On Thursday 26th June Eston Leisure Centre in Middlesbrough hosted the second Tees Valley Panathlon. There were 60 children competing from 4 surrounding boroughs of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Darlington. The day was part of the wider School Games programme, at the same venue, so we had many visitors from other sports coming to watch and see Panathlon for the first time.

Word was spreading quickly how great the action was at the Panathlon Challenge and we had many high profile guests throughout the day to help award medals, including Commenwealth Silver Medal Cyclist David Daniel, Olympic Gymnast Craig Heap and local MP Ian Swales.

The day served as an introduction to Panathlon and the sports for the majority of children who attended. From the start of the competition you could tell how much all the children were enjoying themselves with an incredible atmosphere in the sportshall! All teams were encouraging each other and any child who had already finished their sport would find a member of their team to support.

After a fierce day of competition the winning team was Hartlepool with 48 point with Darlington second with 42 points, Middlesborough with 40 points and Stockton with 38 points. See the full set of results here. A big thank you to all the teams for making it a fantastic day and to all the leaders from Egglescliffe School who did a great job leading all the events!

Ian Swales, local MP said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for all of these children to compete against other schools and I look forward to seeing more of Panathlon and its development in the Northern Region.”

Amy Carr, one of the Young Leaders: ” I had a great day full of lovely people and a new experience for me. It was such an amazing experience which I will remember forever and take forward with me. I would absolutely love to do something like this again!”

A teacher from Whitehouse School in Stockton said, “An excellent day, great participation from all of our students and kept them engaged. We would love there to be a primary event in this area in the future.”

Thanks to our funders