Lessons to be learned for 2010 competition?

Gavin Browne

July 01, 2009

SHARING the spoils: Tameside draw 1-1 with Stockport in the girls’ football group stages

SHARING the spoils: Tameside draw 1-1 with Stockport in the girls’ football group stages 1/2 Play Slideshow

TAMESIDE Sports Development officer Bhagvati Mistry admitted their team had been caught cold by a new format in the inaugural Champion’s Challenge.

Last Saturday’s event at Gorton’s Wright Robinson Sports College saw Tameside ranked eighth of the 10 competing boroughs, finishing ahead of Manchester and Salford.

The former Greater Manchester Youth Games is now a competition where – after a series of trials – the best from each of the 10 boroughs represented face each other in various sports such as football, rowing, cycling, badminton and table tennis.

Prior to this. the Youth Games were open to everyone, regardless of height, ability and size.

Trafford were the eventual winners on Saturday, finishing ahead of Rochdale, with Oldham seeing off Bolton to grab third spot. Stockport, Wigan and Bury then grabbed the next three positions with the remaining three bringing up the rear.

"It's completely different from the last 20-odd years where we’ve had the Youth Games because this has changed into an event to find the best of the best," said Mistry.

"Having been pipped to the post in recent years by other authorities, who have either been a bit better or a bit more experienced, our kids have trained in academies for 10 to 12 weeks and they have done really well.

"That’s the way the cookie crumbles though, you can’t win every day and sometimes it’s not all about the winning, it can just be about the taking part.

"I’m really proud of the kids who represented Tameside because they worked so hard to get here in the first place and their attitude to the other teams on the day was spectacularly good."

In the end, only one goal prevented Tameside from a bronze medal in the girls’ football competition as they bowed out in the semi-finals to Trafford.

They had reached the final four after coming through a group featuring Oldham, Stockport, Bury and Rochdale.

They saw off Bury (3-1) and Rochdale (3-2), drew with Stockport (1-1) and lost against Oldham (1-0), meaning they had to play Salford in the last four.

That proved one step too far for the Tameside girls as they were beaten 2-0 by the eventual champions before seeing their bid for a bronze medal ended by Trafford.

Youngsters representing Tameside, Oldham, Salford, Trafford, Stockport, Bury, Rochdale, Manchester, Bolton and Wigan all defied the heat in their bid to be crowned the region’s best of the best.

That, according to organisers GreaterSport’s marketing relationships manager Laura Hall, was reflected in the standard of competition on display.

She said: "I think the positive mentality and attitude we saw from the children is going to give Greater Manchester a huge help in finding superstars of the future.

"I think what was demonstrated was the commitment from everyone involved to have a good quality competition where we know that the children who are competing are good, but that those who are winning are the best.

"Obviously each area’s demographics have an impact on the various sports but that’s not a stick that should be used to beat the teams with.

"From our perspective, it was better than we anticipated. I had an absolutely brilliant day and I think it was very different to how the Youth Games used to be.

"I do honestly believe that some of the young people we saw on Saturday will be seen in the 2016 Olympics and beyond.

"People like Olympic gold medal winners Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton started out this way in similar competitions to the Champion’s Challenge and who’s to say that in future years, we can’t have success stories?"

Greater Manchester Champion’s Challenge final standings: