Stratford duo named in squad for School Games
STRATFORD AC duo Jack Sumners and Lewis Byng have been selected to be part of the athletics squad at the 2017 School Games National Finals.
The School Games are an integrated multi-sport event for the UK’s most talented school-age athletes and will take place at Loughborough University from 31st August to 3rd September 2017.
Sumners, 16, and Byng, 15, both students at the Stratford-upon-Avon School, will compete for the Midlands athletics squad.
They already have an impressive record of success — Sumners is the under-16 60m hurdles champion in England and Byng ranked second in the English Schools’ Athletic Association for shot put.
Around 1,600 athletes will compete across 12 sports at the School Games, seven of which include disability disciplines. The four-day event is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust.
The duo will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of some of Britain’s biggest sporting stars who have competed at the School Games before going on to senior international success.
Previous competitors include Paralympic champions Hannah Cockroft, Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock, Olympic champion Adam Peaty, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and GB sprinter Adam Gemili.
The School Games are the springboard for future athletes — 56 of the 382 athletes representing Team GB at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio competed at the event.
Sumners and Byng will live in a dedicated athletes’ village on the Loughborough University campus, take part in an opening ceremony and perform in front of huge crowds of spectators.
“I had not been hurdling for long when I watched Andrew Pozzi be selected for Team GB for the Olympics,” said Sumners
“Seeing someone from my club become an Olympian made me strive to be the best so I can become one too.”
“The School Games national finals provide a great opportunity for talented young athletes like Jack and Lewis,” said Ali Oliver, chief executive officer of the Youth Sport Trust.
“Competitors get a real taste of what it’s like to be part of a world-class sporting event at the amazing sporting venues of Loughborough University, and the event is a great way to see our future sporting champions in action today.”
