In sport, a competitor can represent many. First and foremost, they represent themselves, their parents, and those who have supported them along the way. After that, they wear the colours of their club. However, it is even more special when someone selects you to represent a county, a district or even a country. It is a real privilege to the participant as well as those that support them.
On 01 March 2025, at Grantham Meres Leisure Centre, 20 athletes from our club wore the white of their county team as Derbyshire challenged for superiority against the other East Midlands’ counties.
After the return of Sportshall from Covid in 2022, Leicestershire and Rutland nearly swept the board, taking 5 of the 6 categories with Nottinghamshire’s U13 boys preventing a clean sweep. Derbyshire came 2nd in three areas, 3rd in the others. Over the past two years, our county has made great strides, and on Saturday, we claimed three titles, narrowly missing out on a fourth. Sporting ability is truly evident here.
Before I turn to the individual performances of our athletes, I must comment on the athletes from Chesterfield, Derby and High Peak. There was a real team spirit amongst the Derbyshire team, and it was great to see the cohesion between those that will be rivals in the coming competitions. Friendships can be established cross-club and should be encouraged. Personally, I must say it was a pleasure to team manage the U11 girls, even if I was asked more questions than a contestant on a game show final!
Under 11s
In the U11 category, AVEAC proudly fielded nine athletes across both genders, as Lola-Rose Funnell, Eva Price, Katherine Turner and Florence Sibley all competed for the girls with Elliott Wright, Adam Banton, Dylan Knowles, Reggie Taylor and Joseph Brackenbury turning out for the boys.
In the girls’ section, our relay teams won six of the eight relays on the track. Of particular note were Lola and Georgie’s marvellous run in the 6-lap paarlauf to win by nearly 4 seconds. Katherine and Eva also featured in success in the hurdles and over/under relays respectively.
In the field, Katherine came 5th in the chest push with a throw of 5.5metres and Eva and Lola took first and second place in the speed bounce (56 and 52). Amber of Derby completed a 1-2-3. Sibles came joint second in the long jump with a very good 1.86m, with Katherine (5.28m) and Eva (5.24m) jumping well in the triple. Finally, our Sib was one of only 3 athletes under 15 seconds in the hi-stepper as Team Derbyshire took 1st place in the medley.
On to the boys. Derbyshire secured 2nd place in six of the relays. Elliott competed in three relays: the obstacle race (with Joseph and Dylan), the 1+1 relay (also with Dylan), and the hurdles. Joseph also ran in the 4×2 relay. Adam ran in white in the 2+2 and 4×1, whilst Dylan also competed in the 6-lap paarlauf. Finally, Reggie was part of the hurdles and 4×2 teams.
Away from the track, Dylan achieved a 26 on the balance beam, and Reggie threw the javelin 12m. Adam took in 46 bounces for the whites, and Elliott jumped to victory in the long jump with a 1.96m, just ahead of Joseph (1.92m). Dylan cleared 5 metres (5.14) in the triple. To finish, Adam leapt 41 and Elliott 40 in the vertical, Elliott also got an 8 in target throw and Joseph was 2nd overall individually with a 13.6s in the hi-stepper.
Under 13s
Despite having low attendances for the Sportshalls this year in the under 13s, five of the yellows turned up for Team Derbyshire on Saturday. In the boys’ section, we were represented by Marcus Parsons-Loades and Isaac Smith; Isla Douglas, Bibi Mulholland and Maggie Flinders all appeared for the girls.
The Derbyshire boys’ team took gold and silver in the shot with AVEAC’s Marcus only 20cm off the top spot. His teammate Isaac was equally unlucky – only 10cm off winning the triple. Really good performances and points gathering by the yellows.
The girls’ team were exceptional on the day and our athletes were much more than bit players in that success. They came home first in the 4×1 relay and secured a silver in the longer 4×2; Maggie in both with Bibi helping out the 4×2.
Elsewhere, Bibi ran a 24.8s in the 2-lap race, with Isla taking home a silver in the 4-lap. Isla was agonisingly pipped for first in the speed bounce by 1, with a brilliant 78. In the standing triple, Maggie secured a joint second place finish with a 6.32m leap, and finally Bibi came 2nd only 1 cm off the winner in the vertical jump – 50.
Under 15s
Our club saw six of our athletes shine for the under 15s, as Madeleine Turner, Jasmine Shore and Erin Beresford represented the girls with Riley Jones, Corey Fisher and Alfie Ray appearing for the boys.
On the track, Riley came 2nd in the 2-lap, 100th of a second off the winner from Lincolnshire – his time was 22.5. In the longer 4-lap, Corey ran a 47.5 to score 44 points, with his teammate Alfie coming home in 50.0. The team also put in strong performances in the 8-lap paarlauf and 4×2 relay.
In the shot, Riley blew away the field, throwing 13.55m, whilst Corey who was suffering with an injury to his hand, threw 6.66m. This contribution earned Derbyshire 30 points. In the speed bounce, Alfie came in with 73. Finally, Riley also won the long jump with a 2.56m jump and Corey tripled to 6.44m.
For the girls, Madeleine sprinted a brilliant 50.4 to win the 4-lap, with Jasmine third on 53.2. Madeleine then joined forces with Chesterfield’s Antoniah to stroll to victory in the 8-lap paarlauf, in a time of 1.41.5. The Derbyshire 4×2 relay team, including Jasmine and Erin, also won by over 2 seconds.
Off the track, Jasmine scored a 7.53m in the shot to finish 4th, Madeleine a smidgen behind with a 7.04m throw. A non-scoring Erin also threw 6m on the dot. Finally, in the standing long, Madeleine finished 4th with a 2.08m leap whilst Jasmine came in with a 1.98m.
Individual athletes
At the under 15 level, the competition also grades the all-round scores for each athlete. The top finishing competitor got a ticket to Stoke regardless of which team won overall. For the boys, Alfie came in 17th with a total score of 107; Corey finished one point ahead on 108.
However, Riley took a joint top spot with a Leicestershire athlete with a huge combined score of 148. A massive achievement.
On the girls’ side, Jasmine took joint 5th overall, scoring 125 points whilst Madeleine podiumed with a 3rd place finish on 133 points, only 13 points short of the overall winner from Leicestershire.
Team scores
For the under 11s, the Sportshall competition started and ended on Saturday. The championship was up for grabs on the day. On the other hand, the U13s and U15s’ fixtures were qualifiers for the UK Finals in Stoke in April.
After a long hand day of competition, our teams finished as follows:
- 1st place – Derbyshire U11 girls (486pts)
- 3rd place – Derbyshire U11 boys (445pts)
- 1st place – Derbyshire U13 girls (665pts)
- 3rd place – Derbyshire U13 boys (568pts)
- 1st place – Derbyshire U15 girls (656pts)
- 2nd place – Derbyshire U15 boys (628pts)
So, three wins for the teams in white and the U15 boys came second by a solitary point to Leicestershire and Rutland. It is such a shame their full complement wasn’t available as I’m sure that extra point could have been found. However, there is no shame in 2nd (or 3rd) place and every athlete should be proud of themselves. To take on the might of the East Midlands and achieve that level of success is brilliant for our county.
So, for the U11s, the competition is over, and the girls can celebrate a win. However, for the U13 and U15 girls, and the best all-rounder Riley Jones, there is now a competition to win in Stoke on 12 April for the UK Finals. I wish them all the best of luck; regardless of what happens, your club are proud of your events to even get there.
Report – Rich Woodward
