U17 and bottom of age Rebecca Orrell has had a really good season for Blackburn Harriers. In 2013, she has set PB’s for Hammer (38.48m); Discus (30.06m); Javelin (21.05m) and Shot Putt (8.51m). Her last T & F Fixture for the year was the UK Schools Games and below she gives a flavour of what it was like to be involved.
Full Results HERE
On the 12th -15th September I went to the UK School Games in Sheffield were I represented the North West England in the hammer. This competition was for the elite young athletes to show off their talents, also it wasn’t just for Athletics there were other sports, these were, Judo, Wheelchair Basketball, Rugby Sevens, Fencing, Gymnastics, Swimming, Cycling, Badminton, Table Tennis, Hockey and Volleyball. The teams that went were: England, this consisted of North West, North East, South West, South East and Midlands, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
We went on the Thursday the 12th September on a coach down to Sheffield. When we arrived we were allocated our rooms as we were staying in the halls of residents in Sheffield University. When we were in our rooms we had to put on our England kit, this had to be worn all of the four days we were there………………..
………..As this competition was like a mini Olympics we got to experience what it would feel like to be a member of team GB. Where we were stopping was the athletes village which had the catering facilities for all our meals, an area for kit swap, stalls one which was 100% me.
This was to help us learn about being drug free when competing.
Thursday night we went to the Motorpoint area in Sheffield were we had the opening ceremony. There was performances from a local choir and a gymnastics group. We also found out that team Brazil was going to join in with us on competition days, this was because they will be hosting the next Olympics games in Rio. This was a good experience as it made it feel like a proper Olympic games.
Friday the 13 th September, we had a talk with two of our team mangers who represented team GB and GB Paralympics they were Susan Moncrieff who did the High Jump and Claire Buckle who did the ambulant Shot Put and Discus. This was very inspiring as we found out what it was like to compete at international level, but also the ups and downs of Athletics. After that we had our training day, were we got to go down to Don Valley stadium and have a practise at our individual events before Saturday and Sunday’s competitions……………..
……………Saturday 14th September, was the first day of competition which was great as team North West won a total of 5 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals. It was really good to cheer on our fellow team mates and also it was good to see some of the disabled athletes competing, as I have never seen it in real life before.
As some of our team were competing in the afternoon or on Sunday we got to experience what it was like to watch another sport. We were lucky enough to go and watch the gymnasts in action and cheer them on, this was very exciting……………
………….Sunday 15th September, was the final day of competition and my day to compete, unfortunately the weather was poor as it was freezing cold which isn’t really good conditions to throw in. I got up at 6.05am got ready and went and had my breakfast, knowing it is the most important meal of the day I filled up. We then left at 7.30am to go to Don Valley stadium, the coach was for the people who were competing early and everyone else came later. When I got there I started to warm up, doing my drills and stretches before I went to the call up room. At 8.45am we went to the call up room and had to be checked making sure we had no electrical equipment with us and any logos that weren’t Adidas had to we covered up. We then got the rules and the way the competition was going to run told to us before we left the call up room at 9.00am to warm up and get ready to compete.
When we were out at the hammer circle we had 25 minutes before the competition started, so we all managed to have two practice throws. At 9.25am the competition started my first throw was a no throw, which is a great way to start the competition, but luckily I had five more. My next couple of throws were: 33m 97cm, 34m 39cm. My fourth throw was again another no throw, the fifth round throw was 33m 77cm. So I decide as this next throw was going to be my last I was going to go for it and give it everything I had, my final throw in the end was 36m 36cm. At the end of the competition I came 7th but I was so glad I had been selected to go I didn’t mind what position I came because I had the most amazing four days ever!………..
