2009 News
- News Archive
National Sports Days to be Hosted
Sport St Marys, the sports department at St Mary’s University College, is hosting one of eight national sports days for the second year.
The Regional Multi Skills Academy Days represent the pinnacle of the Youth Sport Trust’s Gifted & Talented pathway, which is a fundamental part of the overall vision for sport supported by the government and delivered by the YST.
The sports day will bring together the most able multi skills students from the South East to St Mary’s University College 10th June for a full day of coaching and activity. The day will be led by the Sports St Mary’s Team with the help of students who are currently studying a sports related degree.
Alongside the sports activities, PE teachers from around the South East will be giving top quality Multi Skills training from YST practitioners. This training will allow the teachers to go back to their schools and increase the amount and quality of multi skills learning.
Each Primary School will have an after school club for multi skills and they are able to compete against other schools in multi skills competitions. From these sessions the young people are chosen to be part of the Gifted and Talented groups.
A key part of the Multi skills programme is the use of secondary school sports leaders to help run sessions for younger athletes. Often this leadership is taught as part of a Community Sports Leadership Award.
Multi Skills are a range of non-sport specific activities that develop young athletes’ abilities in physical, cognitive, social, creative and personal. The other seven RMSA days are being held at other sports universities throughout the country at institutions including Birmingham, Bath and LSBU.
“Being asked to host the second year of RMSA days is a great opportunity for Sport St Mary’s. It gives the selected young athletes an opportunity to experience quality sports coaching and make use the facilities that are used by our elite athletes,” said Andrew Reid Smith, Director of Sport at St Mary’s.
One such athlete, Steph Twell - who ran in the 1500m at the Beijing Olympics last summer - will be in attendance on the day. She will lead a question and answer session for the young athletes in the morning that will focus on the benefits of multi skills training and reaching an athlete’s full potential: “I’m pleased to be able to help out with the RMSA day and give the young athletes some advice based on my experiences as an athlete”, she said.
Andrew Reid Smith said: “The University College students who help run the RMSA also gain valuable experience in coaching and event management that adds value to the qualification they are studying for. The RMSA day fits into the department’s strategic plan for sport that encompasses student, community and elite activity.”
Additional sporting events being held at the University College include the St Mary’s Classic Athletics Meeting which will run on the 3rd June and the SIMMSport Summer Camps.
After a successful Easter Camp SIMMSport will be providing two weeks of multi sports during the summer holidays. The camps will run in the last week of July and the last week of August. They are open to boys and girls aged 5 to 11 years old. Each day will feature a range of sports and competitions.
For more information on the sports activities on offer at St Mary’s please email
Matt Shurlock, Sports Development Officer
shurlockm@smuc.ac.uk or Tel: 0208 240 2309
