Papazoglou, Whitefields, Waltham Forest
“This is the first time I have attend a Panathlon event with our school. It has been a wonderful experience for all the staff and the students. The team are friendly, well organised and fun with presenting the medals to the children. I have really enjoyed it. Thank you!” Nicole Monahan, Parkwood Hall, K&C
“So glad we came today. My daughter Tansy is in year 7 and has had a great time, you can see the smile on her face from a mile away. Everyone has been friendly and welcoming. It’s been so positive and amazing for her to feel accepted and included in this fantastic event. We would love to come again to spend time with such keen, energetic and highly enthusiastic young people and staff!” Rakie Ayola, Greenwich
“Our pupils are getting more and more excited about the Panathlon. It has well and truly become one of the most important days on our calendar for them!” Martin Owers, Seven Kings, Redbridge
The schools involved this week are:
Bexley = Cleeve Park
Bromley = Glebe, Marjory McClure
Greenwich = St Pauls, Charlton Park, The John Roan
K&C = Parkwood Hall
B&D = Jo Richardson, Eastbrook, Trinity, All Saints, Robert Clack, Sydney Russell, Dagenham Park, Barking Dagenham College
Havering = Hall Mead, Ravensbourne
Waltham Forest = William Morris, Brookfield House, Whitefields
Redbridge = Seven Kings, Little Heath
Barnet = Northway, Oakleigh, Mapledown, Whitefields
Harrow = Shaftesbury, Kingsley, Woodlands
Enfield = Westlea
Haringey = Riverside, The Vale
